Fall 2020
Yamamoto Craw Options Fat Baby Craw
Yamamoto Curly Tail Worm
Yamamoto Zako
®
Yamamoto Craw Options Psycho Dad
Yamamoto Sanshouo
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ocial distancing: yeah, fish don’t
follow those guidelines — especially not in
the fall. That, says California standout Bub Tosh, is
precisely what makes this such an incredibly
productive time of year.
“I feel like the fall is some of the best fishing
you can possibly have because the fish school up so
heavily and feed so heavily on bait,” Tosh said. “From
the Delta, to Clear Lake, to some of our Motherlode
places that are just full of different kinds of bait that
also schools up. So, you have huge schools of food that
collide with these huge schools of bass.
“And it’s well known that bass school by size, so
you’ll hear people talk about finding a ‘wolf pack’; that’s
just a pack of big fish that have grouped together to go
crush bait.”
Knowing your local forage is key, Tosh notes, as
this obviously guides bait choices and tells you much
about where the bass may be hunting. They could
be after shad, smelt, hitch, trout, Kokanee, bluegill or
some combination thereof.
“They don’t really use the bottom this time of
year, they don’t use a specific structure and they don’t
have a certain depth,” Tosh said. “They could be really
shallow or suspended over deep water. It’s just related
to (the local forage), which schools up in huge orbs
of fish and those big bass live right in the middle of
them.”
WHEN IT’S RIGHT
Fall weather can be a fickle thing, but in just about any situation, the opportunity level remains high. Obviously, post-frontal days marred with bluebird conditions can put a damper on the deal, but Tosh also points out the importance of moon phases.
“I want to be away from the full moon because (during this phase), the fish feed all night and they don’t bite as good during the day,” he said.
Describing his ideal scenario, Tosh explained he wants the morning cold enough to require a jacket and a little fog indicating the declining water temperature that spurs the fall movements. He knows the bass will chew during the rainy, overcast conditions pretending a front, but Tosh prefers sun on the water, as this warm helps position baitfish and the bass chasing them.
“I like good, clear weather because I want to run around a look for the baitfish,” Tosh said. “Also, wind is your friend in the fall because the main things you’re throwing are (shad/bait imitators).
“I like to check numerous (areas) and fish off my graph. When you go over those huge clouds of bait sometimes, they’re so big sometimes your graph blacks out and starts blinking and it can’t even read through them. That’s when you know you’re around
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