Many anglers fish all spring only to look forward to being a high school and or college football fan in the fall. Well, that’s not really happening this year. I’m not here to tell you about those issues, or to talk about the pros and cons. I am here to tell you that you can just keep fishing.
Before we get into it, however, I want to tell you that my stepson, Noah, plays D3 football and is an avid angler and hunter. With his season pushed out of the fall he’s already talking about fishing and hunting every weekend instead of playing football. I think that is a model for us all to follow. We have to make the best of things.
Our Bassmaster Elite Series season was put on pause during the spring. We missed some surefire slugfests. Nevertheless, it looks like we’ll get to complete our entire season thanks to the efforts of B.A.S.S. and our hosts. Our events will be in the fall. I’ll now be fishing tournaments into November. So, we’ll fish and the fans will have events to follow.
We go fish. It ain’t spring. But it’s still fishing.
To be fair, fishing is usually tougher in the fall than it is in the spring. The thing is, though, some areas can still really produce, and some fun bites do occur.
Frog fishing over matted grass is good in the fall. The best fishing is usually when the grass starts to go away and the once football-sized fields (sorry for the term) of grass are now more like small clumps.
When that happens grab that SPRO frog, some 50-pound Sunline X-Plasma braid, a Cashion Frog Rod and get ready for some serious blowups. The frog bite is usually pretty good under docks too.
Fall also means open water topwater time. A walking topwater or a River2Sea Whopper Plopper can be a lot of fun to throw in the fall. You can cover water and find active fish.
You also should keep an eye out for bait and fish blowing up at them on the surface.You’ll find this happening around secondary points or around docks in the back of pockets. But, at other times it’ll happen just somewhere where the baitfish are holding. Keep your eyes open and your trolling motor ready.
Shallow crankbaits are also great in the fall. These trusted baits excel in stained waters so venturing up in the river or going to the backs of the creeks is often your best recipe for success. I usually start with a SPRO Little John and cover as much water as possible. I make long casts and make sure I hit any isolated cover I see.
Even though life has thrown the world a curveball, and we are not able to enjoy the fall football tradition we all love, picking that fishing rod back up might be a way to start some new fall traditions.
