Bass ready to tailgate!

There are a couple of good reasons to bass fish more in the Fall. First, a lot of the competition is gone from the lake, chasing squirrels and ducks and deer. Second, as the water cools in the middle of fishing season, the largemouths like to up their game by tailgating. And they’ll party wherever there is food.

Todd Risinger is no stranger to fishing all over the south, but this time of year is one of his favorites right here on Lake D’Arbonne. It’s because you aren’t confined to one area or one pattern to catch good bass. And, it’s a little quieter most of the time on the lake.

Cool weather gets the shad moving on D’Arbonne and that gets the bass moving again. There are a lot of grass flats on the lake, especially up the Corney arm and those have been holding fish. But they’ve been sluggish. Cooler temps has them ready to eat.

You can also find the shad heading up to the backs of the creeks and some are already heading out to points and staging areas for deeper water tailgating in the month ahead.

The one factor that brings fish to all three of those areas is the shad. Where the baitfish go, that’s where the fish follow. Just like us.

Todd’s pick for fishing in the grass is to just throw a Fluke, let it sink, then slowly glide it back through the water. His top color this time of year is the Rainbow Shad. It’s white and has colored flecks. If they aren’t hitting it, the next best bet is Watermelon color. You throw both of those and the fish will tell you which they like best. Once you catch on one color, stick with it.

Another option for the grass beds is a Sexy Shad Spook, but you can’t throw it way up in the grass. You just have to fish the pockets and holes. Todd likes to have enough room to walk the Spook a few feet. He says when you do that in the grass, if there is one there, he’ll knock it out of the water in the Fall.

Finding the shallow grassbeds that are holding big bunches of shad can’t usually be done with electronics. So you have to do it the old fashioned way, make a lot of casts, cover a lot of water and keep your eyes open. Anglers should keep their eyes open for shad flickering on the surface, or in more open areas, you can even see big balls of shad just under the water. When you see that, you know bass aren’t far away.

There are some fish that go ahead and head for deeper areas. Those fish fish are good on a worm, deep-diving crankbait or Todd’s two favorites, a white War Eagle Spinnerbait or a Morning Dawn color worm on a drop shot rig. Spinnerbaits are most effective when there is a little wind and bright sun.

Fish generally bite on and off all day long this time of year, not just early and late like in the warmer months. One thing that will slow things down quickly, though, is a cold front. He says it takes them a couple of days to get back on the bite after a noticeable front.

If you want to keep up with the latest fishing reports, take a minute to drop in K&M Coffee, Corks and Camo right by the lake and see what others have been catching them on.