Big Bass and Late-Season Weather Windows
The 22nd of October marked the end of a 3-day warming window in Massachusetts that found air temperatures hovering between the upper 60s and low 70s—a big temperature swing from the recent cold trend. I had circled that Tuesday on my calendar because it was the third day of the warm front, and by then, I figured we’d see a big shift in bass behavior. The forecast called for winds under 5 m.p.h., making for glass-calm conditions. My plan was to take full advantage of this weather window, because there will not be many of them left.
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The Approach
I planned to leave work and head straight to the lake to fish the remaining 2 hours of daylight. From there, I’d take a short intermission for dinner while I waited for my buddy, Anthony “Cheech” DeiCicchi, to join me for the night shift. Upon leaving work, I still had plenty of daylight going into the evening, and there’s no better way to target fall bass than a jig. Given the flat calm conditions, the only lures I had tied on were my favorite Beast Coast Lil’ Magnum jig and a Z-Man Finesse TRD ned rig—two of my confidence bottom baits. Even more important than the lure selection, was keeping focus on the areas I was fishing rather than changing presentations. I focused on two high-percentage areas: submerged points and high spots (humps) relating to deep water. The target depth range was between 12 and 20 feet, but I did not ignore shallow water adjacent to deep water.
I found success almost immediately with a quality largemouth on a main lake hump. When you have limited daylight left, it is important to run the obvious areas in the lake to give yourself the best shot at finding fish. I proceeded to pick off a handful of bass on two different points, all great quality. Then, with about 5 minutes of sunlight remaining, magic happened, and I boated my personal-best Massachusetts smallmouth at 5.1 pounds.
I had been getting bites on a hump for about 30 minutes, but made the last-second run to one more hump that awarded me that fish. Not soon after, the sun disappeared below the horizon and darkness engulfed the lake.
The Bait
The baitfish activity I had been seeing on this particular lake was promising, so I suggested Anthony meet me at the same ramp. We made a plan to fish further into the coves and grass flats that I had been ignoring during the daylight because now, with “unlimited” time to fish at night, we could afford the time spent looking for a giant that moved up to feed. We did not have to look for long.
I located a cove with baitfish activity and had a 3-pound smallmouth flush my topwater walking bait. A few bites here and there kept us going, but one final move would highlight the night. I moved us to a pocket where I had seen a few big fish on my Garmin LiveScope that just wouldn’t bite during the sundown session. Almost immediately, I illuminated a large blob along a mooring rope and directed Anthony to cast his Huddleston swimbait just beyond the fish, but the large trout pattern did not draw him up. Cheech said he new what to do. While he tied on his favorite perch-patterned Pat’s wakebait, I locked on the fish and directed him to cast over it again. As soon as that bait swam over its head, the blob on my live scope rose up from the bottom, straight to the surface. I took my eyes off the screen and just as I locked on his wake bait—BOOM, gone. I netted Anthony’s 4.7-pound smallmouth soon after.
That fish ended our night, all of which started after work on a Tuesday. As we continue to lose daylight, it’s important to pay attention to weather trends late in the season. In this case, a few days of warm air and sunshine presented better fishing conditions, albeit the middle of a work week. Keep an eye on the conditions to give yourself the best shot at success, and make it happen.
Related Content
Finesse Bass Fishing in the Fall
Fishing with Hair Jigs for Coldwater Bass
Source: https://onthewater.com/big-bass-and-late-season-weather-windows
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