Fish-Holding River Structure: Fall“The main deal is rock, but sand and wood holds a lot of bass, too. Current seams, obviously. And more than rock, which gets hit hard by lots of anglers, I like to find wood and sand. Bass will group up on sand, especially if there’s a current break around that’s holding food. Ideally, I want to find that straight riverbank with sand and wood. And that’s more so with smallies. You can find largies all the way from the creek mouths to the vary backs of the creek arms. I’m constantly looking for green vegetaition, like eelgrass and milfoil, wood, all that visual stuff. So, I’m generally flipping isolated cover for largemouths, whether it’s with a Texas Rig or swimming a jig.”In terms of specific locations, Jay spent his youth exploring the Wolf River and Mississippi River systems.“I really like Mississippi Pools 5, 5A, 7, and 9 for fishing river largemouths. 7 is probably the best for numbers, but you can put together a 20-pound bag together there, too.Fall Bass on ReservoirsPrzekurat says a lot of anglers fish too shallow on reservoirs in autumn.“Look for fish grouping up offshore. You can find some largemouths shallow but the smallies especially will generally stay a little bit deeper.”That’s when Jay pulls out Alabama rigs, swimbaits, and tubes. Basically, you’re going to break out the tackle you used in the spring. Moving baits are key to catching fall bass in reservoirs, just like in rivers. Fish are starting to get active and starting to feed. Spinnerbaits and ChatterBaits can produce, too. And you’d be surprised, fall bass will rise to eat topwater plugs and buzzbaits, too, even if the water temps are in the high-50s to lower 60s.”Natural Lakes in AutumnFor the most part, bass will return shallow in fall. They won’t be as shallow as they are on rivers, but you’ll still find ‘em in some skinny water. Investigate bays, docks, etc. “So, I’m fishing fall bass in natural lakes shallow. Remember, bass are bluegill eaters, so they’re cruising around remaining green weeds and isolated structure looking for food. I’ll keep an eye out for good, green grass all the way up to ice up in the north” |
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