When the first cool mornings roll in and the lake starts to lose its summertime warmth, you know that the fall transition is afoot. For bass fishermen, this is simultaneously one of the most exciting and frustrating times of the year. Bass are on the move, and the key to finding them isn’t just about water temperature or cover—it’s about understanding the movements of baitfish. If you can locate the groceries, you can bet the bass won’t be far behind.
In the Northeast, these schooling baitfish spectacles are all around us. It’s not unique to salt water, where rain bait, spearing, and bunker are abundant and active; your local lakes could be experiencing a baitfish run that you might not even know about, and it’s those baitfish that make fall such a great time to be a bass fisherman in our corner of the country. We will be discussing where, when, and why certain baitfish play a key role in fall forage, and how you can put more bass in the boat or on shore and maybe even land a new personal best.
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Why Baitfish Rule the Fall
Unlike the dog days of summer, when bass are often hunkered down in deeper water or shady structure, the fall transition triggers a feeding frenzy. Bass know when winter is coming, and they want to pack on weight. Their number one target? Baitfish schools. Whether it’s shad, alewife, or golden shiners, bass follow the food this time of year. That means you should be less focused on “where would a bass be comfortable?” and more focused on “where is their next meal swimming?”
The best part about fall baitfish is they tend to be juveniles, so they are much smaller than their larger counterparts, which bass tend to chase earlier in the year. These shiners, dace, and herring all spawn in the spring, so their young-of-the-year offspring are now just big enough to be bite-sized offerings for largemouth and smallmouth bass.
As water temperatures drop into the 60s, baitfish start pushing shallow and big schools will move into creeks, coves, and shallow near-shore pockets. This is where you’ll see bass corralling them, oftentimes blowing up on the surface, and sometimes lurking just below. Pay attention to bird activity too. Seagulls, herons, and other diving birds can tip you off to baitfish movements faster than your electronics.
Reading the Water
While birds can be helpful, electronics are invaluable this time of year. They will show you every little detail in where the baitfish are and how they are relating to the bottom or nearby structure. Also, they should allow you to see how bass are relating to the baitfish. This will tell you how you need to present your bait so that it appears as natural as possible.
But you can’t rely solely on electroncs; using your eyes is just as important. Watch for nervous water, dimpling on the surface, or that telltale flash of silver just beneath the surface. On windy days, bait often gets pushed to the backs of creeks or along windblown banks. Bass use that wind to pin bait against structure—like a submerged rock pile or a shallow shoreline—and ambush them.
Common Northeast Baitfish Species
There are many different forms of prey that bass feed on all across the Northeast, and among them are a variety of baitfish species. Each species behaves differently in the fall as far as where they live and how they are moving, but these are the more common Northeast baitfish to keep an eye out for this fall.
Golden Shiners
By far the most popular baitfish in all inland lakes, golden shiners make BIG bass! They are an easy snack, they’re plentiful in a range of sizes, and they are an easy prey item. Look for golden shiners around weedbeds and shallow cover, like docks and fallen trees. These baitfish tend to hang out in shallow water and can often be found with bluegills close to shore.
Alewives
Alewives are the most controversial baitfish we have here in the Northeast, since many lakes and ponds have landlocked populations, but they are an excellent source of food for both largemouth and smallmouth bass. Coastal lakes in places like Long Island, Rhode Island, and Cape Cod experience small runs of alewives that swim up shallow streams and rivers, which connect the lakes to bays and estuaries. In the spring, bass will stage near these outflows waiting for alewives to come into the lake, and come autumn, they return to pick off alewives migrating back to salt water, which can lead to an all-out fall feeding frenzy.
Blueback Herring
Many anglers never think of bluebacks as a freshwater herring, but places that lead into the ocean, like the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, have major fall runs of bluebacks. Since they are pelagic baitfish and prefer open water, keep your eyes peeled for bass pushing baitfish to the surface or against shoreline structures, such as rock walls and river locks.
Matching the Hatch
We’ve all heard it a thousand times, but it’s never more true than in the fall: you have to match the hatch. If bass are keyed-in on 2-inch alewives, a giant crankbait isn’t going to cut it. The baitfish are much smaller this time of year, so focus on size and profile more than color. Get an appropriately-sized lure close to them, and it’ll get bit. The following are some of my favorite baits to match the hatch in the fall.
Castable Umbrella Rigs
These heavy rigs can be deadly in the fall when bass are actively chasing schooling baitfish. Personally, I like rigs with more flash, like a YUM Flashmob Jr., which has small willow-style blades that entice fish to bite. You can pair this type of rig with any swimbaits or plastics you like to match the baitfish profile in that body of water.
Small, Boot-Tail Swimbaits
Swimbaits are an integral part of my arsenal all year, but in the fall, I downsize my baits accordingly to match the baitfish du jour. I love to cast around a 2.8-inch Keitech Fat Swing Impact on a small, round ball jighead (like the VMC Hybrid Swimbait Jighead) to try and imitate a baitfish fleeing from the school.
Jighead/Minnow Combinations
These have by far been my favorites to use in areas of current or with forward-facing sonar. There is nothing in my arsenal that imitates a baitfish better than a jighead paired with a soft-plastic minnow. You can dead stick it as it drops through current or hold it suspended to trigger strikes. My favorite jighead minnow combination has been a Strike King Z-Too paired with a Northland Smeltinator Jighead. In my opinion, this pairing is the best presentation to mimic any kind of baitfish in Northeast waters.
Baitfish Tips & Tactics
While the majority of bass follow bait into the shallows, some groups stay out deeper and ambush bait along channels or secondary points. If the shallow bite dies, don’t assume the fish quit feeding—they may have just shifted back to deeper staging areas. The deep bite only gets better as the temperature gets colder.
Be sure to play around with different bait sizes, as well. On any given day, I have multiple sizes of the same bait on the deck. Keeping a range of options ready to present to these fish is crucial in determining what they prefer. I don’t mess with colors too often, but choosing a size to closely represent the forage is key to getting more bites.
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Fall transition fishing is a puzzle, and the missing piece is always the baitfish. If you train yourself to first look for the groceries, you will find the bass nearby. Keep your eyes sharp, your electronics tuned right, and your lures looking like a wounded or panicked baitfish, and you’ll bring more (and bigger) bass to hand this fall.
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