9 replies to this topic

[Borms]

Was out on the Grand this weekend, and pulled in a good size bass with a spoon.  Usually use tube jigs it has been ineffective the last couple weeks.

 

Interested in some tips on fall fishing.  

 

1) Where do fish retreat to in the fall?

 

2) Preferred lures when fall fishing?

 

3) Does the retrieval speed change as the water gets colder?  

 

 

 

 

[artimus001]

1) Where do fish retreat to in the fall? the slowest deepest water. fish the sun instead of the shade.

 

2) Preferred lures when fall fishing? as a fly guy the best i can answer this with is.... an olive tube, seriously. i was out on the weekend and nailed a 1-2lbs smallie (London/Thames River)on a franken bugger. it was a woolly bugger with a excessive amount of rubber legs. all my other go to flies were a bust.

 

3) Does the retrieval speed change as the water gets colder? dead slow. you gotta put it right on the nose of the fish.

[artimus001]

be quick though. i think there are only days left for river bass.

[hamiltonangler94]

Bass close on November 30. So u still have a good month and a half of fishing

[Borms]

1) Where do fish retreat to in the fall? the slowest deepest water. fish the sun instead of the shade.

 

2) Preferred lures when fall fishing? as a fly guy the best i can answer this with is.... an olive tube, seriously. i was out on the weekend and nailed a 1-2lbs smallie (London/Thames River)on a franken bugger. it was a woolly bugger with a excessive amount of rubber legs. all my other go to flies were a bust.

 

3) Does the retrieval speed change as the water gets colder? dead slow. you gotta put it right on the nose of the fish.

 

Thanks for the info! Now I just need to locate some deep spots without falling into them 

[alwayscatching]

Try using drop shot baits with minnow profiles. A lot of people forget or just don't know that craws(huge source of river bass forage) shut down after a certain water temp and bass move onto different baits like minnows.

[DILLIGAF?!]

I don't know about deep waters. I fish fall bass on the shore and get a lot of strikes in shallow weedlines. just when the weeds starts to recede. just drop a senko and hold tight.

[Borms]

Thanks everyone for the info!! 

 

Only a couple more weeks left  

[fishfreek]

I still love using lipless crank baits in the fall, just slow the retrieve a bit.

[fishfight]

A tournament angler and I were fishing Niagara river on our boat last few days. Water was 55 degrees. It was a tough fishing day , most of our honey hole did not produce, In spite of tough day, he landed 6 bass 2-3lb range using 1/4 oz jig on 3 " tube,  while I got skunk casting with heavy 1oz spoon and 1/2 oz jig on grubs or swim bait. My technique normally work on most occasion,...... but not that day.

 

He was bouncing the small tube close to the bottom, and was using light stiff rod, 1000 reel size reel, with 6lb  flurocarbon line. I was using 10lb braided line, normal 7' bass rod, 2000size reel. I tried his technique as well , but could not feel lure action at the bottom, I was not sure if my grub were hitting the bottom or anywhere else, I  tried to adapt the current flow of niagara river. He said it takes a lot of practice for finesse fishing on moving current, and when fish are not too active, the bass will stay close to the bottom at this time of the year, and refuse to come up the surface. He was making his lure bounce with slight twitch every so often. Bass were not too actively fighting he said, but they were all football size fat fish. There were million of 3" size minnows as well everywhere. Bass were well feed. We also saw a small 36" musky under our boat, it just stayed at the bottom. 

 

Water was very clear with 8 ft visibility. Bright sunny day with no clouds or no wind. We were fishing under 12 feet of water. He said he normally would be fishing 25-35 feet deep at Erie with 1/2 oz jigheads, but Erie can be dangerous and windy at any give moment. 

 

Tons of carp in a pod surfacing on 4 ft of water to our surprise, we cannot figure out what was the commotion all about, they do not spawn this time of the year, not sure if they were feeding on minnows either. 

 

On another occasion, we saw another small musky feeding on surface minnows, and its fin were mostly visible above the water surface.