Smallmouth fishing is September can be downright tough; but it doesn't mean you can't do well if you adjust your tactics. Learn our 5 secrets to smallmouth success so you can put more bass in the boat this September!
Historically, September has been one of the most challenging periods for us to put BIG smallmouth in the boat consistently. After the hot summer with smallmouth bass schooled up on predictable deep water shoals and flats everything changes as the low overnight temperatures of fall signal smallmouth that winter is coming. Schools break apart, smallmouth bass start moving towards wintering areas, and water temperatures equalize everywhere meaning the entire lake becomes fair game. Fortunately, after enough trial and error over the years, a lot of fishless days, and keeping an open mind we've been able to identify a strategy to be successful.
Check the list below to learn our 5 secrets to success for September smallmouth fishing.
Shallow / Suspended - As cooler overnight temperatures sneak in a few things happen to every body of water. Water temperatures drop, shallow weed begins to die off, and the cooler water at the surface becomes rejuvenated with oxygen that warmer water can't hold. All of these factors lead to smallmouth moving towards the surface from their summer locations. Targeting the extreme shallows with sharp drops to deep water next to summer locations, wintering area's, and everything in between is your best bet at finding fish. Trolling or casting baits high in the water column over open water in the same spots can also be a hot bite although much more difficult to have confidence in.
Size Matters - Fall is a signal that winter is coming. Smallmouth bass will begin to feed up in order to survive the winter where they will feed very little. To feed up quickly they will look to bigger forage options and anglers should upsize their baits to 5-6" (or bigger in some cases). This was first made evident to us while targeting pike and musky with 8-10" swimbaits & jerkbaits. The amount of bass that followed our lures was shocking; especially considering the struggles had while targeting smallmouth bass!
Speed Up - Fishing fast is the name of the game in September. Since schools break up anglers may only find one or two fish per spot and need to fish a lot of water to put together a big bag of smallmouth. The smallmouth will move quickly from day to day and areas that produced can't be counted on for long. Fishing areas quickly and fishing a ton of spots in a day is a must. In order to accomplish this anglers must take advantage of power fishing lures like swimbaits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and jerkbaits. The smallmouth bass are roaming so covering water quickly will help ensure your bait gets close enough for them to detect and hunt down your bait. Don't worry about going too fast, while trolling for pike and musky at 5 mph we routinely catch bass barely the size of the lures being used.
Seek Green Vegetation - While smallmouth are traditionally a structure and edge oriented fish the fall period is one where weeds & vegetation become especially important. As the shallows cool a majority of the vegetation will begin to die off (turn brown). This process consumes oxygen and the fingerling bait that has been living in it all summer will be forced to find the healthier vegetation next to the deeper water of the main lake for protection. The concentration of smaller baitfish moving out from the shallow bays and the larger baitfish moving back from deeper water makes any healthy vegetated (green) areas between the summer and wintering area's a potential hotspot; especially if the location has quick access to deep water.
Current is King - With fish and forage constantly on the move it can be extremely difficult to narrow down where to focus on them. While the tips above do much of the leg work the final key to finding the "spot on the spot" in a big area comes down to current. Current, generated naturally or by wind, will tend to congregate the bait and smallmouth. Identifying pinch points, depth change areas, and funnels will be where current is the greatest and give you the best chance at encountering smallmouth on any given spot.
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