Jeremy Coalter

With stained water and the water temp at 50-55 degrees what approac/lure do you suggest?

I have never tried a swimbait or a fluke, any suggestions?

This has been my first fall that I have stayed committed to Bass fishing but it has been a struggle and am looking for any suggestions. I did all of my homework and was very excited about what most people say about the fall bite, I have been throwing everything that resembles a baitfish(spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, topwater, crankbait, bama rig, ect) since September and the 70 degree water until now when the temps are around 58 degrees. I am in the Kansas City area and have mostly fished smaller lakes within an hour drive but went to Truman this past weekend(only one small bass). I had one nice day back in early September where I caught about 10 fish, but since then I have only landed a couple small bass and on some days completely shut out. Where is this fall bite I keep reading about, or what am I doing wrong? I usually start my morning with a spinner and top water combo, moving to crankbaits and lipless later on. When I get completely desperate I pull out the Bama rig. I start going around the edges of the bank and hit the flats I am aware of on my lakes, its like the fish are nowhere to be found. I have also mixed in a jig and shakey head, and have caught a couple small fish. Later on I will try to target fish I think are out on ledges and points, but can't get them to bite. While I"m no electronics expert I think I see fishing holding to balls of baitfish but I can't get them to bite. I tried to fish the creek channel targeting fish on my sonar, but couldn't get them to bite. I'm hungrier than ever to figure this puzzle out, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, at what temperature to bass start holding to a winter pattern and get out of the fall pattern? Jeremy

Does anyone have a method or tips on locating schools of bass and then getting them to bite? I see Timmy Horton and other pros locate these schools of large bass and then are able to catch multiple fish from one location, from my experience I only seem to pick up random fish that are hanging off the bank. I think it would be so rewarding to be able to locate multiple fish holding on structure or a ledge and get them to bite but I have been unsuccessful to date. I have trolled around and find what appears to be fish holding to structure or one spot but have never been able to get them to bite, I'm not sure if they are bass or not. I would appreciate any suggestions or tips. Thanks

This is my first post so please take it easy on me. I have been bass fishing for the past 20 years but I just bought a new boat and am trying to take my game a new level. I have never really fished in the fall, I have always been caught up in football and hunting. After reading a lot about fall fishing, I have been extremely excited about the water temperature reaching 70 degrees. So the water temp finally hit 70 degrees this week in my local lake so I grabbed the lures I have been reading about to target bass running shad in the shallows and hit the lake on Friday and again on Sunday. After watching Timmy Horton kill them with a chug n spook and reading about KVD using a sexy shad swimming jig I just knew I was going to slay them. Well it didn't go so well, I did much better last week when I wasn't really targeting bass to be in a fall patern. Friday-temp 74 degrees, sunny and windy, color stained------used swimming jig, spinnerbait, lipless crankbait, chugnspook, alabama rig-------2 small bass Sunday-temp 70 degrees, sunny with no wind, color stained--------used chugnspook mostly with a little lipless crank. I was stuburn to stick with the spook after I saw huge schools of shad in the shallow flats.-------- zero fish It rained pretty good saturday morning. Question is should I be targeting bass in the shallows with baits that simulate shad or am I out thinking myself, did I hurt my chances by switching to a sexy shad color on my stained lake? I usually go with darker colors. Was topwater a bad idea considering it was sunny today? Just trying to figure out where I went wrong today Thanks