Will Ryan

How To Ice-Fish With A Sounder

Online Editors — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:37:06 -0500

Successful fishing with tip-ups begins with suspending the bait in the cruising lane of the fish. Pike, pickerel, panfish, walleyes, and bass often frequent the area about 12 inches above the weed tops. Here's how to make sure your bait is in the strike zone and not buried in the grass.

New Info on Catfish Feeding Habits

Online Editors — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:30:24 -0400

WHAT GOES THROUGH the brain of a feeding catfish is anybody’s guess, but most anglers would agree that Old Whiskers probably uses all the senses at his disposal. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences sheds some light on the murky world of catfish feeding. Employing digitized tracking to mark the paths of European catfish and guppies in a dark tank, researchers found that the catfish used smell or taste to determine “prey wakes” left by the guppies.

Late Summer Tips for Catching Smallmouth Bass While Wading in Rivers

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:00:00 -0400

1 HEAD OF THE POOL

Drift your bait through the boulders in fast current, down to where the bottom drops quickly to deeper water.

[EARLY AFTERNOON] Drift the Rocks

A Basic Guide to Catching Northern Pike

fieldandstream-editor — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 20:00:00 -0400

All fish are predators, but northern pike come dressed for the part: needle teeth, vacant eyes, thick slime, serpentine shape. Their primeval morphology has changed little in 60 million years. Pike belong to the northern wilderness, where they remain most common. But stocking has extended their range south. If your state has predictable ice cover, chances are you have a northern pike lake nearby.

Rivers of Bronze

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 10:15:00 -0400

No place says "fish me" like a smallmouth river in July. When many fish become lethargic in the heat of summer, smallmouths and their rivers come alive. This was a big deal before the age of reservoirs and outboard engines. In 1941, when the editors of Life magazine planned a summer photo feature of some attractive (single) ladies, they used a float trip down a smallmouth river as the setting. It was an early Beach Blanket Bingo in the Ozarks.

Many of the Ozark rivers have disappeared, but elsewhere you'll find excellent smallmouth fishing in lower stretches of trout streams, in waterways that form international borders, in rivers that course through state and national capitals. You can fish from a boat, from shore, or by wading. Or you can simply climb in a canoe, float downstream, and see an entire river without doing much more than lifting a paddle. In the days past, this was the classic way to fish for bass. For many of us, it still is. Here are a dozen ways to do it smartly.

1 Find the Feeders
The challenge in river fishing for smallmouths is not so much to find the bass but to find the feeding bass. Deep, black holes look sexiest, but active fish tend to be near forage-either crayfish or baitfish. Try to identify gravel and rocky bottoms for the former and weedbeds for the latter. Tick the stony bottoms with a jig, or work the edges of vegetation with a stickbait or a topwater lure.

2 Follow the Season
You can't use the calendar to pinpoint smallmouth whereabouts in navigable rivers, but it does help to know that their location follows a general pattern. As they recuperate from the exertions of spawning, smallmouths scatter along the shorelines in early summer to feed upon baitfish and small panfish. During midsummer, they school and move offshore to gravel or rubble shoals, where they seek out crayfish. Depending on the size and fertility of the water, bass will travel to find crayfish, working from shoal to shoal, always on the hunt. By late summer, smallmouths begin to add weedbeds to their itinerary because this habitat holds young-of-the-year baitfish, which become increasingly appetizing as they grow.

3 Stay a Little Longer
Smallmouths in wadable and floatable rivers move with the light. During the day, they tend to remain close to dropoffs, boulders, and weeds. They favor patches of slow water-current breaks, bridge abutments, plunge pools, and the heads and feet of islands. Glassy mid-river slicks surrounded by quick water are particularly good spots when rivers are low and temperatures high. Evening finds smallies hunting more aggressively, dropping back into the tails of pools, on the edges of quick water, or even in mid-current. River bass shut down at full dark, but the last hour of light can bring exceptional fishing-often in the same riffle that turned up nothing at noon. [NEXT "Fish the Bank"]

4 Fish the Bank
A midsummer deluge that cools the water can turn trout on, but it has the opposite effect on smallmouths. High water pushes smallies out of the current and closer to deep shorelines, where they sulk on the bottom until the flows stabilize and clear. A vertical presentation with a jig-and-minnow or jig-and-crawler can be a good strategy. Live bait fished tight to cover on the bottom is probably the best of all. Focus on deep, slack water near shore.

5 Go to Hellgrammites
River smallmouths bite any number of baits but show the most enthusiasm for hellgrammites, the larvae of dobsonflies. Imitations of them even work in rivers where they don't exist. You can collect your own by wading out into knee-deep, medium-fast current and holding a screen to the bottom, while a partner shuffles along upstream, dislodging hellgrammites that in turn drift into the screen. The best presentation is to hook one through the collar and, using as little weight as nessary, cast upstream and let it drift naturally with the current. During midday, live bait can be especially effective in a slow pool, at the base of a waterfall, on the edge of a dropoff, or in a mid-river slick.

6 Double Pump
Your main challenge when floating a river is to be ready for whatever situation materializes in front of your boat or canoe, so it makes sense to keep two rods rigged and set to go. Have one rod loaded with a floater-a jerkbait, a popper, or a floating Rapala (my favorite), which can be twitched on top, ripped, or steadily retrieved; and the other with a tube jig or a twister-tail. If you miss a bass on the floater, you can often pick up the soft plastic and take the same fish on the next cast.

7 Pack Smart
You can't bring a suitcase full of lures when you're floating or wading a river, but you do need to accommodate a range of fishing situations. Think lure type instead of model and bring a few of each-jigs, spinners, crankbaits, jerkbaits, and floaters. Color is easier. In tannic or murky waters, stock up with gold flash and yellows, oranges, browns, and black. Clear water calls for silver flash and naturally imitative colors like white, dun, tan, olive, and gray. Chartreuse or moss green is good in any water. And a splash of red never hurt. [NEXT "Gain Some Weight"]

8 Gain Some Weight
Feather and bucktail jigs work great in rivers, as do plastics such as twister-tails or shad, or even miniature jigs-and-pigs. Tubes, however, may be best. Nearly all the smallmouth forage in rivers-crayfish, sculpins, darters, dace, chubs, and aquatic nymphs-have a cylindrical form, and tubes copy that shape perfectly. Carry jigs and tubes in the 1/4- to 1/32-ounce range, and one of them will be the perfect match for the current. Try fishing upstream, letting the lure tumble back to you along the edges of mid-river slicks, as you reel to keep the line taut. In deeper, slower water, work the jig or tube around rock piles and dropoffs. On weedy edges, try twitching a minnow-imitating plastic through the middle depths.

9 Draw Them Up
In general, the clearer and weedier the water, the more bass will chase schools of minnows-and the more they'll be inclined to take topwater plugs and poppers-even in fairly deep water. (On the St. Lawrence River, recently clarified from the invasion of zebra mussels, bass will rocket up from 25 feet or more.) Morning and evening are peak times, but you can sometimes bring up bass during the day by fishing close to cover or in mid-river slicks. You may find that fish in current and over dropoffs like the noise that comes from a Pop-R or a chugger, whereas those in shallow water near weeds prefer the lighter twitch of a stickbait.

10 Let Your Fly Hang
You can tease smallmouths into striking by letting your fly ride in the current below you. Twitch it now and then, let it swing in and out of a current seam, but let it hang there for a few minutes at a time. In the old days, before the advent of spinning, anglers used the very popular spinner and fly for this sort of fishing. A spinner and fly is still a great choice, but a beadhead Woolly Bugger in olive, brown, or black does a pretty good job on its own. At twilight, ease down to the foot of the pool and let a Marabou Muddler (with a dark wing) drift below you so that it bulges just beneath the surface. You'll be surprised at the size of the smallies that will move into a foot of water and develop a sudden interest in the fat little chub holding overhead.

11 Think Trout
The more a river reminds you of a trout stream, the more you should fish it like one. Like their speckled cousins, smallmouths hold in the shade of boulders-just off, but not in, the main stream. The best way to fish these bass is by dead-drifting a size 6 or 8 nymph. Any takes will be subtle; the line will just stop. As evening approaches, and aquatic insect activity picks up, bass will move into the current and up in the water column, particularly when the rivers are at their midsummer lows. White Wulffs or White Irresistibles make good imitations of the light-colored flies that tend to hatch at this time of year.

12 Go Lightly
A gimmick in some bass fishing circumstances, ultralight tackle becomes a most useful tool on a summer smallmouth river. The challenge is not hauling a hog out of the brush. It's trying to convince a nervous-finned 2-pounder that your inch-long tube jig is really a crayfish. This involves casting a light lure some distance, or drifting a live bait without weight-approaches best handled with line in the 2- to 4-pound-test range or a 5- to 6-weight fly rod. Unlike their largemouth cousins, smallmouths are less inclined to head to cover when hooked. They tend to use the current and jump into the air, fitting for a fish so much a part of summertime. will just stop. As evening approaches, and aquatic insect activity picks up, bass will move into the current and up in the water column, particularly when the rivers are at their midsummer lows. White Wulffs or White Irresistibles make good imitations of the light-colored flies that tend to hatch at this time of year.

12 Go Lightly
A gimmick in some bass fishing circumstances, ultralight tackle becomes a most useful tool on a summer smallmouth river. The challenge is not hauling a hog out of the brush. It's trying to convince a nervous-finned 2-pounder that your inch-long tube jig is really a crayfish. This involves casting a light lure some distance, or drifting a live bait without weight-approaches best handled with line in the 2- to 4-pound-test range or a 5- to 6-weight fly rod. Unlike their largemouth cousins, smallmouths are less inclined to head to cover when hooked. They tend to use the current and jump into the air, fitting for a fish so much a part of summertime.

Seeing the Light

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 24 May 2005 07:45:00 -0400

Everyone knows the rule about fishing for summer bass: Fish early and late in the day. Like "never play poker with a guy named Doc" or "never date anyone whose problems are bigger than your own," "fish at first and last light" is sensible advice.

The reason seems obvious. Fish don't like the glare and heat of the summer sun any more than you do, which is why largemouths, smallmouths, and all their prey become more active when the world cools down. Sounds reasonable enough, but a closer look at how bass and their prey react to light levels puts a different-and ultimately more useful-spin on summer bass fishing.

Dawn and Dusk
Studies of largemouths reveal that their increased feeding in dim conditions has little to do with comfort and everything to do with efficient foraging. In full light, bluegills, for example, can see bass better than bass can see them. But in low light, a bass's eyes function better than a bluegill's-and the visual advantage goes to the hunter.

With their limited vision at sunrise and sunset, prey fish have one survival mechanism: They disperse and freeze. To locate them, bass ease along the shadowy bottom with their eyes toward the surface, looking for hovering baitfish. It's a good time of day to be a bass.

And it's not a bad time of day to be a bass fisherman. On the early side of dawn and the late side of dusk, try a wobbling surface bait such as a Crazy Crawler or a Jitterbug, retrieved slowly and steadily. At first or last light, a softly fished popper or a Zara Spook is an excellent choice. You don't need to make much noise with the lure-after all, bass are on the prowl for prey that are trying not to make any at all.

Morning and Afternoon
Once the sun hits the water, prey fish find protection in cover and in schools. Schooling makes it difficult for a predator to target individual prey, confounding bass in the same way a flock of ducks does a hunter. The key for bass and waterfowlers alike is to pick a single target.

[NEXT "Story Continued..."] Largemouths and smallmouths do so by foraging in groups, which allows one bass to intercept a single baitfish that is fleeing other bass. Here's where the faster topwater baits work best. Anglers often talk of ripping a popper or chugger, squealing a buzzbait, or bulging the surface with a spinnerbait in order to trigger a strike, and such an approach fits with the way bass encounter their quarry as the morning brightens or the afternoon shadows lengthen. Make some noise. If nothing else, the resulting commotion may sound like a school of predators at work, and a hungry bass knows what that means.

Midday
As the sun climbs higher, the aggressive foraging dies down. Some prey fish form open-water schools. Others hide in the densest weeds or hold in shallow, shaded water.

During these hours, largemouths retreat to cover or drop down to deep weed edges, and they change from stalkers or cooperative feeders to what biologists call sit-and-wait predators. That is, they hide in the shade, where they gain a visual advantage over any forage that comes too close. The effect is similar to looking out a window from a darkened room-you can see into the light but can't be seen in return.

This is the time of day to work the weed edges using a slow, vertical presentation with a plastic worm, lizard, or other realistic soft bait. When the sun reaches its high point, try tickling the green ceiling over the bass's head with a plastic frog or a mouse.

Smallmouths rely more on depth to retain the light advantage. Their chief summer forage is crayfish, which scuttle along the bottom. Bass look for them along shoals or dropoffs. If smallmouths find weedbeds with minnows, they'll stop in, but charging baitfish in full light is an inefficient strategy unless the bait are there in good numbers. If they are, Rattlin' Rogues, topwaater poppers, or floating stickbaits make good choices. If they aren't, dig out the tube jigs in crayfish colors and hit the shaded edges of the dropoffs, where the hunting is good, and it's twilight all afternoon for both the bass and any angler who takes advantage of the opportunity.

The High Art of Worm Fishing

fieldandstream-editor — Sun, 08 May 2005 05:05:00 -0400

Flyfishing came into vogue in the early 20th century, and with it came criticism of worm fishing: It was too easy. The debate was considered to be of such importance that, in 1904, Atlantic Monthly magazine published a feature article entitled "Fishing With a Worm." The author was the magazine's editor, an eminent scholar named Bliss Perry, who argued for the worm's facility in catching trout in brush-choked streams, celebrating the skill and sport that such a venture entailed.

But in a practical sense, the world has changed from Perry's alder-tangled brook-trout stream. Like any other bait, a worm's effectiveness has come to depend on its presentation. H.G. "Tap" Tapply underscored this point nearly a half century ago in one of his Field & Stream columns. "A worm is such a shapeless creature," he wrote, "there doesn't seem to be very much a fisherman can do with it except jab it on a hook and toss it into the water." But as Tap demonstrated, an angler can do a good deal to make a worm more appealing (beginning with how it's hooked-lightly through the middle). I'd like to think that he would have approved of the 12 tips that follow.

1 Add a Charm
"The smaller the trout stream, the better worms work" is an axiom that hasn't changed in the 100 years since Perry wrote his article. Anglers of his era simply stuck their rickety fly rods through alder tangles and dropped a weighted worm into a deep hole. Today most of us prefer spinning rods for such work, and to me, a simple worm flip-flopping in the current looks bare-naked. A fingernail-size spinner, with a few red beads strung in front, makes the curlicue of worm irresistible.

2 Convince Them Cold
There's a certain logic to using a big bait in hopes of rousing lethargic coldwater fish. But water temperatures in the 30s and low 40s leave metabolism rates low and fish nibbling at the ends of worms and crawlers. You'll attract and hook more fish with a smaller offering-a light breakfast, say, rather than a turkey dinner. For ice-out trout, perch, and sunfish, try using half a garden worm. Even classic gluttons like bullheads might prefer a leaner cuisine when the wind is cold or the run is just starting. A stub of nightcrawler on a No. 2 hook makes a perfect catfish snack.

3 Send a Wake-up Call
Crawlers are generally not thought of as the bait of choice for selective fish, but if the local trout stream or bass pond has you pricing 3-woods, here's a trick worth trying. Go out at first light with ultralight spinning tackle, and toss out a crawler on a bare hook. Morning is prime feeding time, and the weightless bait's slow descent leaves 5 inches of squirming protein in full view for quite a while. After you've made the cast, keep the bail open and put the rod in a forked stick. The line will fall off the rod in slow loops as the worm settles, but more often than not the slow loops will become a blur, and the morning will suddenly get rather interesting.

[NEXT "Go Dark and Deep"] 4 Go Dark and Deep
When smallmouths scatter along rocks and weeds in their postspawn funk, try turning to the seductive synergy of a jig-and-crawler combination. You can fish deep and cover a lot of territory, and the crawler seems to be the perfect touch for this transitional time, when the smallmouths have yet to lock on to a preferred forage. Dark jigs-black, brown, and purple-seem to match the nightcrawler's color. I generally use a whole crawler, prefer marabou dressing, and drop the rod for two or three seconds when I get a hit.

5 See Red
Is it their 1- to 2-inch size? Maybe the fact that red wigglers frequent the forested soil along the banks of brookie streams? Perhaps the tannin-stained water highlights their coloration. Biologists call these little redworms Eisenia foetida, but generations of brook trout fishermen would say the portant thing is knowing where to find them-in a manure or leaf pile, beneath a log-and where to use them-anywhere the brook trout are wild and hungry.

6 Strike Right
Walleyes take a wide variety of worm rigs across their range. Whether you slowly troll or drift with the current or wind, one thing's for certain: The sinker had better be rapping the bottom. And distinguishing bottom from a bite can be tough. The trick is to ease the rod back to the strike (maybe a foot) and feel for life at the end of the tightening line. If it's there, set the hook with a sweep rather than a jerk. Once in a while you'll find yourself hooked to those slow, hearty tugs, and that lovely weight of spring.

7 Follow a Float Plan
Back in the day, no largemouth fisherman worthy of the name would be without a few bobbers in his tackle box. A bobber allowed for a precise presentation, usually just above the weeds. So positioned, a nightcrawler became a deadly bait for pond bass. The trick was (and is) to drift along a transition in weed height or density, trailing the worm behind the boat, and using as little weight as possible and a quarter-size float so that the fish won't feel resistance when it takes the bait. Try it at first and last light. Full sun scatters largemouths and emboldens panfish, which rip apart floating crawlers.

[NEXT "Go Dark and Deep"] 8 Spoon a Worm
A spinner with a worm works great when trout are active. But on days when you need a slower presentation, consider using a spoon. Replace the treble hook with a snap-swivel, a 2-foot leader (3 feet in clear, calm water), and a size 6 hook with a garden worm. The spoon adds some casting weight and will flutter and flash much better on a slow drift than will a spinner, which needs more speed to work. If you're fishing from shore, try casting and retrieving with a stop-and-start action. This is an old Adirondack method for squaretail trout of a bygone era, but it still works wherever spring trout feed along shorelines.

9 Take a Dim View
Turbid water brings out the best in a worm. Perhaps the rain that results in the rise in water level and turbidity washes an occasional worm into the stream or lake and heightens the general predatory interest in them (though I can't recall having ever found a "wild" worm in the stomach of a fish). More likely, the cloudy water keeps feeding fish focused on the bottom, where your worm is likely to be. Worm-friendly species like bullheads, brown trout, and walleyes tend to be productive feeders in low visibility. And unlike mirror-sided shiners, worms present these predators with a dark, solid shape. So the next time the river promises to be a bit high, pick a few crawlers from a garden or the nearby golf greens the night before you go. Chances are you'll be glad you did.

10 Pinch an Inch
When the heavy walleyes move on to the big-water shoals in the late summer, try going after them with a bucktail jig and a 1-inch pinch of nightcrawler. The bait covers the hook point, deflects weeds, and offers a taste of prey. With nothing dangling or flapping, it remains secure regardless of current, casts, or ambitious panfish. A "sweetener," as old-timers called it, can make all the difference-not only for walleyes but for an occasional muskie, too.

11 Drift Away
Whether you're wading or fishing from a boat, drifting worms is one of the great searching strategies for bigger rivers. For trout, a spade-dug, 4-inch garden worm is the right size; for bass, walleyes, and steelhead, a crawler may be a better choice. The key is to drift the bait through feeding and holding areas because fish in current are not going to chase down the bait, as they might in still water. Use just enough weight to tick the rocks. Strikes will come as a sharp tug rather than a pull or rap. Fish the transitions: mouths of tributaries, bankside slicks, and the edges of big pools.

12 Go Guilt-Free
As the late Ed Zern, Field & Stream's great humorist, once put it, anglers are born honest but they get over it. His dictum applies to any number of angling maneuvers, including the matter of adding a piece of worm to a wet fly. The fly-and-worm is at its best in the quick-water pockets of late-spring brooks. Some anglers believe that certain patterns work better than others in this role, the Woolly Worm, Black Gnat, Royal Coachman, and Professor among others, but I personally don't think the type of fly matters. At this point you're not really flyfishing anyway. , bankside slicks, and the edges of big pools.

12 Go Guilt-Free
As the late Ed Zern, Field & Stream's great humorist, once put it, anglers are born honest but they get over it. His dictum applies to any number of angling maneuvers, including the matter of adding a piece of worm to a wet fly. The fly-and-worm is at its best in the quick-water pockets of late-spring brooks. Some anglers believe that certain patterns work better than others in this role, the Woolly Worm, Black Gnat, Royal Coachman, and Professor among others, but I personally don't think the type of fly matters. At this point you're not really flyfishing anyway.

The Smallmouth Blitz

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 06:15:00 -0400

Back in February, with 2 feet of ice on your favorite smallmouth bass lake, the possibility that summer could ever last too long seemed unthinkable. But it happens. Consider the typical late-August pastimes-watching telethons, sleepwalking through work, sulking on the sofa while your baseball team fritters away its double-digit lead. Life simply slows to a crawl, and everything seems stale. Even watching Uncle Bob get blasted at the Labor Day barbecue doesn't hold the charm that it did on Memorial Day.

At first glance our lakes appear equally tired-skinny, tepid waters beneath a blazing sun. It leaves a fisherman with all the initiative of Jed Clampett's hunting dog. Beneath the surface, though, a different tale unfolds. For smallmouth bass, the pace has quickened. Having recuperated from their spawn and buffed from a summer of feeding on crayfish, smallmouths kick off their annual bid to fatten up for the upcoming winter starvation and subsequent spring spawning.

Can they build enough energy reserves to survive the winter before cold weather puts a clamp on their metabolism? About half will do so. But with forage abounding, rest assured that every single one of them will give it a go, providing some of the best fishing of the year. The following 15 tips will help you find it.

1. Fish deep. The combination of zebra mussel infestation and effective pollution control has left the Great Lakes system and many other major waterways much clearer than they were a generation ago. And that keeps the bass deeper. Gravel and rock shoals at 20 to 30 feet make good starting points now.

2. Soften up. Crayfish are the best late-August bait, and the bass will stay on them into September-as long as the water remains warm. (The warm temperature increases crayfish metabolism and growth, and they molt frequently, making them not only abundant but soft-shelled and desirable, as well.) Get soft-shells when you can; if only hard-shells are available, use smaller ones and remove the front pincers. Fewer bait shops sell crayfish after Labor Day, but you can seine your own. The muddy creeks that trickle through golf courses sometimes have great numbers of them, and they may be in some stage of molt. If you turn up a bucket of soft-shells, you can prolong the molting by refrigerating them. My own experience has been that this is the sort of decision you may want to clear first with other family members.

[NEXT "3. Hit gravel shoals."] 3. Hit gravel shoals. Gravel shoals are terrific late-August smallmouth spots because they produce crayfish and provide a substrate that allows smallmouths to catch them. Surface area and bottom composition are the best predictors of a shoal's fertility. The amount of depth change is a secondary concern. In fact, some of the best "shoals" are really nothing more than gravel areas on a shoreline.

4. Find offshore weeds. With schools of minnows inhabiting them, offshore weedbeds become increasingly productive structures as September progresses. Smallmouths seem partial to those that are pocked with rocks and gravel. Weedy points are good places to try, too. Fish the outside edge first, and then try the rocky areas inside the vegetation. Gravel pockets, even shallow ones of 5 feet, can produce the biggest bass of the season.

5. Try a big shiner. September brings a shift in smallmouth diet from crayfish to baitfish. Cooling waters slow crayfish molting and activity, and ubiquitous young-of-the-year baitfish reach a size that makes them worth eating. In building their energy reserves, the bigger smallmouths eat these smaller minnows but prefer the larger ones. So when you buy bait, pick up half a dozen "pike" minnows, too, and drift them over your favorite smallmouth spot. Aside from the prespawn, September represents your best chance at a trophy smallmouth. And there's no better bait than a shiner that oks like it should come with its own bucket.

6. Troll the dropoffs. Dropoffs provide late-summer and early-fall smallmouths with an opportunity to feed on energy-rich pelagic baitfish. These smallmouths often suspend just offshore, much like their open-water forage. Try trolling blue and silver Rapalas or Rebels at various depths along the dropoffs. If the wind is right, drifting bait can turn up some good fish. Shiners are the top choice, but don't be surprised if nightcrawlers work, too.

7. Go shallow on small waters. Smaller reservoirs, ponds, and rivers cool down quicker than big waters. Smallmouths respond accordingly, moving into shallow weed edges and rock piles because chubs, dace, and small panfish stay close to shoreline cover. If your favorite water has a tannic stain, or a bit of color, the bass may be in the shallows even before the water cools.

[NEXT "8. Fish early and delicately."] 8. Fish early and delicately. The best way to tackle clear-water Labor Day lakes, when personal watercraft and pleasure boats are out in full force, is to get out at first light and fish the 10- to 25-foot shelves that lead to deep water. Live bait works, but 4-inch smoke or melon Yamamoto worms, fished weightless on 4- to 6-pound-test line, work even better. Hook the worm through the "collar" and let it settle. Retrieve it slowly-a quarter reel crank at a time. By the time the circus comes to town, the fish will be back in the depths resting, and you'll be ready for a pre-lunch power nap of your own.

9. Keep moving. Late-summer smallmouths are consummate gluttons. They basically gather in schools and roam around (up to 6 miles a day in the biggest lakes and rivers), feeding on a structure until they clean out the grub before continuing on to another eatery. Think tailgaters in a parking lot. If the bass suddenly stop biting, they've probably moved. So should you.

10. Remember texture. September smallmouths may be aggressive, but they do have preferences. Success with artificials begins with an understanding of smallmouth triggers, the most significant of which are soft texture (perhaps a reflection of their affinity for molting crayfish) and wriggling action. Four-inch plastic tubes, worms, minnows, and lizards are the most effective-and versatile-artificials in your box.

11. Swim a tube. Plastic tubes are very effective throughout the late-summer and early-fall period. Work them slowly over the bottom in crayfish colors (melon and copper, for instance) through Labor Day, and then switch to minnow colors like shad and golden shiner. You can stuff tubes with rattles and stick-through eyes, but the most important step in matching baitfish is to use a lighter weight. Tubes dart and swoop on their descent, and a minimal weight extends the free swim. Try to let the bait settle on a line that is just on the slack side of taut and strike at any disruption-even if it is the sudden appearance of slack line. Retrieve in starts and stops.

12. Pop and chug. September often finds bass busting baitfish over weedbeds. The best surface action will be in the early morning, but by midmonth the topwater bite may continue through the afternoon. Poppers, chuggers, and stickbaits can all be good choices, depending on the smallmouths' moods. Experiment with retrieves, starting with twitching and stopping and working up to some serious chugging. Try letting the plugs or poppers just float, too. Smallmouths feed in schools and are used to scooping up the baitfish that other bass flush but fail to finish off. [NEXT "13. Speed up."]

13. Speed up. As smallmouths focus on baitfish in mid-September, speedier retrieves can provoke powerful strikes. Weedbeds are natural places for a sinking, neutral-density stickbait. Work your lures in rips, with frequent pauses. Fall smallies will often follow your plug or lure to the boat, in line with their propensity for chasing baitfish, and the stop-and-start retrieve will often tempt these "followers." If that fails, try stirring up some interest by speed-retrieving a chartreuse-and-white spinnerbait through the grass or cranking a deep diver alongside the weeds.

14. Drag a streamer. Topwater fishing can actually improve with a ripple, but it dies once the breeze slaps a chop on the surface. When that happens, change to a sinking line and try drifting (or trolling) a white marabou streamer along a weedline or dropoff. You'll get a break from fighting the wind, leaving you ready for the evening rise. And don't be surprised if you fall in love with drifting through the yellow light of a September afternoon-and the sound of a fly reel bouncing along the bottom of a canoe.

15. Be ready. The old saw that September means fewer but bigger fish is probably true of smallmouths. And as often as not, the biggest fish will hit on the first cast at a new spot. Some perks come with being the biggest bass in a school, I suppose, and first crack at dinner is one of them. So keep your wits about you. For all that autumn offers anglers, there's one thing it doesn't: a second chance.

September Smallmouth Sampler
The following waters are some top destinations for late-summer smallmouth fishing:

Lake Erie
Simply put, this is the best big-smallmouth water in the world. The action picks up after Labor Day, with September bringing some excellent fishing. Contact: Lake Erie Unit of the Ohio Division of Wildlife (419-625-8062; www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife); Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (814-833-2464; www.fish.state.pa.us).

Lake Ontario / St. Lawrence River
Smallies in the Thousand Islands area don't finish spawning until late June in some years; so, given its northern location, the season runs late. The best time to fish is from the first of August through the end of September. Contact: Region 6 of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (315-785-2261; www.dec.state.ny.us).

Lake Champlain
Fish the biggest smallmouth fishery in New England. The best action is throughout late summer to autumn in the central and northern part of the lake. Contact: Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife (802-483-2172; www.vtfishandwildlife.com).

Rainy Lake / Boundary Waters
In Minnesota, Rainy has very good smallmouth fishing from late August through the fall. If you want to canoe to your bass, look to the Boundary Waters for wilderness smallies. Minnesota has catch-and-release regulations for the species after September 13, although Rainy Lake and portions of the Boundary Waters are exempt due to shared boundaries with Canada. Contact: District Fishyour plug or lure to the boat, in line with their propensity for chasing baitfish, and the stop-and-start retrieve will often tempt these "followers." If that fails, try stirring up some interest by speed-retrieving a chartreuse-and-white spinnerbait through the grass or cranking a deep diver alongside the weeds.

14. Drag a streamer. Topwater fishing can actually improve with a ripple, but it dies once the breeze slaps a chop on the surface. When that happens, change to a sinking line and try drifting (or trolling) a white marabou streamer along a weedline or dropoff. You'll get a break from fighting the wind, leaving you ready for the evening rise. And don't be surprised if you fall in love with drifting through the yellow light of a September afternoon-and the sound of a fly reel bouncing along the bottom of a canoe.

15. Be ready. The old saw that September means fewer but bigger fish is probably true of smallmouths. And as often as not, the biggest fish will hit on the first cast at a new spot. Some perks come with being the biggest bass in a school, I suppose, and first crack at dinner is one of them. So keep your wits about you. For all that autumn offers anglers, there's one thing it doesn't: a second chance.

September Smallmouth Sampler
The following waters are some top destinations for late-summer smallmouth fishing:

Lake Erie
Simply put, this is the best big-smallmouth water in the world. The action picks up after Labor Day, with September bringing some excellent fishing. Contact: Lake Erie Unit of the Ohio Division of Wildlife (419-625-8062; www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife); Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (814-833-2464; www.fish.state.pa.us).

Lake Ontario / St. Lawrence River
Smallies in the Thousand Islands area don't finish spawning until late June in some years; so, given its northern location, the season runs late. The best time to fish is from the first of August through the end of September. Contact: Region 6 of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (315-785-2261; www.dec.state.ny.us).

Lake Champlain
Fish the biggest smallmouth fishery in New England. The best action is throughout late summer to autumn in the central and northern part of the lake. Contact: Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife (802-483-2172; www.vtfishandwildlife.com).

Rainy Lake / Boundary Waters
In Minnesota, Rainy has very good smallmouth fishing from late August through the fall. If you want to canoe to your bass, look to the Boundary Waters for wilderness smallies. Minnesota has catch-and-release regulations for the species after September 13, although Rainy Lake and portions of the Boundary Waters are exempt due to shared boundaries with Canada. Contact: District Fish

How to Fish for Smallmouth Bass in the Fall

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 20:00:00 -0400