By Scott Norton
Cool nights have triggered the bass to begin getting ready for winter. They are packing on weight and consuming as many calories as possible. Plan on reaction bites when planning ahead for a lake trip. They are moving off shore to chase and ambush shad. It’s the most efficient way to fatten up.
Largemouth will tend to school up and work together to corral shad in pockets and up against points. You’ll notice all the blow-ups in the middle of the river channels as they push the shad further and further to the backs of creeks. You’ll want to use baits that can cover lots of water, such as crank baits, swim baits, jerk baits, and top water walkers. In some situations like schooling fish down deep is where you use lipless cranks, flutter spoons, jigs, ned rigs, worms, and flukes. Just remember, the smaller bass chase bait while the big, smarter bass eat what falls to the bottom.
I find myself loading the boat with every rig I own because they are biting everything. When the bite dies down, I switch to a new bait and setup then get them fired back up again. This season, we’ve had hot weather and bluebird skies most of the time so the bite has been timid at times. They have been suspending during these times but there are baits for that, like the spy bait. This bait can be used on a spinning setup that you would use for drop shots. This technique works so well that you can force them into a frenzy. If you don’t have a lot of setups, you can just take a medium heavy rod and throw more on that set up than any other rig. It’s by far the most versatile setup you can own. The only thing that would hold you back is the line selection on that set up. If you were to take an extra reel or a spool loaded with different line, you can switch and change up your setup very quickly. Some people like to load braid on a reel and just tie on different leaders to suit their setup needs.
If you’re a beginner, keep it simple. Start off with a bait you have confidence in and fish it in different ways. Plastics are a great way to be versatile while keeping it simple. Let’s take the fluke for instance, you can rig it weightless and fish it on topwater while pausing and letting it spiral down to the bottom like a dying shad. Put a weight on it and jig it off the bottom where the big ones are. You can also setup a drop shot rig and shake it just off the bottom. This can work for lots of plastics. You can only limit yourself by not doing your homework.
Scott Norton is a native of Western North Carolina. Born in Asheville, NC, he is a long time avid hunter, angler, and weekend warrior. He is a member of Southern Raft Supply’s prostaff team representing them in his Jackson Kayak Coosa FD.