Author: Sam McDowell – Tournament Director

Photos: Greg Greene – Club Photographer

Sam McDowell

Subject: Fattening Up for Winter

The few cool nights in the past week or so have signaled the return of fall. Water temperatures have dropped up to 10 degrees in local waters during the past week. This fact has not gone unnoticed by largemouth bass. With the advent of cooler temperatures, these fish will begin the annual "fattening up" process, designed to sustain them over the winter, when food is scarce. Anglers taking advantage, can load the boat with good sized fish.

These bass have been holding in vegetation all summer and may still be caught there until the vegetation begins to die. When this happens, the plants begin to consume oxygen, rather than producing it. This causes the fish to leave the plants and head for the nearest available structure. Most generally, this will be a drop-off or some form of wood cover. Creek channels, steep banks, sides of points, etc. are all good places to fish during this season of the year, particularly when wood cover is present.

Bass on a summertime pattern are generally found in deeper water and baits fished slowly, on the bottom, more successful. Fall feeding fish are more frequently found in shallower water and are much more likely to chase baits aggressively. The angler adept at using crankbaits is likely to catch the bigger stringers. Crankbaits can cover a lot more water, in a shorter period of time, than most other baits.

As the bass begin to feed heavily, they are prone to hit the crankbaits. Crankbaits, are especially attractive to bass during this season of the year. The bait has enough bulk to enable the fish to see it easily, lots of vibration that allows the fish to home in on it, and closely resembles the shad on which the bass normally feed. Baits of this type can also be fished anywhere in the water column, by adjusting the speed of retrieve. Stop and go retrieves are generally the most productive.

Another excellent bait to use during this season of the year is the jig 'n’ pig. Over the years, this bait has been shown to be capable of attracting large fish. The sheer bulk of the bait, and the undulating action, perhaps resembling a crayfish, seems to produce more large fish than other baits.

As the water gets colder, the staple source of food for tidal river bass, gizzard and threadfin shad, begin to leave the river for warmer waters in the south. Crabs also leave the river, heading south. As this mass exodus begins, bass begin to start looking for substitutes in their diet. Crayfish do not leave the river, but continue actively foraging all year. This fact draws the bass up to the shallows, particularly along gravel banks, to forage for crayfish. Jig ‘n' pig baits, fished very slowly across these shallow banks, adjacent to drop-offs or creek channels, will produce good limits of quality bass. This type of area is also likely to produce fish on crankbaits, fished along the lip of the drop-off, in a stop and go retrieve.

Patience is also a key to fishing at this time of year. Having found a good shallow, gravel bank adjacent to a creek channel drop-off, an angler must be patient enough to sit there for an entire daily tidal change. This will assure that he is there when the fish turn on. Some areas find bass feeding on the outgoing tide, while others promote feeding on the incoming tide. A good selection of these spots, will assure a good catch, regardless of other conditions. While anglers need patience to find these spots, confidence that they will produce fish is also necessary. Sometimes, an angler must fish a spot for six or seven hours without getting a bite. Then, the fish turn on and a limit is caught in ten minutes. If an angler has confidence in a spot, by all means drop an anchor and fish the spot until fish are caught.

Good fishin..............