SCHOOLING BASS LIKE NOISE

In late summer, the schools of bass that are feeding on forage fish will respond to lipless crankbaits that provide noise.  The bass spend much of the fall months in schools that attack the forage fish.  They seem to be storing up for the long winter months of little activity.

Anglers often regard finding and catching schooling bass in the fall as a difficult task.  It does not have to be a problem if one understands just what is going on with the fish.

An interesting study done a couple of years ago opened some new views into bass behavior.  It has been common knowledge that bass respond to noise.  Just why and what noise was not clear.

Fish biologists found that the noise from a rattling crankbaits is nearly the same as that made by a schooling shad.  The sound spurs bass and other game fish into feeding activity.

Some fish will respond to small, shad color topwater baits and shallow running lures.

There will be times with the bass just seem to not want any presentation.  It is at this time that one should consider lure size.  Try downsizing the weight of the lure.  In the fall they may be feeding on very small shad and a lure as small as ½ inch in length might be just the ticket.

Schooling usually takes place in open water.  The key to catching them is probably matching the size of the lure to the size of the forage fish.

The larger bass herd the forage fish to the surface and then strike them into a feeding frenzy.  The lure should imitate the wounded forage fish that were victims of the drive.

After the foraging frenzy is over, the bass return to some structure in the area to hole up until their next meal.  An electronic fish finder will often locate them on some major structure.  Often they can be enticed out of seclusion with jig and minnow, grub, or spoon lure.

On larger bodies of water, big concentrations of bass relate to any structure in deeper water.  The fishing is more erratic as the water cools.  But, during the feeding frenzy periods they are great fishing action.  The lakes and ponds provide ample opportunity to test ones bass catching skills.