After Labor Day Is The Best Time For Bass
By Mike Yurk
bassinmajor@yahoo.com
The sumacs are turning red and tops of other trees are starting to show a bit of color. Although it may be pleasantly warm during the day there is a coolness to the evening that allows us to open the windows and sleep comfortably with a blanket.
The football season has started and almost every school from grade school to college has a football team on the field. Hunting seasons are starting and people are getting ready. Deer stands are being put up, decoys are getting checked out, bow hunters are practicing in their back yards with targets on bales of hay and shotguns are getting cleaned and shells are being purchased.
School is back in session when the yellow school bus picked up its first students the day after Labor Day. Every student realizes that the carefree days of summer are over. Raking leaves will be coming around soon enough.
Although the Fall Equinox is not for another three weeks everyone considers the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of fall to be Labor Day.
Fall gets to be really busy and there are a lot of things going on. But do not forget about bass fishing. In fact, as far as I am concerned, the best bass fishing begins right after Labor Day. From then until about the middle of October there are five or six weeks of the best fishing of the year.
Pictured left: Bass fishing after Labor Day will be some of the best fishing of the year. Mike Yurk holds a typical fall bass caught with a crankbait.
There are a lot of reasons bass fishing is so good during the fall. First of all you will have little competition on the water after Labor Day. I have always been amazed that boat landings usually packed with vehicles and trailers will be almost deserted after Labor Day.
For the most part the weather from Labor Bay through the middle of October will be fairly mild which makes for very comfortable fishing.
It will be warm during the day but not hot and when the cooler weather comes in it isn’t really cold yet.
It is a pretty time to be on the water. As the trees turn color you will be exposed to some of the most spectacular scenery you will ever see.
But the best reason to be on the water after Labor Day is bass will be hitting like nothing you have seen any other time of the year. I admit perhaps you might be catching fewer fish but the size of the fish will be up. You might lose some quantity in the numbers of fish you catch but you certainly will see an increase in the quality of the fish you catch. Most of the biggest bass I have caught over the years I caught after Labor Day.
The cooler weather will trigger a feeding spree for bass as they begin to fatten up for the long, cold winter ahead. This is an instinctive thing they do every year in the fall. These fish will be packing on weight by feeding heavily and they will be aggressive.
Many baits work well this time of the year. My favorite is the crankbait. I think the reason that crankbaits work so well in the fall is that they replicate the kinds of forage bass are feeding on. Bass are putting on weight and they will be targeting forage that provides the most benefit, and that will be minnows.
Any number of crankbaits will work well in the fall. However, my favorites are either the Jointed Shad Rap or the regular Shad Rap by Rapala. During the fall I fish larger crankbaits as bass will be going for larger forage. Colors may be important during this time of the year. Generally I use minnow-like colors; silver and shad type color replicas seem to work best in the fall. My favorite color anytime during the year but especially in the fall is silver and blue with an orange belly.
Another great fall bait is the lipless crankbait such as the Rattlin' Rap, The Spot and others. These lures sink and run a bit deeper but also seems to have a tight movement as it is retrieved and that seems to initiate strikes in fall fish. For colors I again go to minnow- type colors but also to the white or bone color. I am not sure why but by observation I know that white works well in the fall.
Pig and jigs work well in the fall. I think they work so well in cold temperatures because it is big bait that appeals to fall fish looking for just that. Black and blue is my favorite color for pig and jigs.
I find that bass in the fall will gravitate to deeper water close to rocky or gravel banks. In that water they can move up and down the water column to where ever they find the best forage. Also in the fall when the water temperatures begin to drop the rocks will hold temperature longer than the water and at times the water close to rocks can be a degree or two warmer. That draws bait fish which in turn brings in bigger predator fish like bass.
Although a lot of fall weather will be fairly mild to start with, fall storms often come rolling in as the weather gets colder. That is a great time to be bass fishing. Strong winds and waves can concentrate fall fish like few other patterns will.
One mid-October fall day my son Todd and I were fishing a lake in northwestern Wisconsin. Football season was in full force and that day the Packers were playing the Bears. I took a radio along to get the game but the radio went out shortly after the game started. As I was fishing and saw people raking leaves or doing other fall type chores I yelled over to them, asking if they knew what the Packer score was.
It was a windy day and gray waves frosted with white caps were rolling into shore. Within an hour we found the pattern. Bass were hitting where ever the wind driven waves were washing up against rocky points. Every point we fished we caught one or more bass. All of our fish were caught on silver and black Shad Raps. We ended the day with almost thirty bass and most of them were fourteen inches or longer. The Packers also won that day so it was a great fall day.
Fall is also a great time of the year for northern pike. Although I don’t normally fish for northerns I catch my share of them because they are cruising in the same water and fattening up for the winter just like bass.
On another windy, stormy mid-October day on a lake near my home in Hudson, Wisconsin a young friend of mine and I were fishing for bass. I was fishing a silver and blue Rattlin’ Rapala. Within the first twenty minutes I caught a thirty eight inch northern pike and my last fish of the day was a forty one inch northern. In between those two pike my young friend and I caught over dozen bass, most of them over fourteen inches. It was on a Saturday and I recall the Badgers won that day too.
With all that is going on in the fall, don’t forget about bass fishing. Any time after Labor Day is a great time to be on the water and you will find some of the best fishing of the year.
Editor’s Note: Mike Yurk’s column is sponsored by Warner’s Dock in New Richmond, Wisconsin. Warner’s Dock is the premier marine dealer in northwestern Wisconsin. They have a complete supply of new and used boats, motors, and trailers as well as other marine supplies plus a complete maintenance staff for all your boating needs. They can be contacted through their website at www.warnersdock.com or by telephone at 1-888-222-3625.