Now is the Time to Take Advantage of the Fall Bass Frenzy

A lovely fall day on Northern California’s stunning Clear Lake found my buddy and me working our way through the Buckingham area. Prospecting residential waterfronts, we saw the calm waters teeming with schools of hefty hitch. Gotta be fish there, right? It didn’t take long to confirm my hunch, while also demonstrating the opportunistic feeding instinct that drives fall bass.

From the back deck, I was slinging a Gan Craft Jointed Claw glide bait, and as the boat eased past a large dock, I lined up a lobbing cast that would trace the front edge. Hitch swirled along the same course, so my bait had significant competition.

I had been awaiting a phone call, so when my phone rang, I held my rod in one hand and answered the call with the other. As I chatted, the glide bait fluttered down through the hitch school. Evidently, that dead-stick motion caught the eye of a bass looking for an easy bite, because the sudden, hammer-like impact nearly yanked the rod from my left hand.

Thankfully, I avoided a very costly slip and instead capitalized on a classic fall feeding opportunity. Tossing the phone in a seat, I got a fighting grip on the rod and reeled in a 7 1/2-pound Clear Lake beauty.

Not every fall encounter follows such a dramatic course, but this is the season of opportunity for those who understand the patterns and the corresponding presentations. Whether you’re fishing the California Delta’s tidal waters, a highland reservoir or a warm desert lake, fall days have the potential to be memory makers.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

Following the summer solstice (aka the longest day of the year), the daily photoperiod steadily decreases as we approach the autumnal equinox when day and night have equal duration. After that, days become shorter than nights as the year heads toward winter’s leanness.

This fact is hard-wired into the bass’ instinct. They know what’s coming and they know that survival requires them to strap on the feedbag and get to chewing.

“They’re coming up from their summer holes and feeding up for winter,” says California pro Luke Johns. “It’s a fun time to fish because you can fish fast, but you can still catch them on slow stuff. It’s a free season for whatever you want to do.”

If it sounds like a blast, it sure can be. Truth be told, though, fall bass fishing is not without its downside. As Johns points out, the real challenge stems from the very point that makes this such a fun season: The fish are on a nearly constant baitfish chase.

“The fish can be a bit scattered,” Johns says. “In the summer, you have a lot of those offshore areas where the fish are grouped up, but in the fall, they tend to spread out. The nice thing about fishing fast is that you can cover a lot of water and run into more fish that way.

“I always start with something fast like a rip bait because it’s all about finding out where those fish are. You can put a couple of fish in the boat, then you can slow down and work back through the area with a finesse bait, like a dropshot.”

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Feeding certainly intensifies during the fall, but fish will move around and moods will change throughout the day.

Tournament angler and Bass Union Baits owner Joseph Orozco summarizes it thusly: “Whether I’m burning my buzzbait, slow-rolling my A-rig, strolling with our Sharp Shooter Ball Heads, or dragging my Finesse Football Jig, fall is all about staying versatile and matching how the fish are feeding that day.”

Feeding windows can occur any time of day, but bass are still bass, so temperatures and sky conditions matter. The script varies from lake to lake, but a few keys will help keep you on track.

Morning Matters

The fall months can offer amazing daybreak topwater action when low light and forage vulnerability offer prime opportunities. Western stick and Bassmaster pro Ish Monroe often starts his day with a River2Sea Rover, a walking bait with a cupped face that combines aggressive water spitting with a choppy, side-to-side slashing action.

A great way to put a big icebreaker in the boat, the fall topwater game isn’t restricted solely to the early hours. Monroe commonly keeps a Rover on deck all day.

“You can throw it in the morning, in the middle of the day, you can throw it in the evening, and you’re gonna catch fish on it,” he says. “A spinnerbait usually is a first-thing-in-the-morning bite, unless you have cloud cover, rain, wind or all the above. Same goes for a Chatterbait.”

Orozco’s fall morning plan starts with a Bass Union Buzzbait, but includes a strategic finesse element. Keeping a 1/16-ounce Bass Union Weedless Darter Head with a finesse worm handy gives him a quick follow-up with a slow, subtle fall near the strike zone.

“That finesse approach can seal the deal when they won’t fully commit up top,” Orozco says.

Midday Moves

When high sun and calm conditions make the late-morning to early-afternoon hours a less active period, Monroe flips or punches a Texas-rigged Missile Baits D-Bomb into hyacinth rafts or matted grass for fish that’ll bite out of reaction. Another option common to the desert lakes is working a topwater through shade pockets.

After starting his day with a frog or a walking topwater, Johns usually looks for the fish to pull back from the shallow feeding zones. This is when he’ll flip nearby cover with a big, water-displacing Yamamoto Cowboy or, when the fish are reacting better to a smaller profile, a Yamamoto Flapping Hog.

When selecting his midday spots, Johns knows that current areas (tidal, river or wind) are ideal for moving food through the feeding zones, while spots with convenient access from shallow water to deep see steady traffic.

“As the sun gets higher, I target deeper water and areas with structure like ledges, drop-offs and bait balls,” Orozco says. “I’ll use my Sharp Shooter Ball Heads with a minnow-style bait to stroll around the baitfish, or go with my Finesse Swimbait Head paired with a paddle tail.

“When fish are holding tight to structure, I’m either dragging my Finesse Football Jig over rock or pitching my Casting Jig into cover like wood. If they’re suspended or deep, I’ll also mix in a jigging spoon to trigger a reaction bite.”

Afternoon Angles

Monroe expects another concentrated period of aggression late in the day, as warm, stable water temperatures combine with sundown’s approach rings the dinner bell. Covering water and looking for reaction bites, he’s typically throwing a D&M Double Hammer Buzzbait around wood, rocks, grass, docks and any structure that’s in the water.

Noting that fall bass often push shallower again as they feed up before dark, Orozco looks forward to a good late-day bank bite. Similar to the morning run, leveraging the food mood is the name of the game.

“If there’s wind or low light, I’m throwing a buzzbait or an underspin to trigger aggressive strikes,” Orozco says. “If they pull back a bit, I’ll slow-roll a finesse swimbait head or stroll a Bass Union Sharp Shooter Ball Head near bait schools. And when they’re pinned to cover, a finesse football jig or casting jig lets me pick apart high-percentage areas.”

The early-afternoon period finds Johns keeping his flipping stick handy, but he’ll also work in a more subtle offering. Dropshots are Western staples, but he’s also big on a 3.3 Keitech Swing Impact Fat swimbait on a light jig head.

“Afternoons can be a slowdown period [until sunset], so I can still cover a bit of water with that bait, but I’m using something with a finesse presentation,” says Orozco. “You can adjust it based on your day. You can fish it slow if you need to, but you can also cover a decent amount of water.

“That’s a great way for you to continue catching a lot of fish, and every now and then you’ll luck into a pretty good fish doing that.”

The late-afternoon period is Johns’ favorite, as lower light and prominent shade lines create prime feeding windows. Tournaments require him to strategize for all periods of a day, but when he’s fun-fishing, Johns’ fall trips typically start after dinner.

“A lot of times at my home waters of Folsom Lake, I’ll just go out in the evening,” Johns says. “You have warming temperatures and low light, so you can have the best fishing that time of day.”

VARIABLES AND ADJUSTMENTS

With Western habitats varying from desert lakes to higher altitude reservoirs, fall conditions run diverse. As Johns points out, you have to stay on top of the weather patterns and capitalize on the active periods.

“The overall temperature is massively important because it can vary so much in the fall,” Johns says. “You can have cold days, or you can still have some really warm days. I enjoy fishing those warm days the most because, typically, the fish are most active during those days, while an early cold snap really shuts down those fish. Also, wind is your friend in the fall. You’re catching a lot of reaction fish, so having any wind can really help. Even just a little ripple on the water can take your day from semi-decent to really good.”

Monroe looks for fall’s first rainy cold front to launch the feeding season, but he’s mindful of rainy runoffs and their turbid impacts. If clarity suffers, he’ll throw a flashy spinnerbait or a River2Sea Biggie squarebill.

“Fall bass are all about bait and water temperature,” Orozco says. “Wind direction can move bait into key areas, so I adjust by fishing where that bait gets pushed—points, pockets or creek channels. If the bite slows, I’ll downsize or slow down with a Weedless Darter Head or Finesse Football Jig to keep my bait in the zone longer. Being able to adapt is huge in the fall transition.”

BIG BAITS, BIG BITES

• Plus-size offering for fall bass.

Luke Johns knows the fall feeding frenzy can open the door to serious bites approaching the “personal best” range. Pretty much any cast with any bait could deliver such potential, but he likes to up his chances by occasionally breaking out the hefty baits.

Johns is a big fan of 8- to 10-inch swimbaits with line-through or harness designs. Among his choices are Huddleston and Osprey models. He’s also keen to throw 6- to 8-inch glide baits like the Roman Made Negotiator, Gan Craft Jointed Claw and River2Sea S-Waver.

“With the big baits, you’re not catching a lot of fish. But if you’re trophy fishing, this is a good way to go,” he says.

Other hard-bait options include the Strike King Mega Dawg topwater, Megabass Kanata jerkbait, Megabass Big M 4.0 crankbait and Bass Union Finesse A-rig.

A Texas-rigged 10-inch worm like the 10.5-inch Zoom Ol’ Monster is generally considered more of a summertime deal, but the “big worm” can be the sleeper that scores big bites when bass are schooling on fall baitfish. Often, larger fish hover below the surface fracas and pick off wounded baits that descend through the water column. A big worm rippling into the depths is often an easy sell. Ditto for a wacky-rigged 6-inch Senko.

---

• This article was featured in the October 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

---