How To Fish Bass Close To Bottom

Shoreline bass fishing starts to taper off soon after the first frosty days of fall. As the temperature at the surface drops out of the 70's and sinks through the 60's, bass drift back into deeper water and display little interest in what happens overheador in the shallow haunts of summer. from that time on, the secret of cathing bass is to get down where they are with something they want. Thats why one of the surest ways to take October bass , either largemouths or small mouths, is to hang on a live bait with just enough sinker to carry it close to the bottom. Minnows, crawfish, hellgrammites, frogs, crickets, and grass shrimp too, if you can get them, usually produce most consistantly in the fall. To improve chance still further, use the smallest hooks and lightest leaders you dare. The light end gear will fool bass too cagy to be taken course by tackle, especially after they've spent the summer watching the lures go by. If you make your bid with a casting rod, switch to sinking plugs. Let them settle close to the bottom before starting your retrieve. Reel slowly, to keep the lure down where it belongs. Make the plug dart, just as you would when fishing close to the surface, but remember to let it settle back again before resuming your retrieve. Bass will hit a plug that is moving, standing still, or sinking slowly, so long as you keep it down where they can see it. When you are fishing for smallmouths, be sure to take your spinning rod along. Metal wobblers and spinners are deadly on smallmouths, and it's easy to keep spinning hardware down deep where the fish can see what's on sale. Midget-sized plugs, the 1/8-ounce size, are prefect for the spinning rod, and ecpecially for smallmouths. Another way to fill a stringer with autumn bass is to troll a plug or spoon on a wire or lead-core line. Just chug along slow and easy and let the line keep your lure down where it should be. Because getting down there, remember, is the secret of taking bass this fall.

1. When bass retreat to deep water during the hot days of summer, go after them with bottom crawlers. Killer lures for this kind of fishing include weighted plastic worms, jigs, single-hook spoons with a strip of pork rind or strip of belly skin from a bait fish. Let the lure settle to the bottom, then "walk" it back with a slow-motion retrieve.
2. How to fish on the bottom when you don't want to use a sinker: Roll the line around a stone. When you feel it hit the bottom, lift the line until it unwinds from the stone.
3. As an alternative to deep-trolling for bass, try jigging from a drifting boat with a metal spoon or spinner. All deep-water fish are attracted by the shiny lures as they dart up from the bottom and flutter back down.