By the end of summer, whether it’s due to tournament fishing pressure or family vacationers, bass have seen just about every lure imaginable. Add in dropping temperatures, shorter days, and lakes starting to flip from summer stratification, and it’s no wonder why bass fishing can be tough this time of year. So what’s the ticket for getting a smallmouth to bite during the transition to fall? There’s only a one word answer to that question: downsizing.
Downsizing baits is your best bet to put fish in the boat in clear or stained water, during big tide swings, or amid drastic changes in temperature. But why is a smaller bait so appealing to smallmouth bass in these conditions?
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Why Do Smallmouth Prefer Smaller Baits?
When a 4-inch soft plastic or jerkbait fails, a finesse offering entices smallmouth bass because the fish perceive it as a meal that requires less energy exertion. In other words, your bait presents as an attainable food source that a bass doesn’t have to chase down and grab. The best finesse baits can be hovered or placed right in front of a bass’ nose.
Not only do small baits require bass to use less energy, but they resemble abundant food sources. During the fall transition period, a lot of newly-hatched baitfish from the springtime are on the menu for smallmouth. Alewives, herring, and smelt spawn in the spring, so as we move into the fall, those little young-of-the-year baitfish have grown, but still remain on the short side. As a result, downsizing your baits is often crucial for smallmouth success.
In recent years, more tackle manufacturers have come out with smaller lures to appeal to bass (and bass fishermen) during this challenging time between seasons. Almost every company has some sort of finesse or micro-style bait in their lineup, and even though they’re small, fishing them confidently can pay off in big ways.
When Did Finesse Baits Become Popular?
Back in the early days of bass fishing, American anglers thrived with big lures and power fishing techniques that caught trophy bass. Meanwhile, overseas in Japan, a new approach was in development.
Besides the United States, Japan has been the bass fishing hub of the world for quite some time. Ever since bass were introduced there in the early 20th century, the Japanese government has been on a bounty to eradicate them. But with so many anglers chasing bass throughout the country, the fish became heavily pressured and got smart very quickly. To combat their wary nature, Japanese anglers ran with the art of finesse-style fishing, employing ultralight line and smaller baits. Downsizing their lures and tackle meant being able to catch more fish, and bigger ones, too.
Japanese tackle innovations have since taken hold in the United States. With low-profile reels, ultralight casting rods, micro-braided lines, and tiny baits, there’s been a huge shift toward this finesse approach in the bass fishing community, and it has changed the way we fish for bass for the better.
» Read: Bass Fishing with Micro Plastics
When to Start Downsizing
There is no telltale environmental sign that it’s time to scale down. The key is looking for the fish’s reaction by watching how they respond to your bait and utilizing your electronics.
For example: I’m on a deep, clear, smallmouth lake where the bass can often be found chasing baitfish offshore. I’ve found a good group of smallmouth and cast my 5-inch jighead/minnow combo right at them. After looking at the bait, one smallmouth follows but turns away after a few seconds. That tells me the fish have either seen this presentation before and have grown accustomed to it, or it does not mimic the present forage. Now, I’ll swap that 5-inch bait for a 3-inch bait with a much lighter jighead, and the fish’s reaction completely changes; it inspects the bait and instead of turning away, it eats. Just that subtle change in size and sink rate made all the difference in converting a looker into a hooked fish.
Come the fall transition period, every lake has seen anglers throwing the same big profiles for several months. Bass get conditioned fast, and downsizing offers a subtle presentation that sneaks by and triggers a reaction. A 5-pound bass may not exert the energy to chase down a big, noisy spinnerbait buzzing overhead, but it might slurp a 3-inch fluke if the lure floats down right on its nose.
Matching the Hatch: Small Fall Forage
In the spring, there’s a smorgasbord of bait around and most of it is large; the bluegill, perch, crayfish, and minnows (like alewives and herring) from last season have all grown. But in the fall, a lot of the forage is smaller. Herring fry, young-of-the-year shad, and baby bluegill all come into play. They’ve been growing all summer but they are still on the smaller side, and bass aren’t looking for a Thanksgiving feast as the water cools—they’re looking for bite-size snacks. Throw something that mimics the size and profile of the present forage.
Here are some of the baits I downsize to during the fall transition:
Worm-style stickbaits like a 3-inch Yamamoto Ned Senko or a Z-Man Finesse TRD are great but subtle craw imitations that can be crept along the bottom to draw strikes from finicky, pressured bass.
A finesse swimbait such as the Great Lakes Finesse Dropkick Shad on a lightweight jighead, like their Stealth Ball Head, is one of my favorite combos when small, schooling baitfish like young-of-the-year alewives are present. Swim it low and slow over bottom structure and on the edges of bait schools.
A micro jigs with a matching craw trailer is an excellent choice in rocky areas, especially once the water starts to get cold and bass hunker down around deep structure. I love the Great Lakes Finesse Matte Finesse Jig paired with their matching Snack Craw. Hair jigs are also good craw imitators when paired with an appropriate trailer.
A spinbait like the Duo Realis Spybait (size 80) or Lucky Craft Screw Pointer excels with a long cast and painfully slow retrieve, and is incredibly effective on heavily pressured smallmouth bass. It sinks slowly on the pause, like a dying baitfish fluttering down through the column, which leads to aggressive strikes from opportunistic fish.
Come early fall, leave the 5-inch flukes at home. A small, fluke-style minnow bait like the Strike King Baby Z-Too on a jighead is a great young-of-the-year baitfish imitation when the kicking tail of a finesse swimbait is too much action.
When water temps begin to drop and lakes start to turn over, the metabolism of bass actually slows down. At this time, when their environment is changing, they can get super stressed and picky. They’re trying to conserve as much energy as possible rather than hunting down a big meal. That’s when smaller, finesse-style baits shine. These baits are always tied on all the way into October when those temperatures really start to drop. They are proven fish catchers not only in the northeast, but all over the country.
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There’s still a time and place for big baits, like night fishing or low-light conditions. If you find a school of bass fired up and actively feeding, then by all means, swing for the fences. But if you’re struggling to get bit when environmental factors are on the change, fish smaller, slower, and sneakier. You’ll be surprised by how many big bass you can fool with a little snack. Big things always come from small packages.
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