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Site Fishing In The Fall

When bass move into the shallows to spawn in the spring, sight fishing becomes one of the most effective methods for fishing in clear water.

Since bass also move to the shallows in the fall, sight fishing works again if you take a different approach to targeting the fish. Bassmaster Elite Series pro Alton Jones rates sight fishing as one of his strengths, which he tries in clear-water fisheries from spring through fall. He notes there are two ways to sight fish for bass in the fall: finding a specific fish holding next to cover; and watching for bass following his lure or cruising in the shallows.

In the spring, Jones usually keeps running his trolling motor and doesn’t cast until he sees a bedding fish. However in the fall the Texas pro works his lures along a stretch and happens to see bass following his lures.  “It can happen with a variety of different lures,” he says. “You are throwing a topwater or jerkbait and will have fish follow it and not hit it. And at other times you’ll just be fishing along and just happen to see bass.”

Spring bass seem to stay stationary more often in the shallows since the fish are there to spawn, but fall bass seem to cruise and feed more. Jones thinks fall fish stay in shallower layers of water (whether close to the bank or suspended over deep water) because this part of the water column provides better oxygen content during this time of year.

If locked on its nest, a spawning bass is less apt to spook, but cruising bass in the fall are pretty skittish. Jones believes one of the keys to fall sight fishing is to spot these fish at the outer limits of your vision range. “Even if they can see you really well, if they are far enough away from you they won’t spook yet,” says Jones. “They are not inherently scared of a boat, they are scared of motion and noises and that sort of thing. So stealth becomes a big part of the game.”

Jones’s stealth tips include minimizing noise by stepping softly in the boat and making sure your lure enters the water quietly. “When you are trying to lead a bass on a cast it is amazing how sensitive they can be to a foreign object entering the water,” he warns.

Operating the trolling motor correctly is another stealth trick Jones employs. If he sees a bass and he’s running his trolling motor, Jones keeps his foot on the pedal.  “The gut reaction is to take your foot off the trolling motor but that is the instant they will spook,” he cautions. If his trolling motor is off when he sees a bass, Jones will let his boat drift while he tries to catch the fish.

Since he’s usually running his trolling motor at a slow, constant speed, Jones will keep the boat moving and cast to any fish he sees. If the bass fails to take his lure as he passes by, Jones observes the surroundings where he spotted the fish.  Once Jones determines his boat is out of the fish’s sight range, he turns around and casts back to the area. “That is a really effective way for me to catch them in the fall. I really try to notice exactly what the fish is sitting by, why the fish was there and if there is a chance that the fish will go back there,” he says.  “I still consider that sight fishing because the only reason I am fishing for that bass is because I have spotted it before.”

A good pair of sunglasses is essential for fall sight fishing to spot bass at long distances.  Jones relies on Costa Del Mar sunglasses with a tint called sunrise.  “It is a yellowish color and I even use it when the sun is out because that yellow lens diminishes browns and highlights greens,” says Jones. “So when I’m wearing sunglasses with that lens, largemouth just jump out like neon signs.”

Having a trained eye is also important for spotting bass following a lure. When working any lure back to the boat, Jones trains himself to look 3 or 4 feet beyond his lure after it comes into sight. “A lot of times I will spot a fish and just by knowing a fish is there I can vary the retrieve of my lure with that cast.”  This gives him a chance to trigger a strike from the following fish before his lure reaches the boat.

Tempting a sighted fish to bite can be difficult in the fall, so Jones has to be more selective with his lures than he is in the spring. “That time of year is usually a finesse deal for me,” he discloses. “Very seldom do I take a big 1/2-ounce jig with a big chunk on the back of it and throw to one of those fish and get them to bite.”

His favorite lures for fall sight fishing include a 3-inch Yum Dinger on a drop shot rig, a 4-inch Yum Dinger rigged wacky style and a finesse worm (rigged with either a small weight or weightless). If he sees schooling activity, Jones will make long casts to the fish with a clear Super Spook Jr. “Even though it is a big bait with big hooks it provides a smaller visible profile in the water,” he describes.

Whenever he sees bass cruising in the shallows, Jones tries to predict where the fish is heading and leads it with a cast.  How far he leads the cast depends on the depth of the fish.  “I want to give my bait time to sink to the bottom before the fish gets there,” Jones reveals. “When the fish gets to where my bait is I want my bait to be stationary. I don’t want to give the fish any excuse to start associating that lure with my presence.”

When the fish moves to within 3 feet of his lure, Jones twitches his rod to make the lure quiver. “If I can get that scenario to happen I am almost always going to get that fish to look at my lure and probably half the time I am going to catch that fish,” he says.

Targeting sighted fish in the spring helps Jones catch numbers of bass, but fall sight fishing produces quality bass for the Texas pro. You can catch these bonus fish too if you use a stealthy approach and keep a close vigil on the shallows.