When it comes to bass fishing, I’m sort of a jack-of-all-trades. I do a little bit of this and a little bit of that — whatever I need to do to catch fish.
That’s why October is one of my very favorite months to fish, along with May. It’s a time that fits with the way I do things, because there are a lot of things going on, and you can catch fish a lot of different ways. I admit that I like to be in a deer stand in October, but when I fish, I love it. There’s a little bit of everything going on.
The topwater bite is usually coming on. You can fish a buzzbait, a Pop-R type lure, a walking-type bait like a Zara Spook. Or, you can catch fish on a Texas-rigged worm, a Senko, a spinnerbait or crankbait — and definitely a jig. Because you can catch fish on a variety of lures, you’re never stuck fishing a technique that you’re not good at because that’s you have to fish one way to catch fish.
I let the weather dictate the baits I throw and the techniques I use. If it’s cloudy, overcast and cooling, topwater baits seem to be good all day long. I love to throw a buzzbait, and in October, you can get on a buzzbait pattern where you can throw it all day long, eight or nine hours, and catch fish. The water in a lot of our lakes will be falling by October, it will be clearing up, and if you have bright skies — bright, sunny days without wind — I’ll fish a Senko or a Buckeye mop jig a lot.
Some of our lakes have blueback herring, some have shad, and some have both. Shad will be close to the surface through October, so you need to keep your eyes open for breaking fish. I’ll throw topwater baits around them a lot. One thing you have to wonder is, with all those millions of shad around, why would a bass hit my artificial bait? I think it brings out the predator in them. They see a topwater bait chugging along, making a lot of commotion, and they think another fish is feeding and get competitive. Topwaters are also great baits to get reaction bites.
If shad are not up, that’s when a jig and Senko comes in. Another thing is, the crawfish are migrating, getting ready to look for some mud to bury up in as winter approaches. I love to throw a mop jig because of the crawfish, and because I think you can catch some big fish on it. In the fall, I’ll fish dark colors like black/red and black/blue, because of all the mature crawfish I’ve seen, they tend to be real dark this time of year. Other times of the year, they might be light in color and you’d fish a green pumpkin, but in the fall, they’re dark, so I fish dark colors.
The other thing I take into consideration when I pick a jig is that I tend to go up in size in the fall because there are a lot of big crawfish around. For a trailer, I’ll use a Yamamoto Flippin’ Hog or Flippin’ Hog II, which are big pieces of plastic.
When you’re fishing baits like jigs, Senkos and Texas-rigged worms, you’re looking for the best available cover. Santee Cooper, of course, has cypress trees, but most of the time, you’re fishing boat docks or laydowns. I like to fish docks closer to deep water, closer to creek channels, because baitfish and bass use them like highways.
In the fall, you can get on a good pattern with just a little bit of work and luck. I start fishing halfway back in creeks and work my way back, although I won’t usually go all the way back to the flat unless I see bait working. Developing a pattern in a creek, knowing which docks they’re using or where they’re moving up to feed on shad, can lead to some great fall catches.
One other big plus to fishing this month, other than the fact that it’s cooled off and the weather is usually very pleasant, is that there isn’t a lot of pressure on the fish. Many bass fishermen, like me, are deer hunters, and they’re spending a lot of time in the woods. It pays to occasionally lay down your rifle and pick up your fishing rod. So the day after you kill that big buck, go catch a nice bass. That’s a doubleheader sweep you’ll remember for a long time.
Davy Hite, a 44-year-old native of Saluda who lives in Ninety Six, was BASS Angler of the Year in 1997 and 2002, and he has won the 1999 Bassmasters Classic and the 1998 FLW Tour Championship. He is sponsored by Advance Land & Timber, Triton boats, Evinrude outboards, All-Star rods, Pfleuger reels, Berkley Trilene, Yamamoto Baits, Owner hooks, Humminbird depthfinders and Solar Bat sunglasses.
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