October smallmouth bass on a suspending jerkbait
This question is from Brian who wrote:
My family has a place on the Juniata River. I will be there for a week mid October. Do you have any suggestions on fishing? Id like to catch a few bass and maybe a walleye. Any suggestion on baits or techniques?
Brian,
October can be one of the absolute best times to catch big numbers of river smallmouth bass. It is also one of the best times to catch a trophy smallie. Fish will be feeding heavily in preparation for the long winter when food will be scarce. Day to day weather patterns and water conditions will have a big impact on fish activity this time of year. Water temperatures in the northeast will typically drop below 60 degrees. Cooler water temps along with the shorter days will trigger what experienced fisherman call the “fall bite”. Fish will slam a variety of lures this time of year.
Baits that work well in fall are listed below. Water conditions will typically dictate which baits I’ll use. I’ve listed some baits with the water conditions in which they “typically” will work best. These are just general guidelines. For example, I’ll often use suspending jerkbaits in fall during murky water conditions by upsizing the bait and adjusting the color. Remember there are no absolutes in fishing so experiment with all of them:
- Suspending Jerkbaits (clear water)
- Soft Jerkbaits (clear water)
- Spinnerbaits (stained water)
- Top water baits ( clear water)
- Tubes (stained water)
In the morning, I’ll typically start by tossing a top water bait such as a pop-r or tiny topedo. Once the day progresses or I find that the fish are not feeding on the top, I’ll switch up to suspending jerkbaits or soft jerkbaits.
In the fall, the best producing bait is typically a suspending jerkbait such as an Rapala X-Rap or Lucky Craft Pointers. On the Juniata, I’d recommend XR8′s or XR10′s in the Rapala X-Raps. Pointer 100′s can be the ticket as well. Suspending jerkbaits are best fished with long pauses in the fall. I can’t stress how critical this is. Most fisherman tend to overwork these baits. Fish sometimes want pauses up to 10 seconds or more between twitches. A good rule of thumb is the colder the water, the longer the pause. Cast the bait out…give it a few jerks..then let it drift with the current. After a 10 seconds or so repeat. Typically (99 percent of the time) the smallmouth will hit while the bait is on the pause. Hold on to your rod because the strikes can be vicious!
The good news is that if your also looking to catch some walleye, suspending jerkbaits will work. Walleye feed heavily on minnows and are more active in the cooler water of October. You’re chances of hooking up with a walleye are excellent when using a suspending jerkbait.
Locating fish is fairly predictable in October. Find the baitfish and you will find the smallmouth. Push water at the end of deep pools is a great early fall location. Shallow riffles at the heads of pools are also a great location because small schools of smallmouth will often be busting the baitfish big time and pushing them into the shallow water. This time of year you’ll also notice that smallies will group together in small “wolf packs” to hunt down food. They will be very competative and easy to catch. Also, the fish tend to group by size so you’ll see groups of 15-18 inch fish cruising together and feeding.
I hope this helps Brian. Let me know how you make out!
good advice! I’ll be sure to use it next time i am out!
Jimmy, Fall can be feast or famine…although it is most often feast!!
Juan, not exactly sure what You mean by “push water”.
Jim, One of these days I’m going to have to develop a glossary of terms. There are a lot of terms in fishing to describe flowing water and the different nuances. Some are not really used very widely. I think “push water” is one of those. I have an article coming soon that describes “push water” but I’ll give you a quick definition.
“Push water” is located at the end of a deep hole. As the name implies, It’s the water at the tail end of a hole that pushes up fairly abruptly out of the depths just before it drops off into the riffles. The contour of the bottom and the movement of the water tends to create a nice funnel that pushes bait fish and other aquatic delicacies to the feeding smallmouth.
I hope this clarifies. Let me know. I want to make sure I’m defining this in a way other can understand it.