Entry 326-1

Catching Transition Bass and Dodging Fishing Pressure in the Fall with Chad Brauer

Part 1: Finding and Catching Transition Bass

Question: Chad, how are you finding and catching bass now?

Brauer: For the next few weeks, bass will be in transition. However, there are certain conditions that, regardless of what time of year you’re fishing, you have to consider, if you’re going to locate bass and successfully catch them. Many tournament anglers don’t practice before a tournament, because they know that you can only determine where to find bass and how to catch them on the day you’re fishing, based on weather conditions, water conditions, water temperature, water color, wind conditions and fishing pressure.

Subtle changes in any of these elements can completely destroy a pattern and/or create a pattern. If you don’t know how these conditions impact bass and affect the way you fish, then finding and catching bass can be really difficult, because you have to rely mainly on luck, rather than knowledge.

Question: Okay, Chad, let’s look at each one of these variables and explain how that condition affects where bass are holding and how you’re going to catch them.

Brauer: Let’s talk about weather first. The first important element to consider about the weather at this time of year is cold fronts. Now that we’re into the late fall, we can expect cold fronts to start coming through most of the country. So right now, knowing how cold fronts affect bass is very important to your fishing success. In the fall of the year (right now), I like to see cold fronts moving onto the lake that I’m going to fish.

Question: Why do you like to see a cold front? Most weekend anglers consider a cold front the kiss of death for their fishing.

Brauer: As we’ve transitioned from late summer into early fall, and the weather begins to cool, the bass become more active. Therefore, when we get a cold front coming through at this time of year, often that cold front will make the bass much-more active than they have been. Now in the springtime, when a cold-front comes through, it makes bass inactive. However, just the reverse is true when you’re fishing in the fall.

Question: If you have a cold front coming through at this time of year, where are you going to look for bass, and how are you going to catch them?

Brauer: I’m searching for shallow-water areas close to where the bass have been holding all summer long, like bluff ends, points and boat docks. In these places, the bass may be holding shallow, but they don’t have to move very far to get to deep water. For instance, during the summer months, the bass may be suspending or holding under docks in deep water. However, at this time of year, the bass will move straight-up the water column and be in much-more shallow water.

For instance, if there’s a dock that’s in 25 feet of water, then during the summer months, the bass may be holding in that 20- to 25-foot-deep water depth. But when a cold front comes through and warms-up the surface temperature of the water, all the bass has to do is move straight-up in the water column and hold in that 1-3-foot depth under the dock.

Question: Now that we know where to look for bass, what lures are we going to use to catch them?

Brauer: Lure selection is also dependent on the weather the day you’re planning to fish. On days with have low light, or on rainy days, you can’t beat a Strike King buzzbait or a Strike King Premier Pro Model spinner bait.

Question: Which Strike King buzzbait are you going to be using? What size and what color?

Brauer: I like the 1/4-ounce Pro-Buzz in either white or black. Here’s where water clarity comes in to play in lure selection. If the water’s clear, I want the buzzbait to appear more natural, so my choice will be a white buzzbait, if I’m fishing in clear water. For more-stained water, I’ll choose a black buzzbait, so the bass can see it better.

Question: If you’re fishing a spinner bait, what colors will you choose?

Brauer: In the fall of the year, I almost always use the Compact Premier spinner bait from Strike King. This spinner bait has a small profile and small blades on it. This size spinner bait resembles the size of the baitfish available in the fall more closely than the larger spinner bait does. At this time of year, you have small, young hatchling baitfish, and often that’s what the bass have been eating. The Compact Premier spinner bait better matches the size of bait that the fish are feeding on than a larger spinner bait does.

Question: What color would you use?

Brauer: I’ll either use a white or a white-and-chartreuse spinner bait. If the water’s clear, I’ll fish the white. If the water’s stained, I’ll fish the white-and-chartreuse, and I’ll vary my retrieve and let the bass tell me what type of retrieve they want. Many times in the fall, the bass will prefer a faster retrieve as opposed to a slower retrieve, so many times I’ll almost be burning that spinner bait right below the surface.

I’m looking for a key area of the dock if I’m fishing docks. I consider a post on the end of the dock that goes down into deep water, a brush pile hanging off the dock or some other type of unique target that that dock offers as a key area. When I reach that target region, I’ll kill the spinner bait and let it fall maybe 12 to 18 inches. That’s where I’m expecting to get the strike.

Next: Take the Temperature in the Bass’s House

Contents:

• Part 1: Finding and Catching Transition Bass
• Part 2: Take the Temperature in the Bass's House
• Part 3: Rain, Water Clarity and Bass
• Part 4: Bass When It's Blowin'
• Part 5: The Lonely Fall Fisherman