Fall fishing is without a doubt the most exciting fishing of the entire year if you know how to prepare for it. Some fishermen will use a Jig-n-Pig rig and fish every submerged brush pile they can find.
This is an excellent choice if you want to catch a big largemouth bass.
This bait is almost snag proof and can be fished deep inside the brush where big bass like to hide.
However, this type of fishing requires accurate casting, a good sense of feel, knowledge of the lake and plenty of patience.
This type of fishing is not for everyone.
Crank-bait and spinner-bait fishing also work well in the fall. Take your favorite crank-bait or spinner-bait and go down the bank, covering as much territory as you can in a day.
This type of fishing pays off, but after a few hours it may seem more like work than fun. To improve your fish catching pay attention to the areas where most of your strikes are coming from. If they are on points then go point hopping. If they are on rocky banks then spend more time there.
Worm fishing is a slower, more relaxed way of fishing in the fall and it produces plenty of fish. The “shaky head” worm rig is deadly on fall bass when fished around shad. If you haven’t tried it you are really missing out on some great bass fishing. It is basically a 1/8 or ¼-ounce jig head with a large, sharp hook and a floating worm.
The jig makes the floating worm stand on its head. Simply shake the worm in place for about 15 seconds, hop it a few feet along the bottom and shake it again. Bass love it.
The next weapon in the fall fishing arsenal is the jigging spoon.
When fish are located on the depth finder, simply drop the spoon vertically under the boat until it reaches the bottom.
Now lift the spoon 3 or 4 feet off the bottom and slowly lower it back to the bottom.
Spoon fishing works well when shad and fish are holding near the bottom in 15 to 30 feet of water.
Finally the 3-inch pearl Slider Bass Grub on a ¼-ounce Shaky Head jig is a bait I never leave home without in the fall and winter. Large schools of bass and stripe could start feeding on schools of shad on the surface at any time.
This is a target of opportunity that could change an otherwise slow day of fishing into a bonanza. Cast the jig into the breaking fish, reel back slowly and hang on.
As I get older, wiser and more mature I realize that these old bones and muscles need all the help they can get when I go fishing. That is why I use open-face spinning reels and light line almost exclusively.
I keep four rods rigged and ready to go in an instant. I will have a 3-inch slider grub, a shaky head worm, a jigging spoon and my ever-faithful slider crappie jig. Now all I have to do is find the shad and figure out where the fish are holding. With these four rods I am covered top to bottom, shallow or deep, for bass, crappie or stripe.
When I go fishing in the fall I fish for anything and everything.
My goal is to get something on the other end of my line. I don’t really care what it is because I release most of what I catch anyway. I guess I am addicted to the pull.
