Finesse Bass Fishing in the Fall – On The Water
It was a brisk, mid-fall morning in southwest Connecticut, where I met up with Bassmaster Elite Series Pro Alex Wetherell and his fully rigged, tour-grade Caymas bass boat. Alex had just finished his rookie season on the Bassmaster Elite Series tour, representing the Northeast and making a name for himself with some great finishes, including a top-ten finish at an event on the Sabine River in Texas.
While the Northeast is home to an incredible bass fishery, it is not known for putting out Elite Series tour anglers. Since Alex had reached that level, I was excited to see how he approached a day of fishing in his home state of Connecticut.
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Alex’s plan was to start the day by using forward-facing sonar over deeper structure to search for any signs of life from perch and alewives to bass. He began the day with a 3/8-ounce Lunker City Titan jighead matched to a Lunker City Fin-S Fish, a perfect small baitfish presentation. He had this rigged up on a Shimano Expride spinning rod and Shimano Vanford reel spooled with 10-pound-test braid and finished with an 8-pound-test fluorocarbon leader. Alex explained that a 3/8-ounce jighead is the perfect size for fishing 10 to 20 feet of water. It helps keep the bait near the bottom but also keeps it moving at the same time.
Noting the water temperature of 52 degrees, Alex began scanning along a rock wall with a receding drop-off in 20 feet of water. He located a few individual smallmouth, made accurate casts, and watched them react to the Fin-S Fish on his Humminbird Megalive. The fish were not responding the way he wanted, with just a few fish following but none committing. Alex wasn’t discouraged, however, and said that even when the fish are not biting, the live-imaging technology lets him see how they are behaving and responding to his lure. Just a few years ago, he continued, anglers on Connecticut’s larger lakes would see smallmouth breaking on bait in open water, with no way to target them until forward-facing sonar meant they could hunt those smallies down.
After recognizing that the fish he was seeing did not seem interested in his presentation, he made a change to a smaller finesse swimbait that was 3 inches in size with a paddle tail and 3/8-ounce jighead. He let the bait fall all the way to the bottom and began a slow, steady retrieve back to the boat. He used his electronics to keep the boat positioned along a submerged section of the rock wall, which allowed him to keep his bait in the strike zone—parallel to the wall—for the entire duration of the retrieve. Just a few casts after the change, Alex set the hook, and up out of the water came a solid smallmouth, though it shook out of Alex’s grasp at the side of the boat. He then employed 360 Imaging, an electronics mode where he could see all the structure around the boat, and repositioned himself between the drop-off and the rock wall. A few casts later, he caught a second smallmouth.
After covering the rock wall area, Alex pivoted to another of his favorite fall techniques. He made a move to a rock bluff shoreline with deep water close to the bank and abundant rocks. He picked up his go-to jig rod, with the plan to roll his jig down and around those rocks. His jig of choice was a ¾-ounce football in a green pumpkin pattern with a 4-inch Lunker City Karate Craw trailer on the back. He backed it up with a 7’3” medium-heavy Shimano baitcasting rod and a Shimano Bantam baitcasting reel spooled with 40-pound-test braid to 16-pound fluorocarbon leader.
This technique and presentation was geared to target largemouth that hang off the bluff banks. Alex proceeded to flip his jig down the rocky banks using a lift-and-drop presentation, then maintained contact with the bottom. It didn’t take long for him to get a few bites, but none of the fish made it to the boat.
After giving the jig a good shot, the sun was getting higher and the impoundment’s dam began to move water, so we moved back to the open water areas where we had started the morning.
He picked up his 3/8-ounce finesse swimbait again and went to work after spotting some fish with his electronics. There were followers almost immediately, and on the next cast, while using a slow retrieve, he got rocked by a large, acrobatic smallmouth. He scooped that one up with ease, snapped a few photos, and got back up front to find another. Just two casts later, he connected again, this time on the biggest fish of the day. Despite competing at bass fishing’s highest level, Alex’s excitement over the big smallie during a day of fun fishing reminded me why all of us, at every level, love the pursuit of bass. We celebrated with high fives and photos.
The next move was to a brush pile where Alex said hundreds of crappie hang out. As soon as he put down the trolling motor and began scanning, a school of crappie appeared on the sonar. Alex picked up his jig and made a cast. He hooked up right away, but to our surprise, instead of a crappie, a solid largemouth appeared next to the boat. It’s not unusual, he said, for largemouth to hang around the crappie schools.
We continued down that shoreline to the main lake, fishing more of the bluff banks with the jig. The boat was sitting in almost 30 feet of water, just 10 feet from the bank, where largemouth slide up and down from shallow to deep water with ease.
However, largemouth were not the only ones in these areas. While searching the shoreline with the jig, Alex kept an eye on his live imaging, something he emphasized always paying attention to. He abruptly put down his jig rod, picked up his spinning rod, made a quick pitch, and then said, “Oh no, they’re going under the boat!” He had seen a school of fish in the deeper water column off the bank and had made a cast at them. He did a quick 180 with the trolling motor, relocated the fish, cast, and set the hook. Another solid smallmouth leapt out of the water. It turned out he’d come across a whole school of smallmouth that had scattered when he got close, but then regrouped moments later. Alex was surprised that the school was so tight to the bank, but in the fall, fish can be anywhere. Without his live imaging, he might have continued down the bank with no result.
We kept fishing through that stretch, and again Alex spotted a fish on his electronics. He made the pitch and called his shot. “Coming out for it,” he said with excitement. “Looking at it, still looking at it, GOT HIM!”
What kept Alex fishing with success through the day was his ability to make changes and try new techniques without disregarding what had already worked. He knew he could catch smallmouth on a swimbait when we started in the morning, but acknowledged they were not yet willing, so he made a move in the meantime. He was able to cross the jig pattern off the list and then go back to his initial technique when he thought it was right. This led to multiple solid fish and continued success through the day.
Staying versatile in the fall is the name of the game in the Northeast. The weather constantly changes and so do the fish. It is important to use all the gear at your disposal, especially electronics. Alex said it best: “Fall fishing in the Northeast? It’s like a living puzzle. You’re constantly changing from day to day, you get that cold front coming in, the leaves are changing, everything’s changing. You must adapt and change too. Because of that, I think it makes you a better angler.”
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