Fall Transition Keys
If it’s not already in your knowledge base fall fishing can be tough; you can spend hours on the water and have little to show for it but if you keep a few things in mind your chances increase. The weather changes constantly, there is very little rain and clouds and there is gobs of natural food for bass to feed on. Add these all up and you can suffer some tough times during the fall fishing.
There are a few things that I try to do to keep my best foot forward everyday on the water; let’s just call them my “musts” of fall fishing. First of all you must keep moving location to location, if you’re not getting bit in 20 minutes or so in one spot go try another. Location can be a real key factor in the fall as the bass constantly move, so your location can be paramount to finding fish. I start just about every fall day working from the deep main river areas to the creeks giving me lots of sampling of depth, current, structure and natural bait. When you do this your chance of a successful day on the water increase tremendously.
The next must for me is just pure visual observation of the surroundings while I am on the water; if I don’t get a sense from the surroundings that an area I am fishing is holding fish I move on. It’s certainly hard to explain what drives this 6th sense and makes me change but there are visuals like water color, clear, murky, or muddy water can be a factor as to whether an area is holding fish. Water temperature, many times in the fall you can be in an area that the water temp is much different from one creek to another when fish are feeding in 65 degree water and your sitting in 70 degree water it’s time to change. Bait is always a key, if you don’t see bait moving or being busted in the fall you’re probably in the wrong location.
Lastly you must be versatile; your best bait in the morning may not work in the evening. Retrieve speed may change drastically as the sun gets high on the horizon; bait size may need to change to attract a bite, the bait you used last week may not work this week. Be versatile and adapt and the fall will be easier.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
www.facebook.com/FishGuntersville
Email: bassguide@comcast.net
Call: 256 759 2270
Capt. Mike Gerry