Bass fishing in the during the Fall months is as exciting for me as that of the spring months . In the Spring the bass become aggressive when protecting there spawing grounds, and in the Fall they become aggressive as they feed on shad . During the fall months the shad move up into shallower water, where eventually they begin to die off and the winter months arrive and the water gets cold. Granted the lakes don't freeze or really drop below 50 degrees in the winter months, but that doesn't stop the shad from moving into shallow water. As they move up in large groups, they bass can usually be found right behind them, waiting and watching for the weakest ones to fall away from the group. When that happens, that water just explodes both below and above the surface as the bass feed. This is the best time of the year for top water action. During the morning hours I will throw top water poppers, or under water baits like rattletraps. The rattletraps I use look similar to that of the bait they are feeding on, but you must also keep in mind water clarity and sunlight, because too much flash from a bait may turn fish away.
This past week was a great example of the importance to paying attention to your surrounding and reading what the fish want. Saturday I was out with a friend, fishing a pond in his back yard. We had shiners and casting them out about 15-20 yards out. Thirty or so minutes passed without a bite but I had noticed schools of shad right up against the shore line. My next cast was thrown about 5 feet from that bank. As soon as the bait touched the water I had a fish, and now a pattern. I continued making casts 5-8 feet off the shore line and pulling a fish in on every cast. In a matter of a few hours we had 20 fish landed and about 15 missed hits. I followed this pattern on Sunday on John's Lake and discovered pretty much the same pattern, bass feeding in shallow water. At one point on Sunday the shallow fishing stopped, so we moved into a deep channel throwing a Carolina rig and managed to land a few more fish before we called it quits.
Saturday's Equipment: 6'7" Berkley Lightning Rod with Cardinal 302 reel w/ 8 lbs Stren Fluorocarbon line
Live Shinners as Bait
Sunday's Equipment: Rod: Bass Pro Shops 7'2" Extra heavy action Rod
Reel: Daiwa 100tsh 7 bearing w/14 lbs flurocarbon
Bait: Carolina Rig w/ a Black Zoom Finesse worm.
Capt. Kevin Przybyl
www.OrlandoTrophyBass.Com
"Casting Towards a Cure for Cystic Fibrosis"