Just got back from a visit to Lake Fork, Tx where if you were watching the Ultimate Bass Forum or the Ultimate Bass Facebook page you seen how I spent the weekend landing her big fish!!!
I just published a couple articles about fall fishing, one about shad movements and the other about baits to throw. Well in doing the” practice what you preach” theory, we hit the water with baits that mimic shad and started working the backs of coves that had major creeks in or next to them. It didn’t take long to find fish, and quality fish at that. I realize a 6 pounder on Lake Fork is just a non-keeper but man they are fun to catch! Bass were holding along the creek channels in 10-14 foot of water and feasting on shad. At any given time during the day bass would push the schools of shad shallow where they had the bank or a tree line to pin them against.
While you could catch bass on just about anything that looked like a shad, we found the top water action too much fun to pass up. Daylight to dawn they would blast a popping type bait on the surface and when a 6-7 pound bass decides he wants such a bait you better hang on.
Even though we had absolutely no cloud cover for 4 days, the bass didn’t care. Suspending in 6-8 feet over 10-14 foot creek channels or timber of the same depth you could call bass up almost predictably. While bass were schooling it was pretty simple to catch them, just cast to the school. However, when they were not schooling, you had to be more specific with your presentation.
We’ve all seen it, a shad here and there flickering on top almost seemingly playing without concern. Then out of nowhere a swirl and it’s over. The trick was to mimic a single shad. Cast your popper out across a likely target and work it back pretty quick making it splash instead of pop. The splash looks like a single shad flickering on the surface, and during the fall feed, bass just can’t stand it.
Finding timber along a creek channel in 14 feet or so of water was a guarantee that you would catch a few fish. Stick around long enough and you could be lucky enough to have them push shad up on the bank near you. There is nothing like watching 4-7 pound schooling bass!!!
Get the Net it’s a Hawg
Mike Cork
Most lures will work at one time or another. The lure that I still go back to when nothing is working is the purple night crawler with a white stripe. As far as topwater, I really like a jitterbug of one color or another. These have served me well over the years. Give em’ a try.