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Weeding out fall bass

 
Weeds are wonderful spots to search for bass when the water is warm, but some anglers shy away from this type of cover during autumn when leaves on the trees and aquatic vegetation start turning brown.

Weeds dying in the fall causes oxygen depletion in some areas that can lead to poor fishing, but Bassmaster Elite Series pro Tim Horton knows some dead vegetation can be just as good as the green stuff.

“Some of the backwater areas when the weeds are dying will have some pH problems, but out on the main lake where there is current, that will not be an issue,” said Horton, who concentrates on fishing weeds until the water temperature falls into the low 50s. “The fish will tend to go the weeds in the backs of creeks in the fall but if there is good ample cover on the main lake you can still catch them there.”

Horton believes the type of lake determines where the best weed action will be in the fall. Baitfish will migrate to the shallow weeds on lakes with main lake flats, but on deep reservoirs the biggest concentration of baitfish activity will be in the vegetation at the backs of creeks. The weeds become ideal hideouts for fall bass waiting to ambush shad.

“The big fish really like that heavy cover so you can really catch a giant fish out of the weeds then.”

Autumn’s cooler weather allows bass to roam freely through the weeds at all depths.   

“That is one of the unique things about the fall, you can catch fish from the surface to 10 feet deep in the vegetation. The water temperature starts to get the same throughout the water column, and I vary the depth by the day and location that I am fishing. The fish will get a little higher up in the weeds in the fall with the cooler water.”

Horton’s favorite vegetation for fall fishing is hydrilla, but he also likes milfoil and water willows, an emergent vegetation that grows along the bank. Aquatic vegetation that has been growing all summer reaches its high point in the fall, and bass tend to suspend in the weeds then.

A1/2-ounce buzz bait becomes Horton’s primary lure for coaxing these suspended bass from the weeds. He opts for either a black buzzer with a black blade or a white version with a gold blade.
  
“A topwater bait can really be dynamite too in the fall on the outside edges of the grass,”

However, he thinks the buzzbait is a more practical choice because the lure glides through the tops of the vegetation better than topwater plugs.

The nine-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier retrieves his buzzbait on 50-pound braided line or 17-pound fluorocarbon and keeps the lure running at a steady pace above the weed tops. The buzzbait pattern usually remains productive for Horton until the water temperature drops below 57 degrees.

Whenever he sees a lot of surface activity in the weeds, Horton will buzz a hollow-bodied frog across the top of the weeds. If a bass blows up and misses his buzzbait or frog, Horton follows up on the next cast with a Yum Money Minnow swim bait rigged with a 5/0 weighted hook.

“I try to cast it four feet beyond where the blowup was and bring it back through there.”

Other lures Horton tosses to the weeds in the fall include spinnerbaits, jigs and lipless crankbaits.He favors a 1/2-ounce chartreuse-and-white Booyah spinnerbait with tandem No. 4 willow-leaf spinnerbaits because the willow-leaf blades cut through the weeds easier than other blade types.

“If the grass is close to the surface I will fish it around the edge of the weeds pretty quickly up close to the top,” Horton explained. “But if the grass is below the surface I will fish it a little slower and tick the top of the grass.”

A one-ounce Booyah jig works best for Horton when he needs to punch his lure through matted grass. If the weeds are sparse, he switches to a 1/2-ounce jig for flipping around the weed edges.  He matches a black-and-blue jig with a green pumpkin 3 1/2-inch Yum Chunk. The Alabama angler swims his jig through sparse grass, but pitches to holes and lets the jig fall straight down in thick vegetation.

When the fish are most active in the grass, Horton throws either 1/2-ounce Super Spots or XCalibur Rattlebaits. Horton favors the Spot for running above thick vegetation, but he chooses the Rattlebait for sparse grass because he can retrieve it faster than the Super Spot and cover more water. Retrieving both lipless crankbaits at a pace that makes the lures tick the grass triggers the most strikes for Horton.

Fishing weeds in the fall can be one of the easiest ways to catch bass if an angler uses the right lure. Horton notices the biggest mistake some anglers make when fishing weeds is that they constantly get tangled in the weeds because they are using too heavy of a lure. Downsizing to a smaller version of the same lure will keep the bait in the strike zone long enough for bass to inhale it before it bogs down in the weeds.

Where to fish in long stretches of weeds can also be puzzling to a novice angler. When Horton encounters this situation, he looks for something different in the weeds, which usually holds fish. Some of the weed variations he targets include weed points or indentations, areas where the weeds change from thick mats to broken-up clumps, and isolated patches.

For anglers wanting to have some fun in the weeds this fall, Horton ranks Guntersville and Pickwick in Alabama, Oneida in New York and Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn in Texas as the best lakes to visit.