Entry 326-3

Catching Transition Bass and Dodging Fishing Pressure in the Fall with Chad Brauer

Part 3: Rain, Water Clarity and Bass

Question: You had mentioned that water clarity was another factor that was important to consider when you’re fishing in the fall. Tell us what you meant by that statement.

Brauer: Water clarity is associated with rain. At the end of summer, often rivers and lakes are as clear as they’re ever going to be year-round, because we usually have less rain in the summer than we do in the spring, fall and winter. So without the rain, there’s not a lot of water movement during the months of July and August. But once the rainfall begins to increase in September and October, a lot of new water starts coming into the backs of creeks. Heavy rains bring plenty of dirty water into a river, a lake or a reservoir. If I can get to a lake right after that heavy rain has passed, I start looking for the places where that new water’s coming into the lake. The backs of creeks and little run-offs are usually going to be more-stained than the main river.

That dirty water also generally will be cooler than the water in the main lake. Therefore, the bass will be a little-more active and bite a little better in that new water. I feel like I have an advantage anytime I can get into that more-stained water, where the bass can’t see the bait as well as they can in that clearer water. The presentation of my lure doesn’t have to be quite as exact, the colors of the bait are not nearly as critical, and the type of retrieve is not as important as it is in the more-clear water. I’m betting on getting more reaction strikes than I am strikes where I’ve had to fool the fish in order to get it to bite.

Question: When you’re fishing the run-off sections after a rain, or you’re fishing water that’s more stained in the creeks and the coves than the rest of the lakes at this time of year, what baits will you fish?

Brauer: Because the water is off-colored, I try to include chartreuse in most of the lures I select to fish. I believe the color chartreuse is easier for the bass to see in that off-colored water. However, I’m still going to be using those same five baits that I mentioned yesterday. These are the Strike King Pro-Buzz spinner bait (white and chartreuse), the Strike King Pro-Model Series 4S square-billed crankbait or the Strike King Series 1 crankbait (chartreuse with a black back or chartreuse with a blue back), the Strike King Denny Brauer Flip-N-Tube (green-pumpkin or black neon), or a white jig or a Texas Craw jig.

Question: What type of retrieve will you use in this dirtier water, knowing that the fish are more active? Reason dictates that in most instances you’ll be burning those baits with a fast retrieve. Right?

Brauer: Wrong. In dirtier water, the bass can’t see the baits as well as they can in clear water.So even though you burn the baits and retrieve really fast in clear water, that’s usually not the best type of retrieve for catching bass in stained water. Even though I may work the baits fairly fast, I’ll break-up that fast retrieve with a lot of starts and stops, especially with my crankbaits, spinner baits and buzzbaits. With the jigs and tubes, if the bass are really aggressive, they’ll often take the bait on the fall. But you really have to experiment to see how they want these two types of baits.

Next: Bass When It's Blowin'

Contents:

• Part 1: Finding and Catching Transition Bass
• Part 2: Take the Temperature in the Bass's House
• Part 3: Rain, Water Clarity and Bass
• Part 4: Bass When It's Blowin'
• Part 5: The Lonely Fall Fisherman