Northwest Fishing Reports

Does anyone have any Fall bass tactics that they are willing to share? It looks like things are changing already.

Deep water, slow presentation, definently get a fish finder

cavdad45 wrote:Does anyone have any Fall bass tactics that they are willing to share? It looks like things are changing already.

Okay CAVDAD, For those smallys .. i would focus on water dept of 5 - 10ft first thing thing in morning when they are up feeding , after the sun comes up move out too 20+ ft of water and work those edges and drop-offs .. as far as baits rattle traps for cover water quickly in the morings and switch to jerbaits and drop shots as the day goes on ...

Largemouths .. this time of year you will find them on normal spring holding spots , structure , laydowns , docks etc.. these fish are feeding up before the winter hits .. I have notice over the years of bassin that smaller baits are key in fall , however it's not to say that a LMB wont take one those swimbaits .. hope this gives you a better understanding of fall patterns ... I notice alot of bassers know how to catch them but struggle in the area of locating fish .. studing bass behavior and patterns for year round movement will always keep you on the fish year round .. BBD ... :king:

Topwaters like poppers and spooks will work pretty well. It's big fish time! Well, relative to how big they get in our neck of the woods, anyway.

BBD - Good point. It's really all about location.

How far must the water temperatures fall before the largemouth start working the shallows again?

Will they hold until the fall turn-over before retreating to their wintering quarters?

Have the bass moved away from their summer patterns? I'm out of touch right now. Only been out once in the last four weeks (not counting the Florida trip) and am going grouse hunting Friday and Saturday and won't be fishing until the middle of next week.

cavdad45 wrote:BBD - Good point. It's really all about location.

How far must the water temperatures fall before the largemouth start working the shallows again?

Will they hold until the fall turn-over before retreating to their wintering quarters?

Have the bass moved away from their summer patterns? I'm out of touch right now. Only been out once in the last four weeks (not counting the Florida trip) and am going grouse hunting Friday and Saturday and won't be fishing until the middle of next week.

Everything revolves around water dept and temperture , some on bass are in fall patterns right now , some are still in summer patterns , look at from the view point of a 5 pounder , after she spawns and goes through post feeding , she will relocate back out deep . During summer nights she will come up shallow and feed and head right back out at first light ... so if she spends most of her time in the deeper depts she will not go into fall patteren untill the lake turns over ... the "thermocline" in any body of water is key , yeah she is in 30 ft of water during the day but most likey about 15-18 ft down suspending ...i track bass movement based on consistant wheather , depts of lakes and amount of available forge ... Fall is a predicable time for LMB but again based on time on water i still feel that the evening bite is the best bite ... get those buzz baits out !!!! BBD !!

Bigbass Dez wrote:I have notice over the years of bassin that smaller baits are key in fall

Not trying to hijack anyone's thread, but I do have a question with regards to the size of baits. What baits are considered small? At this point I am using 4" senkos, 4" roboworms, 3 1/2" minnow looking things and 3 1/2" double-tailed grubs when running a drop shot. If I am using jigs...3/8 oz. with a Berkley Powerbait "Beast" as a trailer. Sometimes, I will use a trimmed double-tailed grub, or a wiggle-tail worm as the trailer. Are these considered too big this time of year. These have not been particularly successful...so I wonder if they may be a little on the large size. Thanks!


Chad

Chad, I would consider those baits on the small to perfect size. When you are talking large, 7 inch and bigger worms, full size brush hogs, huge tubes, that kind of large. You are on the right track. Get used to 5 inch senko's, they catch little fish along with the big boys.

What colors are you using Chad? I have found it makes a huge difference up here in the clear water. I have had nothing but success with my grn pumkin twin tail grub.

If anything, I've noticed my numbers going down but the intensity of the bites/fights has gone up. I am more than likely going to have to suck it up and get a depth finder soon. I am still fishing the shallows around docks, downed trees, and lilypads.

Im not much of a fall - late winter bass fishing, but if I was to guess I would have to say Cranks and Spinnerbaits would probably work out being the best. Retrieving them in slowly and consistantly casting in the same spot will help a lot when trying to trigger bass strikes! Ive found that Pumpkin colored jigs and plastics have been the key to triggering more bites when it comes down to Scummy water such as Lacamas lake, smaller rather than bigger has worked best, but Bigger fish eat bigger Baits so it can make a difference sometimes.

Im gonna continue to use Jigs throughout this fall and winter and see how my luck goes! Im hoping I can actually catch something, because I still cant hook those Mothers that bite my jig. Even when they drag the lure across the freakin lake, the hook set always fails me.

I have faith that I can only get better though!
If I figure out what im doing wrong, Ill be the first to let you know, I cant tell you how Frustrating it makes me.

I think these guys know wat there talking about CAVDAD, so I would just listen to them... like I said, Ive never fished the fall - late winter.

Best of luck
The1fishingpro

cavdad45 wrote:Does anyone have any Fall bass tactics that they are willing to share? It looks like things are changing already.

some people say forage is less abundant as it gets later in the year.

:king:

study the forage, and match the hatch. find the ones they are feeding on, and swing for the fences.

leahcim_dahc wrote:...These have not been particularly successful...so I wonder if they may be a little on the large size. Thanks!

Chad

the bigger the better

:king:

a bass of any size will attack anything. i have had bass attack lures 5x times their size. that being said you can never throw anything too large. the larger you go, the bigger the results.

EastsideRedneck wrote:What colors are you using Chad? I have found it makes a huge difference up here in the clear water. I have had nothing but success with my grn pumkin twin tail grub.

Below is a list of my assorted plastic colors:

4" Yamasenko - Cinnamon with black and purple flakes
5" Super Grub - Cinnamon with black flake
5" Double Tailed Grub - Cinnamon with black flake
4" Twirl Tail - Junebug
4" Twirl Tail - Elect. Blue
4" Twirl Tail - Tequila Sunrise
4" Twirl Tail - Black
4" Twirl Tail - Motor Oil
3" BPB Beast - Green Pumpkin
3" BPB Power Grub - Pumpkinseed
4 1/2" Roboworm - Straight Tail Baby Bass (two tone green)
4" Roboworm - FX Sculpin (two tone brown)
4 1/2" SK Zero - Watermelon with red flake
4" Split Tail Minnow - Shad

The twirl tails, senkos, and roboworms I use on drop shots. The grubs and the "Beast" thing I use as trailers on jigs. The jigs are 1/2 oz. black and blue, and 3/8 oz. brownish color. I am just experimenting with jigs so I do not have a very good assortment of colors at all. As I learn more and more about how to jig...I will pick up some more. I have even thought about just picking up a mess of jig heads, some tools and a bucket of skirts and making my own. I think alot of it has to do with my judgement of water color, timing and location. Just going to take some practice. I have some time set aside here in a couple hours to hit a pond and do some practice with my jigs...we'll see what happens.


Chad

Back home in the Midwest, I'd do well for Largies with buzz baits and spinnerbaits during the fall. For Smallies I did well with jigs, tubes and spinnerbaits. Here in Washington, I haven't figured the smallies yet, last fall I didn't do too well, I did catch a nice 5lber and a few largies with a spinnerbait, but I didn't catch too much else. Hopefully this fall I'll have the time to figure it out.

the1fishingpro wrote: Im hoping I can actually catch something, because I still cant hook those Mothers that bite my jig. Even when they drag the lure across the freakin lake, the hook set always fails me.
The1fishingpro

Do you sharpen your hooks after you buy them and/or after they've been sitting in your tacklebox for a while? I think I saw this tip somewhere on WL, but it really has improved my hooksets %. As oxidation occurs the points/blades "grow" and subsequently dull your hook (same goes for knives too.)

the1fishingpro wrote: Im gonna continue to use Jigs throughout this fall and winter and see how my luck goes! Im hoping I can actually catch something, because I still cant hook those Mothers that bite my jig. Even when they drag the lure across the freakin lake, the hook set always fails me.
The1fishingpro

Agree with Eastside Redneck on the need to keep your hooks sharp. If you are having trouble with the hookset on a jig and pig - have you tried trimming the weed guards down so when depressed they do not extend past the tip of the hook. I encountered the same problems in the past - trimming the weed guards back increased my hook up ratio.

My favorite fall baits:

Buzz Baits, Lucky Craft Sammy, Spinner Baits, Lipless Rattling Crank Baits, and Swim Baits.

Good Luck!

I fished washinton lake yesterday and it was great example of what im talking about as far as size of baits and what is taking place during fall .. I got two good size smallys and they both spit out baits they were feeding on and those baits were ranging in sizes between 1" up to 5" .. i was using a 3.5 inch plastic and they wanted it !! my point is that if that bass already had a nice size meal in her stomach my smaller bait was perfect size (a mouth full) ..small in the fall is what i stand by , yeah you will go through a few smaller fish but in my option have a better oppertunity at nailing a already full lunker ...or spend alot of time chase a hungry lunker !! BBD ...

PRMCAV And EASTSIDEREDNECK

I have not tried sharpening my hooks right after I've taken them out of the package. Mainly because I have tested there sharpness on my finger and they catch pretty good. Unless you want to point to slice my finger open, I dont think its the hooks sharpness that is effecting my hookset.

Weed guards are also not the problem, because I rarely use jigs with a weed guard. I have before but, I have been getting all my bites on Jigs that dont have a guard.

Just the other day I caught my first bass on a jig, and I was using a SALT IMPREGNATED jig that I bought at Walmart. It had a weed guard, but it wasnt really fibers as it was 1 metal fiber that looks more like a paper clip.
I set the hook on a small 1/2 LM that was draggin my line to the right. Strangly, I set the hook to the right as well and hooked the bass in its sweet spot through the top of its head.

I was wondering, why does ripping the oppisite way make a difference? Seems to me that my % would increase if I were to rip the same way.

Thx for the tips, but I dont think they can help me where I fish. Lacamas/Round lake is Definitely the Hardest lake to fish because the bass seem to out smart the fisherman and there are so few of fish to catch. I know that If I fished Silver lake or any different lake that has a good supply of LM bass, I could rip a couple nice ones. But for now, Im just gonna learn the hard way and teach myself the ranks!

Once again, thx for the tips
the1fishingpro

Lacamas/Round Lake is definitely a good bass lake with plenty of big fish potential. But not from the shore. You really need to get out on a boat to get to the better spots that don't get hammered constantly. Especially right now with the water being more than six feet down. The respectable bass have moved deep and the shoreline fish are mostly dinks with a few 12-inch fish mixed in.

As far as hook sharpness goes, a good rule of thumb is to drag the tip across your fingernail and see if it grabs. If it doesn't, it ain't sharp enough.

Ok Cavdad45, I'll Try to see if I can hit the lake with a boat in search of some spots. What would you say is Round Lakes Advantages compared to the Main Lake? What provide with Larger fish?

I have always wondered if fishing the middle of a lake for bass is a good idea, But I havent heard anyone say anything on it. It seems great for trout, but for bass? What would you say about that? Would you say that the biggest bass stay closer to the bottom or top of the water?