It’s time for fantastic fall bass fishing on a lake near you
By the time October rolls around, the water surface temperature has cooled off and the bass are gearing up for their annual fall fest that occurs every year at this time. Whether you are fishing Pickwick Lake, Ross Barnett, Okatibbee Lake, or any number of lakes or shallow creeks and rivers, the fishing can be fantastic and probably the best of the year.
Trolling down a shallow flat along a deep-water ledge on Okatibbee Lake, I cast my crankbait out and cranked it down until it hit the bottom and glanced off.
Wham! A bass knocked slack in my line as it swallowed the crankbait. I reared back on the rod and the Bass Pro Shops Crankin’ Stick did the trick. The rod has just enough give to let the bass really get hold of the lure and eat it. As it came up to jump the entire bait was in his mouth and it jumped several times trying to throw the lure. Try as he might, he could not throw the hooks, thanks to a special graphite and fiberglass hybridization technique that provides just enough shock absorption to keep the bass in tow.
After wearing the bass down, I quickly released him and cast out again to the same spot. The results were the same. The bass were eating the Bandit 200 series shad colored crankbait. I made 13 casts and caught and released 12 bass!
Shad gave them away
Easing along a pad and grass field at Ross Barnett Reservoir, I saw shad skitter across the surface just before a bass smashed them sending a spray of shad flipping and flopping across the pads. I cast just past the commotion and worked a frog in a walk-the-dog pattern over the spot.
Wham! A lunker bass slammed the frog and I quickly drove the steel home and turned the bass on a dime like a calf roped in the arena! I was able to set the hook firmly thanks to braided line and I quickly landed the bass, took a photo and released him to grow some more. As the afternoon wore on, I caught and released more than a few bass in the 2 to 3.5-pound range from one area of salad. The key was locating an area that had lots of shad.
Worm nailed!
On yet another fall afternoon, I was working along a shoreline filled with brush when I came into a stretch of bank that shad were running. I spotted one area that shad were continually coming to the surface and bass were swirling and boiling the water, but not smashing the surface. As soon as I could get to the spot my partner made several casts with no success. I cast a finesse worm rigged Texas style and worked it over a submerged brush top and let it fall over the ledge and glide down.
Bam! A bass nailed the worm and I tried to reel in the slack, but the bass was swimming so fast right towards the boat that it was hard to catch up. I finally got the slack out and jerked straight up getting just enough to drive the steel Gamakatsu hook deep into the bass’ jaw.
The bass exploded through the surface and wallowed wildly like a hog in a water hole. As the bass came towards the boat it dove deeper and kept right on going. I had to back reel and give him all the rod I could to keep him from tearing the hooks out of his mouth.
A few minutes later, I was able to wear him down and lead him to the boat. The lunker bass was my biggest of the day caught just before dark. I’d caught probably 15- 20 bass on crankbaits and Texas rigged BPS Tournament Series worms and enjoyed an October harvest surprise. I did keep a few small bass for the skillet but released the larger ones to get even bigger.
If you’re looking for some fantastic fall fishing then don’t delay, head to the nearest lake or stream today or you just might miss the trip of a lifetime. Keep a few to eat if you want but release most of the bass so that you can “feel that thrill again and again”. Carpe Diem!
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