Bedfordtimesregister.com - Excitement of topwater bite can be felt during autumn

Buckeye Angler

with Jack Kiser

One of the biggest misconceptions that bass anglers have is that the excitement of the topwater bite is exclusively a hot-weather, lowlight, summer option.

Although I'll be quick to agree that those three variables may well indeed combine to represent topwater angling's true primo periods, this is not to say the absence of one, or even two of the other factors should eliminate these exciting baits from your fall arsenal.

One other factor often overlooked by the average angler is the sheer ferocity of the autumn pre-winter feed.

Voracious game fish -- not just bass -- regularly put on the fall feedbag like so many little bears prior to hibernation. Vast, visible schools of shad and other baitfish are herded to the surface in a manner unseen during the other open-water seasons.

These huge gatherings can often be seen by anglers and are very susceptible to the same buzzbaits, jerkbaits and poppers that were so effective and fun to use only weeks earlier, during the sultry "dog days" so synonymous with stereotypical topwater fishing.

Not only arguably angling's most entertaining and exciting method, but during very special and memorable ones, among its very most productive. Fall is just as likely to provide appropriate conditions for these wildly exciting times as summer is, though perhaps not quite as consistently.

When baitfish in any numbers can be seen breaking the surface with any regularity at all, make sure you haven't put that box of buzzers and topwater jerkbaits prematurely aside for the year.

Start off by throwing a buzzbait well past the targeted area of activity. Always begin your surface bait options with the buzzbait, as it alone uniquely combines the ability to cover water, gauge activity levels and attract the most aggressive-and largest- predators in the area, including any toothy critters in the neighborhood.

Why initiate your attack with baits that for the most part stay in essentially the same spot? This approach is your second choice if the bigger, more aggressive fish aren't currently smacking the buzzer.

Always opt initially for the horizontal presentations in fishing; you won't, therefore, be apt to totally miss the glorious bonanza days and you can always revert back to more area-limited options if the bass are either short-striking your buzzbaits, or it's one of those times your higher profile offerings are scaring off more fish than they're attracting.

My favorite buzzbait rig is a bait casting outfit featuring a 7-foot fiberglass rod. Fiberglass is easily best for most horizontal action-oriented presentations as it "loads up" so much better in order to facilitate the longer casts that are so essential to successful buzzin'.

You certainly don't need the more sensitive, weaker graphite sticks to better transmit a buzzbait strike -- you'll know it!

I like to use one of the super lines like Power Plus or Spiderwire to load my buzzin' reel as these lines cast well and are strong enough to yank fish through, around and out of the kind of cover that will quickly weaken regular mono.

Try to avoid getting too close to your targeted areas when topwater angling, especially with buzzbaits. You run the risk of spooking not just one nice fish, but possibly a whole slew of them in fall, when they tend to school up.

I like to throw well past my intended target so as to help avoid this situation, making sure my retrieve is both quiet and smooth as it enters targeted areas.

Fall can be a truly great time to topwater fish for both largemouth and smallies, so long as you don't make the common mistake of giving up on the topwater bite that provided you so much fun way too early.

Editor's note: Readers can reach Jack Kiser through his Web site at www.buckeyeangler.com.

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