Thanks to all the guys giving me a bit of advice of where and what to throw. I had a 1.5 hour window to fish at Bingen Point from shore. I caught 8 bass in that time with a 3.25 inch strike king rage swimmer on a round jig head just dragged across the bottom and along the riprap. Mostly dinks but had a chunky 13 incher. I will one day return with my kayak.(life vest provided a little extra warmth)
If fall is teaching me one thing it’s KEEP ON GRINDING. Had a good numbers session with 7 bass. 13-15 inches. All on a ned rig and Neko rig mostly in 15-25 feet of water. Nothing on anything moving. Still looking for the big ones but I’ll take 7 bass any day.
Go WHITE SOX!
I was eager to see how the bass were adjusting to fall especially after yesterday’s storm. Found them eating my ned rig (fuzzy TRD) off a grassy point in 20 feet of water.
It was also ran into some bass tournament anglers from the North End Bass Club while they were packing up their bass boats. Nice chatting with those guys.
I enjoyed fishing my home waters after I committed to fishing unfamiliar lakes. I needed a feel good fishing session and my home launch delivered with 8 bass. Nothing huge (all between 12-16 inches) but such a fun morning! I’ll return to the hunt for an autumn monster next week.
I was pretty stumped by the fall transition last autumn, but this year I’m planning to pay much closer attention to how the grass changes and, more importantly, how the baitfish respond to those changes.
My thinking is simple: where the baitfish go is where I want to cast.
I’m curious—what adjustments do you all make as autumn progresses to keep catching bass? Do you follow the bait, change depths, move to different types of cover, change presentations, or something else?
It was a grind of a morning with only 2 dink LMB to show for it. Then i found a deep dock over 20 feet of water, threw a Neko rig deep under and let it sink to the bottom and this funky eyed bass ate it up! A good reminder to keep searching when things are rough.
Hooked into, fought and landed a BIG bass, probably more than 20 inches.. It was in the net, on the boat and in my hands. But when trying to free the hook from the net, I lost grip of the fish and it flopped into the lake.
No photo, no video, no tournament submission. Just a lot of agony and swearing after that.
Despite all that, it was still a majestic catch. Caught a dozen or so fish with the next biggest being 14 inches (the bass posted above). Overall, a great morning with an agonizing ending.
I hope to hit up Lake Sawyer later this week and I intend to learn it throughout the fall in hopes to running into some BIG BASS.
Any tips or pointers for fishing that lake would be appreciated!
Look closely and you'll see the strike.
I forget how fun shallow grass largemouth fishing can be! I watched this 17.5 inch LMB come out from under the pads to nail the swim bait.
Had a slow 11 am start with scant wind and lots of sun. Eventually found an offshore honey hole where I caught 8 LMB. Didn’t find any big ones but I’ll take a bunch of 10-14 inch bass during a midday sunny session. All found on a dropshot with an elaztech fluke. 25 feet of water+hard bottom+cover+baitfish=Bass….but where are the big ones today?
I’m a bass angler who thinks habitat first.
What are your top 4 favorite habitats to go looking for bass, and how do you like to pick them apart?
Mine:
1. Docks
Overhead cover, shade, depth changes, and lots of opportunities for one type of cover to intersect with another (lily pads, wood, brush, etc.).
I also like looking at the cover immediately adjacent to the dock. Bass don’t necessarily have to be sitting under the dock—they’ll roam out to nearby cover and use it as an ambush point.
Wacky Senko, Neko, and drop shot are my favorites here, but I’ll also throw a spinnerbait, shallow crank/squarebill, or swim jig depending on conditions.
2. Weed lines
Especially where grass starts to taper off toward deeper water.
Sometimes it’s a clean edge. Other times it gradually thins into scattered patches. That transition zone has been one of my most productive areas all summer.
Medium/deep cranks, swimbaits, drop shot, and Neko have been my main producers.
3. Isolated wood or rock
Pretty much anything that stands out from otherwise boring bottom.
I especially love finding a stump, laydown, or boulder sitting just beyond the deep weedline. If everything around it is relatively featureless and then suddenly there’s something, I want to fish it.
Football jig, drop shot, Neko, swimbait, Texas-rigged creature bait, or a deep-to-medium crankbait fan-cast around it.
4. ???
I’m still working on my fourth.
So what’s yours?
And more importantly: what makes that habitat good in your eyes, and how do you pick it apart?
After the threat of a teacher’s strike that ended just before midnight last night, the kids are officially back in school. I, of course, ran to the water and was rewarded by this tank of a fish. 17.25 inch 4.75 lb SMB caught on a drop shot in about 20 feet of water.
My graph’s battery died so I had to fish blindly today. I still hooked into about 8 fish including a 16 inch LMB off the dropshot while missing two big fish with a neko.
Today was a good reminder that our eyes, visible cover and a mental map of the waters we fish can still translate into a good day.
I was discouraged 2 hours in with no bites after a 10 am start. I thought the midday sun was gong to skunk me but I kept grinding, searching, probing for any hints of active bass. Finally, in 25 feet of hard bottom water, a parade of bait fish urged me to slow down. Threw an elaztech fluke on a dropshot and bam. I found a bass buffet to salvage the day!
Don’t drop believing! There’s always bass biting somewhere!
The shallow grassy dock bite was on! Watch me pull a 16+ in largemouth bass out from under a dock. Wacky rig for the win!
After an epic morning yesterday (10 fish, 4 over 14 inches including a 17 inch smallie In 3-4 hours), I ventured out during the same time, with the same lures and similar route only to be humbled by the lake and less cooperative bass.
The wind was definitely a factor. After making some adjustments, managed 5 fish with the biggest being a 13 inch LMB.
Still a decent day but a reminder to us all that the moment we think we’ve figured it out, the bass tell us otherwise.
Saw a big fish jump but didn’t think it was a bass. I then threw my swim bait right at it and she ate it immediately. Hell of a fight, too but that’s to be expected with big smallmouth!
All my work offshore has left me with a weak summer shallow pattern. Started throwing a swim jig around shallow grass and lily pads and it paid off! She might only be 14 inches, but she’s fat!
Lake Washington - Washington State
My 10 year old got in on the fun with perch, bass, rock bass and crappie chasing our crankbaits all morning.