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The days are getting noticeably shorter, lake and river temperatures are ramping down, and Largemouth Bass are responding by going on ‘The Fall Bite.’ In this time of ‘feeding frenzy,’ fish are bulking up in preparation for the cold winter months when their metabolism slows way down and with it, their feeding activity. Plus, a beautiful Indian Summer is a great time to be out on the water.

In the Pacific Northwest, September and even October can be excellent for Bass fishing, mirroring the crazy activity levels of Spring. Fish caught during this time can be much heavier and have much more of a football shape, compared to fish of the same length caught in Spring and Summer. One particularly warm mid-October, I caught 10 Largemouth in a row out of the same small area in a backwater of the Columbia River near Woodland, Washington. I had an appointment to keep so I had to leave without being able to find out how many more would have jumped on my baits, but what a day!

The above is just one benefit of the Fall frenzy: Bass seem to be more concentrated in obvious areas, not dispersed as in Summer fishing. Look for Largemouth attracted to riprap and other rocky areas. Rocks hold heat and radiate it during the cooling weeks of Fall, and Bass begin to look for these warmer areas. I have caught very large fish simply by making casts parallel to riprap shorelines and by running baits through shallow, rocky areas. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits and jig-and-grub (skirted with brush guard) or jig-and-frog combination’s work well in these situations. In clear water, try a swimbait that looks like the baitfish in that area. Rig it with as little weight as possible, but make certain it stays upright and straight, then swim it slowly along the rocks at mid-depths. A recognizable, easy meal will be hard for a Largemouth to resist. Don’t forget to experiment with a topwater bait too. A hardbait or a frog can still work under the right circumstances.

Start with the bigger, flashier lures. If they do not work, or if you get hit but not hung on a fish, go to the swimbaits or the quieter, smaller jig combo, or even a Texas-rigged soft plastic worm or tube bait. If you can be on the water at the beginning of a Fall rain, be there! This often turns on a major bite. My biggest Fall fish have come at such times.

An excellent all-around Fall tactic is to prowl river or lake shorelines from a boat, canoe, float tube, pontoon boat or kayak and simply cast a ½ ounce jig-and-grub to the shore, then drag it into the water and reel slowly, letting the jig bumble along the bottom. Aggressively feeding Fall fish will know what to do! I prefer a multicolor jig such as black, brown and green, with a little touch of red somewhere on the jig or grub. If you are shore-bound, don’t give up! You can still catch big Bass by working the shoreline to the right or left of you, gaining more access by carefully, quietly wading out where possible.

Remember that because of it’s off-center, head-heavy design, the jig is especially susceptible to being thrown if a caught fish gets his head above water and shakes it. The bait will flip out of the fish unless you keep a moderately tight line while the acrobatics are going on. Don’t allow your line to go slack, and don’t try to jerk or ‘horse’ the fish toward you. Just keep the line straight and tight between you and the fish while he’s head-shaking. I like to keep my rod more parallel at such a moment, so there is less of a sharp angle between the tip of my rod and the hook in the fish’s face. It seems to help keep him stuck. Remember that water temperatures and fish activity levels can vary quite a bit from day to day, and from area to area. A faster retrieve might stimulate attacks in one instance, a slower retrieve might be the real producer in another. When you catch a Fall bass, remember what you were doing and at what speed. The fish just gave you a hint!

As the days grow even shorter and colder, as light levels decrease and as the Bass’s metabolism decreases, the Bass will begin to move to deeper haunts and become harder to catch. But not impossible! The ’strike zone’ – distance from the fish in which he is willing to move to take a bait – will shrink, but fish will still need to feed. Slower fishing is called for, but it will still produce fish. We’ll talk about some specific slow tactics and presentations in October. See you then!

BY: Bob Larimer Your Friendly Addicted Bass Fishermen

The hexagenia limbata commonly referred to as simply the “hex”, the largest of the mayflies in the northwest. These mayflies are 1-2 inches long and once a year they hatch by the thousands on one of our local favorite fly fishing only lakes, Merrill Lake.

The hatch generally starts sometime in early July, and stretches through late August. The hatch is triggered by the hot summer days. This is one time of the year when the lakes lunker browns and wary rainbows lose caution when munching on the large insects making them an easier target for the angler.

The hexs begin emerging about an hour before dusk and will last several hours into darkness. Nymphs can be fished along the bottom before the bugs start coming off the water but when you see the bugs swarming all around you theirs your sign to change to the top water. Using an emerger cripple imitation can be especially productive due to the actions the bugs make trying to rid their nymph shell and dry their wings before being devoured and also a dun hex paradrake. If you don’t have any of the specific imitations try large sparkle duns, cripples, or adams flies. The hexs are very bright, they have yellow bodies, and a little yellow in their wings. So any similar shaped fly with yellow should produce. One of my favorite areas to fish in the lake is off the east shoreline, sticking pretty close to the shore. The shrubs growing in the water provide a good place for the bugs to thrive. But you will most likely find them emerging from the water on all parts of the shoreline. It is truly amazing watching the water bubble with huge mayflies trying to dry their wings and fly away, and watching the fish bringing death from below smashing the mayflies time after time. Last year I brought my girlfriend out for the hatch and she isn’t a veteran fly fisher by no means, and she even ended up landing 4 fish in one evening, in my opinion it is by far the best time to fish at Merrill. But I do warn you to be ready for a lot of false hook sets, and curse words to be shouted.

Good luck, see you out there.
-tight-lines.