Shallow Water Bassin’ for Fast Fall Action
By Tom Redington 

September through November on Southern impoundments with good shad populations consistently produce the fastest fishing action of the year. While spring bassin’ yields more trophy bass, numbers of bass caught daily is consistently at its zenith in the fall.

Although deep water can also produce a lot of good fish in the fall, I typically focus on the shallows early and late each day, remaining shallow all day if the weather is breezy and/or cloudy. Bass key on shad in the fall and they’ll follow the baitfish all the way to the very backs of creeks. Typically, if you find areas with a lot of baitfish, the bass will be nearby. Bass move daily following the concentrations of shad and fish, so your best fishing areas will change regularly throughout the fall. Essentially, I cover lots of water with moving baits until I start getting bit, then slow down and thoroughly work the area over, trying multiple baits once a school is located.

For locating fish fast, spinnerbaits, topwaters, swimbaits, and crankbaits work best. Choose shad color schemes, primarily whites and chromes, and work these baits fast with erratic stop and go retrieves to trigger strikes from active fish. 3/8 oz Redemption spinnerbaits with white or chartreuse and white skirts and tandem silver willow leaf blades work well for me. For topwaters, small poppers like a G-Splash worked quickly across the top with a spitting action or steadily walking Sammy deliver some exciting strikes. My favorite topwater is a Lucky Craft Gunfish because it combines the walk of a Sammy and the spit of a popper, so I can mix in aggressive and subtle actions to trigger both active and inactive bass. Around wood cover or over the tops of grass, chrome ¼ to ½ oz LV and LVR lipless crankbaits and shad colored crankbaits that run 8’ or less work great as well. I’ll start with a wide wobbling crankbait in the early fall like the square billed LC 1.5, then go to a more subtle crankbait with a tighter wiggle like a Skeet Mini MR as the water cools in the later fall. If the bass are holding a little deeper along the edge of the grass or on the edge of the creek, slightly deeper versions of the cranks, like a LC 1.5DD and a Skeet Mini DR will get a few extra feet to trigger fish in 5’ to 8’. Last but certainly not least, a 3/8 oz bladed jig with a 3.5” Live Magic Shad trailer is not only a great numbers combination, but also a top lunker producer, especially if the water turns muddier. And if the big bass start keying in on larger gizzard shad, put 4.5” or 5.5” Live Magic Shad swimbait on the back of a bladed jig for a wall hanger.

All of those moving baits are fun to fish with and cover a lot of water, but losing fish is always an issue because many bass just slap at the bait. A rod with a slower action allows fish to take the bait better and also plays lightly hooked fish well. I’ve had great luck with the Dobyns Champion rods and their crankbait lineup for those reasons. For treble hook lures, especially in open water, the 704CB and 705CB made from fiberglass have a very slow taper and maximize your landing percentage. When I’m around grass and I need just a little better feel along with a bit more power to snap my baits free of the weeds, the 704CB and 705CB models in graphite work better. Both the graphite and fiberglass rods are well balanced so they are light and sensitive in your hands, as opposed to many cranking rods that are big and heavy with very little feel.

Once a school is located with moving baits and the action slows, switch to soft plastics and you’ll likely catch more fish from the same area, possibly a lot more. My favorite soft plastic rigs for numbers are wacky rigs and weightless soft plastic jerkbaits. For the wacky rig, I use a watermelon shade of Hyper Finesse Worm on sunny days and darker June bug or green pumpkin colored one on cloudy days. My go-to soft plastic jerkbait for the fall is a Magic Shad rigged weightless Texas style in either the “Magic Shad” or watermelon/red flake color. Hyper Sticks, Live Magic Shads, and Ring Frys work better at times, but I normally start with the old school Magic Shad. Some days the bass will chase the soft plastics as they are steadily twitched over the grass, while other times you’ll do best by twitching your bait a couple times and then letting it fall to the bottom. In areas with lots of stumps and little grass or along the inside and outside weedlines, a Texas rigged 8” Fork Worm hopped along the bottom produce best. Finally, for lunker bass in the shallows during the fall, pitch ½ oz MPack jigs to heavy timber along creek channels in the back ½ of creeks. I like Blue Bruiser colored jigs on cloudy days and watermelon jigs on sunny days, trimmed with a matching Hyper Freak trailer. Key on stumps and laydowns in the bends of creek channels and make multiple pitches to each piece of wood. The thicker the cover, the better, so spool up with 50 lb braid on a Dobyns Extreme 7’4” DX745 rod and you’ll be ready for battle.

While your buddies leave for the woods to go hunting this fall, head to the shallows on Lake Fork and you’ll likely have a day to remember. Here’s hoping you catch the lunker of your dreams. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at 214-683-9572 or e-mail me through my website,  www.LakeForkGuideTrips.com.