Move Look Adapt in Fall

Move Look Adapt

With the tough fall conditions and the fish in a funk until they turn on for the fall bite there are a few things that one can try and live bye during the time period; that is to move, look and adapt to the conditions the lake offers you. There are always difficult times in bass fishing and the fall is one of the most challenging and being aware that in the fall transition the fish can be all over the lake from deep to shallow to rocks, grass and all in-between is the reason you must be on the move.

If you move from one type of cover or depth to another your chance of finding active fish increase substantially; yes, you must consider all the different possibilities like depth, structure, points and flats but moving allows you to test them all. Change baits but I suggest you start with a bait that covers water like a lipless crank bait so you can quickly eliminate water and find active fish.

Be aware of what’s around you, one of the key ingredients to fall fishing is bait fish, if you don’t see the bait either on your electronics or visually then you’re probably in the wrong location as there is no time of the year that the bass follow the bait more than the fall. Activity on the water is certainly one of the keys, so also consider birds diving like seagulls as a key, also looking for the cormorants chasing bait as they will lead you to the bass. Bait being chased or schooling fish is one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle to finding fish.

If you fish with me in the fall you will notice that I have many different rod and bait set-ups on my deck; it gets crowded on my deck because of it. However, to save time I put many different set-ups on my deck to be able to change baits quickly and find a presentation that works. The oddity is that presentation of a bait working one minute can be rendered useless the next forcing you to keep changing baits as you search areas and depths and cover. You must adapt in the fall to be successful.