Fall 2023
crankbait rod and reel set up, I like a 7’6” Medium Heavy Moderate Fast with a 7.1.1 reel on 15-pound fluorocarbon.
WB: What do you look for when targeting bass in each of these types of fisheries?
URIBE: On a reservoir, I target points or grass flats. On shallow grassy lakes, I target sparse tules.
LEE: For reservoirs, I like to start on the main lake points to determine if there is still a thermocline line. Once I have determined the depth of the thermocline, I concentrate on fishing above that depth. I like looking for saddles, high spots, slow tapering points and choke points. On shallow grass lakes, I look for bays that have the healthiest grass, I target high spots, visible cover, and depressions on flats.
WB: What are your top five lures for fall fishing?
URIBE: I prefer to use a white buzzbait paired with a white horny toad. Also, I will mix it up with a walking bait like a Vixen in a clear hue. The S-Waver in the bone color can get those bigger bites when the bass don’t want to crush a topwater bait. The ChatterBait in a shad pattern paired with a Reaction Innovation spicy beaver for a trailer can help fill a limit. A ripbait in the ghost minnow color with long pauses can draw those finicky fish. A power drop-shot with a six-incj Roboworm and a 3/16-ounceVoss weight always catches fish.
LEE: My top five lures for fishing during the fall consist of a lipless crankbait, jig, deep diving crankbait, jerk bait, and a topwater walking lure.
WB: How do you locate bass during the fall.
URIBE: I look for bird activity such as:
• feeding coots (helps locate grassy areas)
• blue herons (helps locate shallow bait fish)
• Western Grebes (helps locate deeper bait balls)
Each gives me an indication to throw different lures such as S-waver or Vixen over submerged grassy areas, buzzbait for shallow areas and ripbaits, ChatterBaits or power drop-shots for deeper or suspended fish.
Then it’s about finding the right cadence to working the lures to trigger those fish to bite. Once you trigger that bite, pay attention to how you were working the bait and what it was doing at the time the fish crushed the lure. Repeat that again, once I get at least three bites on that same lure/ retrieve then I know that is the cadence the fish want.
LEE: I look for bait, birds and oxygen. Bait is relative to your body of water. Some lakes have little to no shad; thus, the bass will be feeding primarily on panfish or crawfish. I have even seen bass spawn late in the year and feed on bass fry in certain situations.
Birds are great visual cues for finding bait. However, it is important to look for the correct kinds of birds. I like to look for heron and egrets as they mainly feed off the shoreline. Cormorants are an honorable mention as well. However, they tend to dive in the water to chase the bait around to feed. I have found less success in catching multiple bass around them. Oxygen is a key factor in finding where the bait is and at what depth the fish will stay until the thermocline line is no longer present.
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