Fantastic Fall Fishing

The Very Best Time of Year to be Fishing - IMHO!

Fall fishing can be fantastic. As the water cools, the fish seem to turn on, and anglers will tell you they are more cooperative than at almost any other time. To take advantage of this fall fishing, a number of things need to be considered.

The Right Bait

Whether live or artificial, the bait you use may be different for different species of fish. You may set out in search of one species, only to find that another species is hot. Being flexible and prepared to switch baits will help you catch your limit.

This week we went after some sheepshead. While we caught them, the bite was slower than we thought it would be, so we ran to another location and a different kind of water. There we found speckled seatrout ready to almost jump in the boat. A switch in baits brought over forty of them to the boat on three different occasions this past week.

The Right Day

Fish bite with the moon. That’s my personal observation. Actually they bite with the tide, but the moon and sun control the tides. I pick days in between the full and new moon. These in-between days will have lower high tides and higher low tides because the gravitational pull of the moon is less. On a full and new moon, the sun an d moon are in line with one another, and the tides are extreme. That means stronger currents and more water moving.

I also pick the time before a front at this time of year. The lateral lines on a fish sense water pressure. Water pressure reacts to air pressure, and a dropping pressure before a front will have fish feeding. On the day or two or three after a front passes, the pressure is high. Some say fish won’t bite on a high pressure. I believe they are right, but not so much because of the high pressure. I believe they won’t bite because they are full from feeding up ahead of the front.

All this is to say you need to pick a day that is away from the back side of a cold front. Ideally the front side will be the best – simply stay away from the days following a front passage.

The Right Weather

Blue bird days – those high, cloudless, blue-sky days that usually follow a cold front – are just that. They are for the birds! Those days before a cold front can be the best you ever experience. Watch the wind. Depending on your location, judge the wind direction and plan to fish accordingly. Cold fronts will always start with a southeast wind that shifts to the south, then southwest, then northwest. The shift to the southwest is when the pressure begins to drop and the fish begin to feed. It is also when the rains that precede a front can be present. I don’t mind fishing in a light rain, but when it pours and all that electricity in the sky begins to show itself, it’s time for me to stay home and rig tackle!

If you have the flexibility to choose your fishing days, you can usually pick a day before the rains and wind begin, yet while the pressure is still dropping. Those are the days you can really catch fish in the fall.

The Bottom Line

You may find it different in your particular location, but where I am, fall is, in my opinion, the very best time of year to be fishing. I find the fish more cooperative, now that the water temperature has dropped some. The air temperatures have also dropped, and that makes for a more comfortable trip. And, if you pick the right day to fish, it can be one of your best trips of the year.