Do bigger bass bite more in the fall? 2024
TriStateBassin106 reply :
Hey BR.
Over the past month and a half during my outings if I'm lucky to catch a bass with these weird fall conditions which most of the time I am. I have caught very decent fish, 2lbs to or higher which is pretty good for the ponds I fish.
Most of the summer I have fished many public park ponds which are usually very pressured and hold a good amount of bass. Most outings during that time slot many bass were either dinks or right at or slighty above the 1lb mark. Since mid September any bass I've been able to catch has been over 2lbs. Pretty much all the dinks have stopped biting and the big ones have come out to feed.
Is anyone else getting quality over quantity right now? Or is it just me?
Hammer 4 reply :
Nope, big girls bit in all seasons...Just have to find em, figure out which bait to use, and have fun..
BassWhole! reply :
Bigger bass don't bite more in the fall, but conditions are more conducive to increased catch per unit effort, so it may appear that way.
GReb reply :
Its my opinion but around here it seems like the bigger bass feed on crawfish and bream. Most caught on Shad seem to be under 3 pounds.
papajoe222 reply :
Given your location and the bodies of water you fish, bigger is a relative term and they are likely feeding more often in those ponds.
Big fish need to take in more food than their smaller sisters. However, that doesn't always translate into feeding more often, no matter the season. I've found that their feeding periods are few and short in duration and they will expend as little energy as it takes. During the fall, they will likely do one of two things; Feed for a longer period thereby increasing their intake, or they may add another short feeding period. What factors into this is the forage. If it's plentiful (schools of bait fish), they have the option of going either way. If it isn't, the most likely scenario would be that they would feed for a longer period of time. That would be the case if bluegill, or crayfish were the main forage.
WRB reply :
I will go out on a limb and say 90% of the biggest are caught during the spawn cycle, that has been my experience.
Logically you would think it's during the summer high feeding high growth period. Keep in mind the biggest bass in any lake is a female and egg development starts during the summer period and peaks during pre spawn and that is when big bass weigh more then any other time period.
Tom
scbassin reply :
I agree with Tom. I caught my P/B during prespawn.
Dens228 reply :
On 10/22/2019 at 8:02 AM, GReb said:Its my opinion but around here it seems like the bigger bass feed on crawfish and bream. Most caught on Shad seem to be under 3 pounds.
After my outing on Sunday I'd agree. I caught a bunch of 2 pounders on a shad colored jerkbait, I caught three over 4 pounds, one being over five pounds on a jig/crawfish combo.
TnRiver46 reply :
Rule #1 of fishing: there are no rules
Jermination reply :
All of my biggest fish have come in fall or spring. Caught my PB 11.3 last October frog fishing on chickamauga. It’s relative to your location, fish are generally bigger in the spring but that doesn’t mean they bite more frequently. I catch more dinks in the fall than anytime of year, mainly because my go to style is power fishing and covering water
BassWhole! reply :
On 10/22/2019 at 10:55 PM, TnRiver46 said:Rule #1 of fishing: there are no rules
I need you to call NY DEC and tell them that for me, they don't seem to want to take my word for it... 
TnRiver46 reply :
On 10/22/2019 at 11:22 PM, Jeremy Henry said:All of my biggest fish have come in fall or spring. Caught my PB 11.3 last October frog fishing on chickamauga. It’s relative to your location, fish are generally bigger in the spring but that doesn’t mean they bite more frequently. I catch more dinks in the fall than anytime of year, mainly because my go to style is power fishing and covering water
Holy crap its Jeremy Henry. Whats up man? It's Russell. Tell myers he is a terrible golfer for me........
Scott F reply :
If you talk about river smallmouth, the biggest fish are often caught more often in the early spring and deep into fall.
Shimano_1 reply :
I agree with most of the above. I do believe once the water starts cooling down the bigger fish tend to roam more and are easier to catch. At least that's my experience. I've caught bigger fish in the spring but fall would be my next choice for quality fish. I think by nature the bigger fish are shallower in the the fall than summer and winter the majority of the time which lends itself to catching more simply because a good portion of anglers fish shallow more than deep.
Bird reply :
I catch more quality fish in April, May and October every year.....around here.
That said, my biggest LM by a long shot came in the middle of the day in hot August on a 4" culprit worm , 10.4
A-Jay reply :
I will say that access to big bass IMO is often one of my biggest challenges.
Early season ( to spawn as stated here many times) bigger fish venture shallower making then more accessible to more anglers.
Again in the 'fall', the larger specimens often return to 'shallower' water and might even stay a little longer again making them more accessible to more anglers.
Perhaps this may account for some of the results listed in this thread.
In my own fishing, it's hard to deny the results - the biggest brown bass that end up in my net each season routinely come early & again later in the year.
A-Jay
Pickle_Power reply :
I just think the bigger fish may forego their lazy and wary ways that they display in the summer in order to beef up for winter.
Cam R reply :
On 10/23/2019 at 12:33 AM, Scott F said:If you talk about river smallmouth, the biggest fish are often caught more often in the early spring and deep into fall.
Past two years i have caught both my PB smallmouth in creeks in may. Late August I seem to have good luck too.
TnRiver46 reply :
I like to fish deep and therefore seem to have the opposite experience as most of the responses . Deep fish are not inaccessible, you just have to let more line off your reel
Jermination reply :
On 10/22/2019 at 11:45 PM, TnRiver46 said:Holy crap its Jeremy Henry. Whats up man? It's Russell. Tell myers he is a terrible golfer for me........
HAHA! he got me on out at oak ridge a few months ago! im also a terrible golfer. could really only afford one expensive hobby at a time LOL we need to go man!
TnRiver46 reply :
On 10/24/2019 at 10:54 PM, Jeremy Henry said:HAHA! he got me on out at oak ridge a few months ago! im also a terrible golfer. could really only afford one expensive hobby at a time LOL we need to go man!
Lets do it
Don51 reply :
There are banner days to be had this time of year! I always fished the shallow bog ponds in MA, the bass were easier to find. It's all about being at the right place at the right time! ????
Vilas15 reply :
Fish are cold blooded, metabolism depends on the water temperature. They will eat the most when the water is warmest out of necessity, but that doesnt mean they'll bite your bait most. I think their location and likelihood of being caught changes in the fall making it appear they are feeding more.
TnRiver46 reply :
On 10/29/2019 at 2:39 AM, Vilas15 said:Fish are cold blooded, metabolism depends on the water temperature. They will eat the most when the water is warmest out of necessity, but that doesnt mean they'll bite your bait most. I think their location and likelihood of being caught changes in the fall making it appear they are feeding more.
^best answer
FishTank reply :
I generally catch a lot fish in the fall but nothing larger than 2-3lbs. The guy I fish with stays near the bank (10 feet or so) when he drives the boat. It seems each fall we just catch tons of dinks but noting big. I have tried to encourage him to watch the depth finder and look for pockets of feeder fish further and structure further from shore but he stays in the same spot all year round. It's great in spring and early summer but late summer and fall can be difficult, especially when the crankbait bite is on.
Catt reply :
I wonder if the increase in numbers of bigger fish caught during pre-spawn/spawn has anything to do with the increase in numbers of anglers on the water?
Paul Roberts reply :
On 10/29/2019 at 6:02 PM, Catt said:I wonder if the increase in numbers of bigger fish caught during pre-spawn/spawn has anything to do with the increase in numbers of anglers on the water?
Yes! And... the vulnerability of big fat bass tends to bring them back for more. 
It's true, that big bass are more vulnerable through the coldwater period; At least around here. I suspect several things are at work:
-The results of vegetation die-back, and/or turnover, essentially rearranges their homes, exposing fish, making prey fishes vulnerable to bass, and bass vulnerable to anglers.
-Repro tissues develop in the fall. By October here, those bellies are already swollen.
-Fat deposition appears to increase, commensurate with the repro tissues that require it, as well the ability to make it through the winter, esp in the N.
-Thus, bass begin to get FAT. They may not be much longer than they were a month or so earlier, but they sure look it!
-Big, fat, bass are vulnerable, to varying degrees of course, across the entire coldwater period which stretches from the fall transition through the spawn, esp so during fall and prespawn "binge-feeding" periods.
Working on that video (the Fall Transition end of it) right now.
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