By David A. Brown
Special to BassFan


Garth Brooks' encouraging anthem “The River” extols the uplifting theme of leaving life’s shoreline with the hard-hitting charge of “Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tides.”

Great pep talk, but hold on a minute, Garth. Sometimes those shorelines are just where you want to be – especially in a bass boat. In fact, the late fall is a really good time to look for bass along the edges of hard shoreline structure that not only helps fish corral the shad they seek, but also provides a comfortable habitat when water temperatures start to decline.

During a visit to Florence, Ala., I got to spend a couple of days picking the brains of T-H Marine pros as we launched at McFarland Park and fished Pickwick Lake. Several shared their thoughts on how to work the edges for late-fall success.

Step it Up

Pickwick guide Jimmy Mason finds much of his fall bass action on what he calls the “stair-step” banks – layered rock extending like a ladder into the water. Calling this a front-proof pattern, he points out that proximity to deep water provides the fish with comfort, security and food.

“When you have the stair-step banks it almost always means you’re on the channel side of a creek,” he said. “So when the fall drawdown occurs, that’s where the fish will congregate because the opposite side is usually a shallow, flat bank with a mud or gravel bottom.

“The deep side is where the bait runs, so the fish go there to feed. Also, as it cools off, the fish relate more to the rock bank for its warmth.”

A couple of points help Mason dial in the hot zones. First is seasonal progression. Early fall finds the fish pushing into the backs of creeks where they feed in 5 to 6 feet of water, but the season’s latter weeks find them working out toward the creek mouths where depths of 20 to 25 feet offer more stable water.

He fine-tunes his positioning by looking for the schools of larger shad – something in the 3-inch range. Find the “steps” with big groceries and the bass will be there.

Mason likes to cover water with a Heddon Super Spook Jr., a YUM Breaking Shad, 100- and 200-Series Bandit crankbaits and a Booyah Spinnerbait. When he finds a good area, he might slow down and walk a Booyah Finance Jig with a shortened YUM Mighty Craw trailer down the steps. And when he locates any isolated wood cover, flipping a Booyah Bankroll jig, also with a Mighty Craw trailer, does the trick.

Guarding the Exit

At fall’s conclusion, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Tim Horton knows that targeting the mouths of creeks and sloughs puts him in position to pick off a lot of the bass exiting these fall feeding stations. The shad are moving back out and the bass are doing the same. But even spurred by cooling water temps, the fish just can’t help themselves – they’re going to gobble whatever they see.



David A. Brown
Photo: David A. Brown

Chris Lane pulls a lot of late-fall fish from vertical, man-made seawalls.

“Those bass know that the shad are moving out of those creeks and sloughs and they’ll stage outside these transition points and ambush the shad on their way out,” Horton said.

Horton’s routine: Target rip-rap and chunk-rock banks on the tributary points and cover lots of water to locate scattered fish. Finding some usually means finding a bunch and the key to maximizing the bounty is mimicking shad stunned by the chilly water.

Horton starts his search by probing for active fish with an Azuma Crank Z mid-range crankbait. If the wind’s blowing, he’ll bring a 3/4-ounce Swampers Falcon Giant spinnerbait into the picture. If the fish are lethargic, Horton complements the reaction baits with a more vulnerable looking Azuma Bray-Z jerkbait.

Notably, when cranking around rocks yields the occasional snag, Horton prevents expensive losses with his TH Marine Money Pole – an 18-foot lure retriever that collapses to 6 feet and fits in his rod locker until needed.

Additional Thoughts

> On the Waterfront: Former Bassmaster Classic champion Chris Lane likes the deep water and man-made vertical profile of seawalls, like that of the McFarland Playground just east of the O’Neal Bridge at Pickwick. In such spots, his jerkbait skills are well-employed for bass patrolling for stunned shad.

> Concrete Jungle: Crumbling industrial shorelines interest Elite pro Hank Cherry, as all that rock and rubble holds heat and offers bass countless ambush points. Shallow cranks are the deal here, but Cherry’s also game to flip a jig toward anything that catches his eye.

> Climbing the Wall: Similar to the stair steps, bluff banks offer bass a good sideline against which to pin their quarry. The nearly vertical profile also allows fish to easily moderate their temperature by simply rising or sinking in the water column.