How to Bass Fish in the Fall
Bass fishing in the Fall can be tricky because Fall bass are extremely transient. In the Summer, you know exactly where they will be day in and day out. Ie. Fish shallow early and deep late.
In the Fall it is all about finding the bait. The bass will be where all of the bait are. The bait will form tight schools this time of year instead of being dispersed like they were in the Summer. If you can figure out where the bait schools are in the fall then you can catch a lot of bass.
If you want to learn how to bass fish in the Fall months, then keep on reading this article.
One of my daughters, Emily, caught this bass in the photo above. She was fishing with a white buzz bait right before the sun went down. Buzz baits are great Fall bass baits.
In the article below I will teach you how to fish maximize your bass fishing adventures during the Fall transient period that bass go through. These bass catching tips and techniques apply to all bass fishermen regardless of where you live across the United States.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been catching bass all over Florida for more than 40 years.
Bass act in predictable ways based on their environment. Once you know how bass will behave during certain times of the year, then you can catch them consistently all year long.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more bass in the Fall.
Bass fishing in the Fall can be tricky because Fall bass are extremely transient. In the Summer, you know exactly where they will be day in and day out. Ie. Fish shallow early and deep late.
In the Fall it is all about finding the bait. The bass will be where all of the bait are. The bait will form tight schools this time of year instead of being dispersed like they were in the Summer. If you can figure out where the bait schools are in the fall then you can catch a lot of bass.
If you want to learn how to bass fish in the Fall months, then keep on reading this article.
One of my daughters, Emily, caught this bass in the photo above. She was fishing with a white buzz bait right before the sun went down. Buzz baits are great Fall bass baits.
In the article below I will teach you how to fish maximize your bass fishing adventures during the Fall transient period that bass go through. These bass catching tips and techniques apply to all bass fishermen regardless of where you live across the United States.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been catching bass all over Florida for more than 40 years.
Bass act in predictable ways based on their environment. Once you know how bass will behave during certain times of the year, then you can catch them consistently all year long.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more bass in the Fall.
Rule #1 for Fall Bass Fishing.
Cover as much water as you can. Bass are constantly on the move in the Fall. When those first few cold fronts come through they change their behavior patterns. They change from their very predictable Summer patterns into their very unpredictable Fall patterns.
I call it the hear today and gone tomorrow pattern. You might crush 2 dozen bass in one spot on Monday but the same spot on Tuesday has zero fish. Why? What's going on?
I'll tell you what's going on. The fish have moved to another spot so don't waste too much time on one spot. Just because a spot looks fishy or held fish the day before doesn't mean that you should stay there unless you are getting bites. Don't fish a dead zone!
Rule #2 for Fall Bass Fishing.
If you can find the bait, then you can find the bass. The reason the bass are always on the move in the Fall is because the bait is always on the move in the Fall.
The shad and other bait fish that the bass are feeding on this time of year will get together in tight schools this time of year and head for shallow water. In the Summer the bait was spread out all over the place. That is not the case in the Fall.
The bait schools are heading into back water coves, bays, creek arms, small river tributaries.... The bass are just following their food around so that they can fatten up for the cold Winter months of scarcity.
The bass know what it is like to be cold and hungry so they are trying to put on as much fat as they can.
Watch the video below and catch more bass with Texas Rigged Crawdads.
Rule #3 for Fall Bass Fishing.
Big bass will be in the schools of little bass. For most of the year, big bass will not hang out with little bass. Big bass are usually loners except for the Fall.
Usually, when you start catching 13 inch bass it is time to move if you want to catch a big one. In the Fall, all of the bass will be feeding on the same bait fish schools. Your job is to find out where all of the feeding fish are.
That is the reason that Fall bass fishing can be as good as the pre-spawn and spawn time of the year. Huge numbers of big and small bass will all be in the same exact spot. If you are catching fish, then you should stay put for a while.
I wrote a few other articles on this website that cover how to catch bass during the different seasons of the year. You can read those articles by clicking on them below.
Winter Bass Fishing Tips and Techniques
Spring Bass Fishing Tips and Techniques
Summer Bass Fishing Tips and Techniques
Rule #4 for Fall Bass Fishing.
Use search baits to find the feeding schools of bass. This is an easy one for me because I fish with a spinner bait most of the time. If you like spinner baits too, then you are all set for the Fall bass pattern.
Remember that white or chartreuse spinner baits are great for clear water conditions. Use blue or black spinner baits for murky water conditions. The same rules go for buzz baits too.
Crank baits are another amazing lure to catch tons of Fall bass. Crank baits allow you to cover large areas of water at different depths. You are trying to "match the hatch" which means use a lure that looks like the bait fish that the bass are feeding on.
So if the bass are feeding on 3 inch shad, then you should throw the closest thing to a 3 inch silver crank bait at them. The same thing goes for a shad swim bait. Those are great lures too but size matters.
Conclusion:
Bass fishing in the Fall can be very challenging but it can be amazing too. Bass are transient in the Fall so be prepared to keep moving until you find out where the bass are. You can catch a lot of bass once you finally find them.
The bass will be where the bait schools are and those will be heading into shallow water. So be prepared to make a lot of casts in the back waters and bays wherever it is that you are fishing.
The only constant in Fall bass fishing is that the bass will constantly be on the move. I hope that this article will help you catch more bass this Fall.
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