Fall Bass advice

[JTH528]

Hi I've been bass fishing in southern mi on an inland lake and the bite is very slow. I fish from a boat and have tried various techniques and still won't bite. Any advice on lures or presentations that will help? Thanks for any info!!!

[fishballer06]

Smallmouth water, + fall = Jerkbaits and Blade baits (silver buddy style)

[Boomstick]

Spinnerbaits, crankbaits and jerkbaits are usually great fall fishing lures. If the bite is slow, try a different spot, maybe find a better dock, weeds or fallen tree to fish under etc. 

[WRB]

In the fall bass, both Smallmouth and largemouth move move with the bait when the aquatic green vegetation starts to turn brown. Look for green vegetation breaks in deeper water.

Tom

[Paul Roberts]

Your in transition between summer and fall. Gonna have to find them. Your biggest challenge is not to get dejected. They are still feeding. WRB has the right tack. Weed die-off is likely underway, or a shift to more light tolerant types. But, #1 is to find the prey fishes. At this time there's probably both shallow and deeper scenarios, so you may need to look shallower and deeper than you had been. Spend some time cruising and looking for concentrations of prey fishes. Sunfishes, perch, shiners,... Let us know what you find.

 

Lures... come after you've got the scenario in front of you.

[12poundbass]

4 hours ago, JTH528 said:

Hi I've been bass fishing in southern mi on an inland lake and the bite is very slow. I fish from a boat and have tried various techniques and still won't bite. Any advice on lures or presentations that will help? Thanks for any info!!!

Which color are the bass? Brown or green?

[primetime]

Cover water with a Lipless crankbait and you will find them. Vary the depth, if weeds are an issue, throw a swimbait to cover water or something that always catches fish like a Swim Senko.

 

Throwing an Original Rapala on 6-8lb test and fishing it like a jerkbait or crankbait or topwater is another option that will always catch fish and it draws them in........Hard to beat a Rapala or a shad rap either shallow or #7. A shad rap almost always comes through but I find if I go with light line I get more fish when I can't catch anything.

 

Once you find active fish, they will probably be more than a few, so then you can slow down and fish the way you have most confidence in. Jigs and Plastic worms will always get bites but hard to fish them fast to find them. 

 

Good Luck. If Lake has shad, silver and blue trap is hard to beat. shallow shad rap in shad pattern, or the deeper models if lake is deep. #7 seems to be the best size for some reason.

[Paul Roberts]

Sometimes it's how you fish a bait as much as what you're fishing. If your fish are fished over much, triggering strikes can be pretty important. Here's a recent video that shows some tips on fishing swim jigs and crankbaits, two GoTo's for me in my waters.