My favorite time of the year is fastly approaching, FALL! The weather is beautiful, the leaves are changing and the temperature is perfect, perfect for fishing! As the fall approaches the bass tend to gravitate toward coverage both shallow and deep, which leads to one thing, Jig Fishing! One the best colors and sized for the jig is a 1/4 ounce black and blue jig with a black or blue pork or plastic trailer.
Now is the time to be in the yard practicing your flipping and pitching aim and techniques! Use buckets, cups whatever you can to get your aim down to hit the target. When fishing visible structure such as trees and laydowns, you will want to have a good aim and hit the right spots! Always fish from the outer most part of the tree to the closest to the bank. The reason for this is to not spook the fish that are closer to the base of the tree at the bank. This alone will catch you two or more fish on each site!
Always work from out to in when fishing laydown trees. Let the jig fall as straight and fast as you can on the cast, pull off a couple pulls of line from your reel as the jig hits the water, this will allow a more straight and consistant fall of the jig. Vary your retrieve with short jigging motion and sweeping motions. Depending on the mood of the Bass one of these will usually work to trigger a reaction bite. Bait casting reels with sensitive line and sensitive rod work best for this style of fishing.
When you feel that bump or that different feel, SET THE HOOK! Hook sets are free and unlimited so don’t hesitate and chance the Bass either deciding against it or swallowing the jig, which could damage and possibly kill the fish! If fishing underwater structure not visible, drop the jig in, let it hit the bottom and jig it a few times with 3-5 second pauses, this should trigger a bite from one of those big, fat fall Largemouth Bass! And remember the most important thing, HAVE FUN!
Jigs are great almost anytime of year but definitely shine in the fall when bass are staging on points and breaks or migrating between deep and shallow water. Here in the reservoirs along Colorado’s Front Range, bass will often relate to rocky points, old road beds and other submerged structures. In addition to shallow cover, both jig and pig plus jig and plastics combos work exceptionally well for catching not just lots of bass but some of the biggest fish for the season around these types of cover.