Cool Weather Patterns Guaranteed to Catch More and Bigger Bass.

Cool Weather Patterns Guaranteed to Catch More and Bigger Bass.

By John Snyder

www.bigbassbaits.net

When water temperatures drop below 50 degrees, largemouth bass can be hard to figure out. Nobody knows everything about catching Mr. Bigmouth Bass, except maybe K.V.D, but it can be as basic as knowing what to do and when.

Late fall bass fishing on most lakes is shad oriented. The most important aspect in finding and catching bass is knowing how to find the lake’s food chain. When lakes are cooling down, it is time to stop fishing offshore and start fishing close to shore. Remember, when the food chain is shallow the bass are shallow. How Shallow? Well, many years ago while I was fishing a B.A.S.S. tournament, I heard a story that helped me understand how shallow is shallow!

A veteran pro drew a co-angler partner and immediately thought the guy was nuts. The co-angler wanted to fish a creek that was so shallow there were cows walking in it. The pro said, “There can’t be any fish here.” His partner just laughed and taught that pro a lesson I will never forget. That shallow section of the creek was loaded with giant largemouth bass! It was also loaded with big shad, which those big bass followed all the way back to the cow’s feet. Both fishermen ended up cashing big checks after winning the tournament.

That story changed the way I fish forever!

Don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t work in all areas of your lake. Eventually you will learn to pattern the food chain transition. Once you do, it’s time to discuss what to fish with. The key is to match the hatch. If there are threadfin shad, throw baits that look like that type of shad.

Try and fish as fast as you can, covering lots of water. Once you find them, pattern them. Try to figure out why fish are in a particular creek. If there are fish in a north-facing creek with wind blowing in it, chances are 90 percent of the north-facing creeks will have shad and bass.

Trick No. 2 concerns lake turnover. Ever fish when just about every creek has bubbles rising from the bottom and a stinking brown film on the surface? The lake is turning over. This is when the lower layer of water mixes with the upper layer in a short time span. In most cases, turnover only lasts a few days, but if it’s the day you go fishing, how do you adjust?

Use your electronics and start hunting for balls of shad. From the area you discovered the turnover, work out of the creek toward the main lake. Concentrate on visible structure and only work areas that have shad.

Remember to match the hatch. Use swimbaits, chatterbaits, crawdad- and shad-colored swim jigs. Try flipping jigs and jigging spoons when fishing balls of shad.

When turnover is complete, the warm water will be on the bottom and the coldest water will be on top. Once everything stabilizes, you can go back to shallow bass tactics up until deep winter when the shad return to deep water.

        John Snyder is a tournament pro, guide and owner of Big Bass Baits. You too can buy the same custom, hand-painted fishing lures made for the elite fishing pros. For more information, facts and fishing tips, check out www.bigbassbaits.net. Reach Big John at bigbassbaits.net@gmail.com or call 404-462-2710. They are offering 20 percent off all baits until Jan. 5 (code BBB20).