FEATURE: Chasing Big Fall Bass

SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER SOMETIMES TRANSLATE to pretty tough times for Texas bass fishing junkies. A change in seasons is coming and the fish (and bait) may be scattered from here to yonder as they transition from deep to shallow.

Some anglers might be wondering what the heck happened, because tricks that produced some solid days over the past month or so might not be working so well anymore.

The good news is most lakes are usually at their lowest water level of the year during late summer due to limited moisture, water usage and day-to-day evaporation. This reduces the the playing field.

On lakes with grass, the hydrilla beds may be topped out on the surface, making it easy to follow creek channels and pinpoint sharp bends, guts, humps, drop offs and other potential sweet spots where shallow water meets with deep. Plus, most impoundments are less crowded because many anglers are stoked about hunting season.

MLF bass pro Jim Tutt of Longview has seen his share of tough times as summer’s dog days wind down, but he has also caught a boatload of fish. He pointed to his home lake, Lake O’ the Pines in northeast Texas, to show readers the way.

“The bite can really be pretty slow on just about every lake, because it’s still hot and the fish are on the move,” Tutt said. “But it can also be pretty decent once you stumble across the right spots. A few years ago, a friend and I weighed in 31 pounds in a September team tournament. It was the biggest sack I’ve ever brought to the scales, and we lost a nine-pounder!”

The two anglers caught the fish doing what just about every bass angler loves—throwing topwaters. Their bait of choice was a Heddon Zara Spook, a deadly bass fishing staple that walks side-to-side.

“They’ll slam the Spook this time of year, especially on ’Pines,” Tutt said. “If I was going there now, I’d throw it all day long, and I’d throw it around the grass.”

Hydrilla can be found in different areas, but Tutt is most fond of the big flats north of the Highway 155 bridge where Big Cypress Bayou enters the lake. He’ll target places such as points and 

underwater sloughs where the shallow grass meets up with deeper water and forms an outside edge. Tutt pointed to cranking or casting a big shaky worm along the edges of defined structure as a good secondary pattern.

Things are altogether different out west at O.H. Ivie near San Angelo. Texas’s newest big bass capital is a hotbed for giants, and fishing guide Brandon Burks is a specialist at catching them. Burks recorded his 20th double-digit bass of 2022 in June.

’Ivie doesn’t have any hydrilla, but it has a ton of flooded salt cedars and hardwoods the big ones use to ambush forage. Burks says the best stuff will be found over flats and points in water ranging from zero to 20 feet, adjacent to 20 to 60 feet of water provided by a creek channel.

His bait choices include an eight-inch glide bait made by Gold Belt Customs and a 3:16 Rising Son line-thru swim bait. Both are colored like a gizzard shad.

“For a long time, I was intimidated by throwing such big bait,” Burks said, “but not anymore. A big bait has great drawing power because it imitates the big gizzard shad in this lake.”

Another part of the Burks master plan is forward-facing sonar. He uses it to spot fish holding around flooded cover and to judge how they react when they see his bait.

“Bass are like great whites,” he said. “If they see something they want to eat, they’ll eat it. It doesn’t make any difference whether they weigh two pounds or twelve. I’ve seen big fish come rushing out from 20 feet away to grab that big glide bait. It’s pretty exciting to see that happen.”

Sam Rayburn ace Derek Mundy is well known for his skills at sniffing out big bass on the 114,000-acre lake east of Lufkin. He says now is a good time to look offshore to find them.

“A lot of it depends on cold fronts,” Mundy said. “Once we start getting some early fronts, the fish will scatter from deep to shallow, and things can be pretty tough. So long as it stays hot, though, I’ll spend most of my time away from the bank.”

Mundy will key on specific targets rather than areas. Underwater shell beds and hard spots get plenty of attention.

He also likes isolated stumps and lay downs. “A big female will move around an isolated piece of wood and keep all of the small fish run off,” he said. “It’s sort of like a big whitetail buck. They pretty much own that spot.”

Mundy’s preferred bait for probing offshore targets is an Azuma Z Boss crankbait in a Blue Vengeance or translucent color. He’ll choose between the three-inch 20 and four-inch 24 sizes depending on how deep the fish are holding.

The depth of a thermocline is a big factor to consider in narrowing down the proper water depth this time of year. It’s always a good idea to fish above it.

Another big fish pattern that could play this fall, is fishing around deeper grass south of the Highway 147 bridge. The hydrilla has made a big come-back this summer, and Mundy says it can be found matted on the surface to 10 feet in some areas—plenty deep enough for flipping with a heavy creature or jig.

He thinks the most productive grass will be toward the mouths of major creeks or main lakes that see some wave action. Look for points, guts and indents in a grass bed that might indicate a change in water depth.

Lake Fork fishing guide Brooks Rogers remembers the hey days when Lake Fork had plenty of hydrilla growing beyond 10 feet. With those times in the rearview now, Rogers advises anglers to look more toward wood cover such as stumps and timber lines in the hunt for a September/October lunker.

“That’s about all they’ve got,” Rogers said.

Location and water depth dictate the best spots. Rogers likes distinct trees on main lake points in eight to fifteen feet, channel swings near four- to six-foot flats—places where the water shallows up with deeper water nearby.

 Rogers says there will be lots of fish suspended and roaming around the wood. Two of his favorite baits for going after them are a shad pattern deep-diving crank bait and a 10-inch worm rigged Texas style.

Late summer and early fall aren’t the best times to reel in a Texas heavyweight, but there are still plenty of fat girls to be caught. It’s all about location and playing the right card once you get there.

 

 

—story by MATT WILLIAMS

 

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