The two times of the year when bass fishing is at it's best are in the early spring of the year and in the fall before the winter sets in. The early spring of the year is often called the "Pre-Spawn" or "Pre-Spawn Period". The reason that this time of the year is one of the best times for bass fishing is because the bass are grouping together into areas called "Staging Areas". These staging areas provide elements that the bass need before going into their shallow spawning grounds or beds, but this period will be covered in another article at a later date.
Now, the fall of the year is the other "Best Time" of the year for bass fishing because of the following conditions (there are more reasons, but these are the primary ones):
The water temperature is cooling down which means (in most cases) that you have a greater amount of oxygen.
Bass, more often than not, are schooled together.
The cooler temperatures from the warm summer temperatures allow the bass to become more active.
This is one time of the year when bass will strike just about anything that you throw at them, although, there are certain patterns that work better than others (which will be covered in this article).
The primary things you need to know when setting out for fall fishing are:
The temperature of the water.
The cooler temperature will make the bass more active, increasing the metabolism of the bass. This means the bass feed more often.
The natural forage of that certain body of water.
Bass will eat natural forage in any given body of water, so the color patterns and size of your baits should replicate the natural forage.
The areas where deep water is close to shallow water.
Bass will normally be in shallow water areas that are close to deep-water areas, known as "Comfort Zones". For example, if you have a shallow water area that holds bass, and it's close to deeper water and a weather front (whether it be a cold or warm front) moves in, it will affect the shallow water first. The temperature will change much faster in the shallows than in the deeper water. The deeper water will hold more stable temperatures, thus the bass will move down in the more constant temperatures (or deeper waters).
The areas where aquatic plant life is located (if any).
As fall progresses, the vegetation in the shallow areas will start dying off. When aquatic plants die, they consume more oxygen than they produce, making the area unsuitable for fish, thus the bass will move to deeper water where the vegetation is still green. Often times, the bass will stack up in the remaining strands of green weeds found in deep water late in the fall.
As I said before, almost any artificial bait pattern will work during the fall period. However, the following are some of the more preferred baits to use for fall fishing:
Top Water Baits (Zara Spooks, Floating Minnows, and Chug Bugs)
Plastics (Curly Tail Worms & Lizards, Craws)
Spinner Baits (Slow-rolling or working like a worm on the bottom)
Pig-N-Jig combos
Crankbaits (Deep divers working on the downward slopes or drops)
These are just some patterns that might help you to improve your catches. If you have any questions, you can attend my 3-Day Bass Fishing School where you can learn many, many, years of experience in a short time, or you may Email your questions to me at: The_Bass_Coach@Yahoo.com or contact me at:
The Bass Coach
Route-1 Box-65, Pearl Street
Crown Point, NY 12928
(518) 597-4240
Website: The Bass Coach
