Autumn is a great time to go fishing. Colors can be spectacular, and the opportunity to see wildlife and waterfowl are plentiful. Boat traffic and angling pressure are low this time of year, so you can usually fish wherever you want. Best of all, big fish like to eat during the fall, so if you can put a bait near the fish, you’re chances of getting bit are very good. If largemouth bass are your quarry, keep in mind that, in the fall, the biggest bass like to eat bulky baits.

As water temperatures decrease in the fall, most gamefish throughout the Midwest feel that change. Mother Nature tells them that they need to add fat to their bodies to help them get through the winter months. Those gamefish will eat larger meals this time of year to assist in adding that fat. That’s why bulky baits are more productive.

There are lots of big, bulky baits to catch big fat bass in the fall. Two favorite presentations of many accomplished bass anglers are a bulked up spinnerbait or a bulked up jig.

There are times in the fall when the bass will move shallow into rushes. The best rush beds will be near deep water. The bass hang around in the deeper water, moving shallow to eat. When they’re in the rushes, a spinnerbait will be very good. Select a spinnerbait with good quality hardware so the blade will turn even at the slowest speeds. A Pro-Model Reed-Runner spinnerbait is a good example of a really good spinnerbait. Work the spinnerbait slowly around the heaviest clumps of rushes, even allowing it to flutter along the rushes.

Select a spinnerbait with a large blade, and add a plastic trailer to it. The big blade and trailer add bulk, and bulk is what we want. A Power Frog or Power Pogy would be a good choice for the plastic.

When the bass are deeper, you can’t beat a Jungle Jig tipped with plastic. The Jungle Jig has a rubber legged body that puffs out and undulates as it is being worked. A four-inch Power Hawg on the back makes it look larger. This combination has fooled many, many king-sized largemouth bass in the past few years.

The jig should be worked in and around points and pockets on the deep weedline. The bass could be schooled very tightly on the weedline this time of year. You could go for awhile with no action, then all of the sudden you’ll hit a holding spot that produces several jumbos in just a few minutes.

This is casting rod/reel spooled with heavy line time of year. Many anglers like a Lightning Rod Flippin’ rod teamed with a low profile Abu Garcia reel. This outfit enables you to handle that hawg effectively when it bites, and if you put in your time, she is going to bite. Seventeen pound test Trilene XT is a good line choice.

The bass are big this time of year, they’re schooled up, and they’re willing to bite. Now is when you can find out just how good bulky baits can be for big, big bass.

For more fish-catching information, visit fishingthemidwest.com