Is It Still Good Bass Fishing This Time Of Year? If So What Should I Use Now? 2025
bigt89 reply :
after a long time off from bass fishing i just got back into it in the summer. found that senkos worked very well but had a down side very expensive for a worm that only lasted 1 fish 2-3 @most then i learned about wacky rig style. long story short after i got sick i stopped going out then doctors appts. kept popping up or weather was messing me up. been gettign out a few times this week, and it almost seems dead.
are bass still active? i have heard that a certain time they go dormant but usually in winter when water freezes over if it gets cold. still using works and senkos but no luck. i have no luck with frogs did not catch a thing this year had a few hits but missed them still learning how to properly fish them, and when to set the hook.
what should i bw using this time of the year? i know there are lures specifically for spring that are most effective then. is it the same for this time of the year or is bass fishing just slowing down?
roadwarrior reply :
Well, we will see what some of the Jersey Guys have to say, but generally these lures/ baits are effective in the fall:
Jerkbaits, soft swimbaits, traditional jigs and swim jigs, flukes, single tail grubs, soft plastics on a split shot rig and
shakey head.
MarkH024 reply :
You can get more use out of your Senko or stik baits if you rig them with an O-ring or Wack-O Jig. This will keep it from tearing up as easily. You should get 5+ fish with it rigged properly, perhaps more.
Bass are still active. They're feeding like crazy to fatten up for the winter months (the places that actually have winter).
Try using jerkbaits, flukes, lipless cranks, squarebills. Don't give up on soft plastics, they'll still work. Topwater will still have a shot until the water gets really chilly, under 50 degrees.
bigt89 reply :
okay i cant use and cranks i fish in stockton i even tryed the shallow think is was only 1 or 2 feet and still kept getting tangled in the weeds pullign them up. i found that june bug and black were the 2 best colors for me but neither are doing what they were a few months ago. i hear you there all though i hear were supposed to get a cold snowy winter this year we shall see. i think most places were getting 70* in the middle on january and February. ill have to try some flukes i thought they were usually best in the spring from what i was told. im running low on senkos i may run out and get some more and hope there are on the rare "buy 1 get 1 free deal". whats the best color/ more popular in new jersey? im down in south jersey.
scaleface reply :
In my neck of the woods the bass are thick and hungry in the back 1/3 of creeks.But the water is stained with no vegetation.
BASSHUNTER1961 reply :
Lipless cranks and spinner baits are the lure of choice, and wacky rigged Senkos.
bigt89 reply :
okay i do wacky rig my senkos now with a circle yami hook. i dont understand why fish like red but i have noticed i have alot better success with red hooks over silver. what color do you liek to use in new jersey? if they were not so expensive i would buy alot of colors to try as of now i have black junebug green pumkin some kind of green watermelon and black with blue flake.
McAlpine reply :
It's fall. Go to the lake with a spinnerbait and your set.
Vinny Chase reply :
The colder it gets the more I throw a NorthStar Custom Baits hair jig.
Jerkbaits, lipless cranks, & northstar swim jigs/flip & swim jigs are also great options.
SAC2 reply :
from a fellow New Jersian, the bass are still biting. ive been catching them on moving baits. ie: spinnerbaits, lipless cranks, flukes on an underspin jig. also have been catchin them deep after a front (not sure of the weather down in your parts, but we got a storm rollin in tonight, looks like post frontal conditions saturday). You dont have to buy gary yamamoto senkos either. try yum dingers, or bass pro knock off senkos. i have great success with both, and they are a fraction of the price. be persistent. keep at em'. itll happen sooner or later!
Crestliner2008 reply :
Hard & soft jerkbaits will get you bit this time of the year. Also try a couple of chatterbaits with a 4" Fin-S Fish (or facsimile) on the back. And keep tossing those Senkos.
I'm more north than you are and trust me, the fishing is getting better every day. 
Dylcook91 reply :
I'm not too far north of you. I fish everyday just about, but haven't been getting any fish in the last two weeks. I try all types of lures and its all the same results. Fall is considered one of the best times of year for largemouth, I hoping the water is going though a transition and the fishing will pick up again soon. I fish alot of dark water so I throw dark colors mostly, and try to match the color of the lures to the color of their natural food source around me(bluegill, frogs).
bigt89 reply :
thanks ill try some spinners and cranks out. ill have to run back out to dick's and ****** up a few more spinners was just out that way today too bad i did not check th eforum until now.
Primus reply :
On 10/17/2012 at 1:47 AM, bigt89 said:okay i cant use and cranks i fish in stockton i even tryed the shallow think is was only 1 or 2 feet and still kept getting tangled in the weeds pullign them up.
Unless your weeds are matted up on the surface you can fish a crank in shallow weedy places. Did very well fishing a shallow weeds in a small clear water natural lake a couple of days ago with the wind blowin' app 25 mph. I was catching them on a Sebile Flatt Shad lipless crank in the 3'-5' depth zone keeping my rod up high and rippin' the bait off of weeds. Found some even bigger fish right next to shallow milfoil clumps in 1-2' of water, using the DT Fat crank and slow crankin' on the surface and watching nice fish come up out the weeds to choke on it. The weeds were barely under the surface. As others mentioned a spinnerbait, swimjig and shallow swimbait are other good options for this scenario. Crankbaits were the ideal choice on this day as many of the fish were scattered along the shoreline and the best option is to cover water. I absolutely love fall fishing for the reason that in early to mid fall they are usually more fish up shallow that will take down moving baits.
SmokeRise1 reply :
Jigs in black/blue or tubes in same color are usually great this time of year. Spinnerbaits and traps work well too as the weeds that gave you grief all summer should have died and opened the water column up some.
CPBassFishing reply :
I've got a nice little trick I use for wacky rigging. Instead of costly O-rings, get yourself a big roll of silicone tubing from home depot or lowes. You cut off about a half inch, slide it onto the worm, then stick your hook through the worm and both sides of the tubing. One purchase will literally last you a lifetime. The smell of the tubing also has no effect on the fish.
scaleface reply :
I talk to some of the local guys who fish the major reservoir here and they say fishing is real tough. I guess a year of fishing pressure has taken its toll on the lake. I've been fishing small lakes that don't receive so much pressure and fishing is excellent right now. To me, the surest bet to catching bass this day and age is to go where the fish are not pounded.
Grizzn N Bassin reply :
i havnt been catching nnumbers in the last week but boy o boy have i caught some lunkers which well keep me at ease for a while
bigt89 reply :
same here fishing @ my local lakes shut down its literally dead. might get 1 or 2 a week used to get 2-4 a night in about 3 hours from land. another pond i could get 6-7 in bout a hour at most now im lucky if i can 2 a week. very rarely will i get a ecent size one most of them are all shorties. they hot senkos are not doign a thing now they 3 hot colors for me wont do the trick know. talked to some locals nothing is workign well. one guy thinks becasue out ponds are so shallow there about ready to go doormat were supposed to have a cold long brutal winter this year from what i hear. i know my pond in my backyard is only 5' soem of the lakes unless you have a boat are about 3-7' i dont have my pickup anymore so i dont get to get out in big lakes. worms senkos cranks, and spinners are doign not a think anymore. i hear the best tiem for us in jersey in my area is the hot summer and when it starts gettign warm in spring winter and fall it shuts down all though last year in th emiddle of january and februrary fishign was red hot with it being 70 just about all winter long.
Gone_Phishin reply :
I always have a lot of confidence in the Pointer 78DD this time of year. The swim jig has also been good to me.
Bankbeater reply :
Personally, I am ready to use a depth charge. Nothing seems to be working very well around here.
Tuckahoe Joe reply :
Ive been slamming them on cranks lately. Bandit 200 series crankbaits in variuous colors/ Rappala Shallow Shad Rap. No dinks. They've all been nice size bass and some big pickerel as well.
PABASS reply :
In southern PA I was nailing them two weeks ago with crankbaits and Pop-r(s), now back to central PA and I cant get a hit even in my local ponds, tried everything I own in the hard bait world and even soft plastics. Hopefully will get out again soon to another local pond and see if it was just an off weekend.
ClackerBuzz reply :
On 10/19/2012 at 9:05 AM, USAF-16 said:I'm not too far north of you. I fish everyday just about, but haven't been getting any fish in the last two weeks. I try all types of lures and its all the same results. Fall is considered one of the best times of year for largemouth, I hoping the water is going though a transition and the fishing will pick up again soon. I fish alot of dark water so I throw dark colors mostly, and try to match the color of the lures to the color of their natural food source around me(bluegill, frogs).
x2. i fish south jersey and the power bite is def not on yet. the last two weeks i've been dead sticking weightless 6" senkos with success but that is it. the fall bite should be on within the next two weeks. when it hits have fun and throw anything you want at them=spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, cranks, lipless traps, jerks, swim any jig etc. there have been alot of fronts moving thru. it was even tuff in the pocono mts last week. i couldn't get a deep bite to save my life. after 3 hrs of trying i'd take a 30min break and move shallow to weeds or skipping docks for dinks before going back deep for more punishment. i can't wait for the fall bite!!!
TNBassin' reply :
Been using my Wacko-Jig with the Sick sticks I got in October's MTB and have been catching some decent ones on that. Red eye shad are working, along with chatter baits and spinners. The chatter bait has been the most productive so far though.
Goose21 reply :
I fish central MO. For about the last three weeks after most of my lakes were completely done turning over, the fall bite was on. Good numbers and quality, bait fish were holding shallow soaking in the mild sun and cooler waters and the bass followed.
Fast forward to this week, bait fish have all but dissapeared, early morning or evening has been fair. Last night a major cold front swept through the Midwest and they're talking 20's on Saturday night here. Will be interesting this weekend but you can't catch fish sitting on the couch!
May be time to bust out the crappie gear and work on a feast.
kickerfish1 reply :
In the Midwest as well with some chilly nights and not so warm feeling highs especially when the wind is blowing. Water temps are mid 40s so you reaally have to entice the fish a bit more, so I opt for finesse rigs. I have used many different presentations but I would opt for a dropshot right now over any other rig. Fish your favorite drop shot bait and slow down. Bites haven't been aggressive but still catching fish.
related Fishing Tackle topic
previous topic
© 2025 - fishing.qciss.net. All Rights Reserved.