There are two times of the year when bass fishing is at its best -- early spring and in the fall before winter sets in.
Fall is my favorite, because not only is the temperature of the air outside cooling down, but the water temperature is cooling down and the fish have a greater amount of oxygen. These cooler temperatures allow the bass to become more active, raises their metabolism, and causes them to feed more often. The Bass are usually schooled together and will hit just about anything you throw at them, although there are certain things you still need to know to be more effective.
You need to investigate The natural forage of the water you're going to fish. Bass will eat natural forage in any body of water so the color patterns and size of your baits should look as much as possible like the natural forage.
Find the areas where aquatic plant life is located. As fall progresses and the weather cools, the vegetation in the shallow areas will start dying off. When these plants die they consume more oxygen than they produce, making the area unsuitable for fish. This makes the bass move to deeper water where the vegetation is still green. Often you can find bass in the remaining strands of green weeds found in deep water late in the fall.
Get a map if possible, or find the areas where deep water is close to shallow water. The temperature will change much faster in the shallow water than in the deeper water, so if a cold front comes in it will affect the shallow water first. These areas are called comfort zones. Bass will normally be in shallow water areas that are close to deep-water areas. The deeper water will hold more stable temperatures, causing the bass to move down in the more constant temperature.
Most artificial bait patterns will work during the fall, but the following are some of my favorite baits to use for fall fishing:
Spinner Baits - Slow-rolling or work like a worm along the bottom.
Top Water Baits like Zara Spooks, floating minnows and chug bugs)
Crankbaits - deep - working off the slopes
Lipless crankbaits like rattle traps and cordell spots
Plastics - curly tail worms, crawdads and lizards.
And if you happen to take this time of year to wet your hook and catch a few trout, my second favorite fish -- I won't hold it against you!
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