By Mike Frisch
It is no secret that fall fishing can be some of the best fishing of the entire year and for a variety of reasons. One of my favorite reasons is one that is a bit unusual: I prefer fall fishing because the weeds are not as high or as thick as they once were, allowing me to better fish horizontal baits for largemouth bass!
Bass will hit various horizontal/moving baits all season long, but in the natural waters that I usually fish here in the Midwest, the middle of summer also means peak weed growth. Heavy weeds mean that a crankbait, spinnerbait, or bladed jig are all harder to fish, particularly when targeting the weedlines and adjacent flats that often hold largemouth in good numbers. When fall comes, however, the weeds die and diminish meaning those fish-holding areas are easier to work a bait over and through.
Recently, we were on the water using a one, two punch of horizontal baits to target fall bass while filming an episode for Fishing the Midwest TV. Here’s what we did.
Expert angler Shane Gesell and I were on a 500-acre lake that many would consider shallow with off-colored water, even though water clarity was to about 5 to 6 feet. One side of the lake features a shallow flat that slowly tapers to deeper water, with weeds growing in just a couple feet of water out to about 12 feet. In places these weeds approach the surface during the peak summer growing season.
Shane tied on a Thunder Cricket vibrating jig tipped with a Blade Minnow plastic trailer. I opted for a Hybrid Hunter which is a unique crankbait with an L-shaped bill that gives it an exaggerated, hunting action.
We held the boat in the 10-to-12-foot depth range and made long casts up on the flat. The weeds were not as high or thick as during summer and, when a bait did hit a weed, we could usually give the rod a hard pop and the bait would snap free. I made a steady retrieve relying on the natural hunting action of my lure. Shane, on the other hand, would use a steady retrieve as well, but also opted to kill his retrieve at times to let the bait settle in, which often triggered bites.
We used Lew’s Signature Series and XD cranking rods designed for this style fishing. These rods are “soft” enough to let biting fish fully get the bait but have enough backbone to allow baits to be snapped off weeds and fish to be horsed out of the cover to the boat.
We spent the afternoon working up and down the flat fan-casting to it. Occasionally, a bass would hit. Lots of the fish were in the 2 to 2 ½ pound size, some bigger and some smaller. We caught about equal numbers of fish and each of us caught a big fish of around 4 pounds.
This was a fun day, with steady action, and we plan more trips to the lake as fall progresses and the bite gets even better. This horizontal one, two punch can probably put fish in the boat on your favorite lake this fall as well.
As always, enjoy your time on the water and remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors adventure!
Mike Frisch hosts the popular Fishing the Midwest TV show on Sportsman Channel, World Fishing Network, and Bally Sports. Visit www.fishingthemidwest.com to see more.
PHOTO – Shane Gesell and a couple Thunder Cricket caught bass.
