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Downsizing for a Better Fall Bass Bite

Learn how to find the bass this time of year and how to choose and use the best fall bass fishing lures.

When summer turns to autumn, days grow shorter, and nights grow longer. The water temperature drops, and as favorable oxygen levels spread throughout the water column, largemouth bass start roaming. One day they’re deep; the next day they’re shallow. The day after that they’re suspended at middle depths. Pinpointing and catching bass and choosing the best fall bass fishing lures can be as frustrating as trying to fillet a fish with a butter knife.

So, what’s an angler to do? One good idea is to consult with folks who are on the water more than most this season – like fishing guides and pro anglers. Years of experience give these fishermen a knack for dealing with the season’s challenges.

Two such people are Dustin and Chris Elder of Mount Ida, Arkansas. Dustin is the pro staff manager for PRADCO Fishing, which operates Lurenet.com. His father, Chris, is one of those pro staff anglers and lifelong angler. The elder Elder has been guiding bass anglers on Arkansas’ Lake Ouachita for decades, so he knows the best fall bass fishing lures and where to look for the fish

Both spend time on the water year-round, and together they have more than 50 years of bass-fishing experience. We asked them to share some of their extensive knowledge of fall bass fishing lures to help Lurenet readers improve catches this time of year.

Fall Fishing is Tops

autumn lakeshoreautumn lakeshore

“Of all the seasons—spring, summer, fall and winter—fall is the best in our opinion because the bass are coming off a lethargic period and are hungry,” Chris said. “Bass are also feeding up for the lean months of winter ahead, so it’s a really, really fun time to be out there. The fish just seem easier to catch this season, if you can find them. But the major key is finding them.”

Although both have fished scores of lakes throughout the country, the Elders spend the most bass-fishing time on nearby Lake Ouachita, a deep, clear, 40,000-acre Corps of Engineers reservoir surrounded by national forest lands just west of Hot Springs National Park. This vast impoundment contains every type of bass cover and structure imaginable, from rocky creek channels and wooded flats to inundated humps and beds of green aquatic vegetation. It’s among the few Arkansas waters with healthy populations of all three black bass species – largemouths, smallmouths and spots.

Trophy-class fish are common in Lake Ouachita. It’s not unusual to catch a 7- or 8-pound largemouth, and bigger ones sometimes are boated. Big smallmouths are present, but hard to come by. Yet the scenic lake has lots of spotted bass to 4 pounds that savvy anglers commonly catch. The methods the Elders use to find and catch their quarry here can be applied on similar waters throughout the United States.

Run & Gun

morning boating to fishing spotmorning boating to fishing spot

“My dad likes to jump from one spot to another relentlessly in the fall because bass often are positioned on one specific type of cover or structure this season,” Dustin said. “This could be flats near creek channels, channel swings, brush piles with schooling spotted bass or, my favorite locales, points and humps where schooling fish are chasing shad. Dad taught me to sit on the graph and eye it closely to find where baitfish and bass are congregating before starting to fish. Garmin’s LiveScope sonar has made this easier because anglers can quickly find brush piles and other spots holding deep bass as they are locating a school on the trolling motor.”

Chris likes to be on the water fishing any time the autumn weather is pleasant. “Sunny and 70 with a light wind blowing is perfect,” he said. “But we try to be out there regardless of weather conditions because it changes so much this season. If it’s super windy or a bad cold front rolls in, we just bundle up. Then it’s time to reach for the heavier bottom-relating options such as a YUM Scottsboro Swimbait with a heavy jig head to coax bass out of brush, or a drop shot with a heavy sinker.

Under ideal conditions with light winds, we tend to cover water and look for bass breaking or shad balling up near the surface and catch them on topwater lures. Bass can now be anywhere from the surface to the bottom because the dropping water temperature makes them really get active. It’s just like restaurants that turn down the air conditioner so you’re more comfortable and will eat more. Bass are the same way.”

Shad Drive the Action

During autumn, bass begin keying on baitfish super heavily and can be seen just about everywhere, chasing shad on top.

“Unfortunately, they become so keyed on baitfish that you can’t fool them with a standard plug like a Heddon Super Spook or even the Super Spook Jr.,” Dustin notes. “Instead, it’s best to downsize your lures and go with something like the 3-inch Super Spook BOYO, the smallest Rebel Jumpin’ Minnow or, what we fish with most often, the 3-inch, 1/4-ounce Zara Puppy because it is tiny and silent.”

The Elders use spinning tackle to fish with these undersized topwater plugs—typically a 7-foot, medium-action rod paired with a 3000-size reel and 8- to 10-pound monofilament line. When using bottom baits, the same spinning combos work great, but 8-pound fluorocarbon line is preferred.

“We start by looking around points, flats, brush piles, islands and other areas where we know bass school up a lot,” Chris said. “Channel swings—areas where creek or river channels turn, run along a bank and then turn back away from the bank—are among the most productive spots. But if we don’t find bass on those, we keep running from one location to the next until we see disturbances on the surface that tell us schooling bass are gorging on shad there.”

Down Deep Tactics

YUM Scottsboro swimbaitYUM Scottsboro swimbait

When the bass go down, the small 3-inch YUM Scottsboro Swimbait that Chris mentioned earlier often entices a bite.

“We fish it on a heavy single jig like a 1/4- or 3/8-ounce ball-head jig,” Dustin said. “The technique is to locate hard cover down deep such as brush or a point and then try to ‘sneak’ the lure past the cover, slowly reeling so the tail is barely kicking.

“Another sleeper pick is a wacky-rigged 5-inch YUM Dinger,” he said. “That may sound dumb for this situation, but you can just cast it out where the bass were schooling, let it sink slowly down and they will nail it! Also, a War Eagle shaky-head jig paired with a 4-inch YUM Swim’N Dinger works great hopped along the bottom.”

Many bass anglers would consider the tiny lures and light tackle we’ve discussed too small to handle trophy bass. But the Elders certainly catch their share of the big ones and lots of smaller bass besides.

“Small lures appeal to all sizes of bass,” Chris said. “Big lures typically just appeal to bigger bass. Using downsized lures is all about getting more bites—big fish, small fish and in-between fish.”

“If you hook a big one, you just have to rely on your spinning reel and be sure the drag is set loose so the bass can run and tug to tire itself out,” Dustin concluded. “It’s honestly way more fun on light gear!”

Top-to-Bottom Bass for Fall Bass

Tail Weighted Boy HowdyTail Weighted Boy Howdy
  • Up Top, Cotton Cordell Tail Weighted Boy Howdy: When you want a topwater lure with a different look and action, the Boy Howdy shines. This 4-1/2-inch plug sits vertically in the water with the tail down when at rest. When you jerk the rod tip, it jumps forward and spits water like a fleeing shad or wounded minnow. Fish it slowly to maximize time in the strike zone.
  • Mid-Depths, Bomber Model 5A: This 1/4-ounce crankbait dives 4 to 6 feet deep but has a small body size of just 1-3/4 inches, making it a perfect crankbait for downsizing during tough fall fishing conditions.
  • On Bottom, Gene Larew Tattle Tail Worm: This versatile 6-inch soft-plastic lure features a lively paddle tail that goes absolutely wild with the slightest movement. Drop shot it. Shake it. Swim it. It nabs bass in all sorts of situations.