Best Techniques for Fall Smallmouth Bass

“Fall smallmouth is all about getting ready for winter,” said Alabama bass pro and guide Jimmy Mason. “The water temperature is falling. The fish are relating to bait, and they’re feeding heavily. They’re becoming much more active and aggressive.”

For clarity, the largemouth that share many of the Southern reservoirs where smallmouth reside also exhibit elevated fall feeding instincts. However, Mason pointed out a key difference. Essentially, the two often pass within waving distance, but smallies put more miles on their tires.

“Southern smallmouth can be more nomadic. They’re more weather dependent,” Mason said. “You hear the Northern guys talk about how their smallmouth bite best on the calm, sunny, bluebird days, but those are the worst down here.

“My favorite type of fall day is cloudy with a little wind, maybe a drizzle of rain — your typical prefrontal low-pressure day. The Southern smallmouth prefer cloudy days, as opposed to the Northern smallmouth, which are clear-water sight feeders. Sight feeding is not as big a deal for Southern smallmouth.”

Considering that highly mobile tendency, Mason seeks his fall smallmouth around big open-water flats with gravel bars and bluffs. When a river channel or creek channel runs through or around a flat, channel swings that put the deep water close to the feeding areas allow fish to quickly move up and down in depth as scenarios warrant.

As Mason explained, those flats present smallmouth with dependable feeding areas. With more baitfish moving out of the channels and onto shallower areas, predators use declining depth the same way a defender uses the sideline to pin a ball carrier. Mason calls them compression zones — the narrowing areas where smallies ravage threadfin shad, emerald shiners and, occasionally, gizzard shad.

“So much of the fall smallmouth feeding will be schooling and ambushing activity,” he said. “The perfect scenario is a gravel bar that’s flat on top and has sharp sloping sides. Those sides give the fish an area to compress the baitfish for more effective feeding.

“Say, you have a point that’s 3 to 8 feet on top and sitting on the sides, you’re in 20 to 25, but it comes up really sharp on the side. That’s a compression zone where fish are running the bait from the side of the point, up onto the shallow part; they’re running them into the wall, so it compresses the escape area from, say 20 feet to 5.”

As intense as the fall action can be, Mason expects feeding windows. Mornings always offer a couple hours of dependable opportunity, with that early bite extended by cloudy weather. Midday sun tends to slow the action, but afternoons see another prominent feeding window, especially when increasing reservoir current stimulates the fish.

Whether it’s bluffs with current seams, gravel bars, clay points or riprap banks, Mason's fall preference is a topwater lure. Anywhere he believes he can call a fish up from lower in the water column, Mason knows the surface assault brings multiple benefits. He is particularly fond of wind-blown points and bluff points for the topwater approach.

“I get a little longer cast with a topwater, especially in the wind, so a lot of times, I’ll start with that,” he said. “Often you’ll get your biggest bites on a topwater.”

Mason’s main topwater mix includes a Heddon One Knocker Spook, a Heddon Spin’n Image, and a War Eagle Buzzbait. All tempt aggressive topside bites, but presentation strategies vary.

“For the Spook, I like a long, slow walking cadence, but I’ll mix in a few pauses to see if that triggers them,” Mason said. “With the Spin’n Image and the buzzbait, the key is a slower retrieve to get that gurgling sound that attracts the fish.

“Both of those baits have a distinct sound, so I fish them at the slowest speeds that will create that sound. The more slow and monotonous, the more bites you get.”

Another of Mason’s fall topwater tricks is waking a Bomber Long A just below the surface. Mimicking a wounded shad will flip a smallie’s switch.

For subsurface enticement, Mason rigs a YUM Break'N Shad on a 3/0 or 4/0 Owner Jungle Wide Gap hook. This hook’s heavier wire facilitates long casts with a lighter bait, but if he still needs a little more reach, Mason has a strategic tweak.

“I’ll rig a shiny brass swivel about 8 inches ahead of the hook,” he said. “That adds weight, but it allows the bait to settle after a cast.

“The key to the retrieve is I want to twitch that bait on a slack line. I point my rod tip toward the bait with a bow in my line and when I snap my rod tip, that gives you an erratic side-to-side cut. If you twitch the bait on a tight line, that makes it come straight back at you.”

Mason mainly throws the Break'N Shad over gravel bars and along seawalls, but he’ll also use it for follow-up duty.

“If I miss one with the topwater, or if I see the fish schooling, I’ll throw that Break'N Shad,” he said. “I would prefer to get one on that big wide gap hook rather than a treble hook. You get a lot of jumping fish in the fall, and I feel like my chances of landing them are much higher with that soft jerkbait.”

For coaxing strikes from the fish he spots on forward facing sonar, Mason likes the YUM FF Sonar Minnow on a 3/16-ounce YUM FF Sonar Jig Head. He may go up to 1/8-ounce when he needs a longer cast, but he goes as light as possible, because being able to keep the bait above the fish earns more bites.

“I’ll use the 4- or 5-inch bait, but I prefer the 5,” Mason said. “I think you can target the big ones better with the larger bait.

“I like to throw this bait off the end of gravel bars. Also, if you see them schooling but they don’t want to come up midday as it gets brighter, then the minnow becomes more of a player.”

Mason concludes with a word of encouragement and advice. Fall smallmouth are fired up and ready to eat, but experience has taught him that mobility is the autumn ally.

“Don’t be afraid to move around a lot,” he said. “You may pull up on a spot where you caught them the day before, but they’re not there. It’s all bait related and if the bait moves, the smallmouth will move. A lot of times, they haven’t moved far.”

• Heddon One Knocker Spook – Long Casts, effortless walking and an irresistible knocking sound make the One Knocker Spook ideal for fall smallies.
• Heddon Spin’n Image – Slow and steady is the key for maximizing the incredible appeal of a Spin’n Image churning the surface.
• Bomber Long A – Actually a shallow diver, but Mason wakes it on the surface with slow reeling and a high rod tip for fall smallmouth bass.
• War Eagle Buzzbait – This buzzbait has the perfect sound, from Mason’s perspective, and is perfect for finding highly mobile fall fish.