As fall arrives, a lot is happening in fisheries across the country, as bass and baitfish are on the move. This can provide some great fishing, but it can pose a challenge as you try to keep up with what the bass are doing.
Those who spend a lot of time on the water, like Isabella Jang and Clear Lake guide Zach Ploeger, keep close tabs on the bite and can also rely on what's happened in years past to find success this time of year.
Both shared insight on the recent bite and what the fish will do this fall.
Clear Lake Stays Hot
No fishery in the west has been fishing as well as Clear Lake, and it has a strong case for being the best lake in the country. It's been that good, and the bite has stayed good all summer, and fall should be just as good, according to Ploeger.
"A lot of the shad and the hitch are starting to push into shallow water, channels, and places where they can stay warm at night," Ploeger said. "Especially the hitch, they won't necessarily move all the way back, but they're around points going into those channels, and the bass are ambushing them, and the bite's been on fire. The bass are also schooling on shad, and while it's mostly been a subsurface bite, you can still get them on some topwater stuff and frogs, and that bite will continue to get better."
The switch to subsurface right before fall is something Ploeger has seen every year. "It seems like every year, starting in late August, it gets a little harder to get bit on top and there's a little bit of a lull," he said. "Then all of a sudden, you can start to catch them on topwaters in late September and October again. The frog bite in the backs of channels or backs of sloughs can be great, and they'll start eating a frog again, especially on the north end of the lake."
The strong frog bite is coming and should last until late October, according to Ploeger. "It's about a month window," he said. "They'll bite it until water gets to around 60 degrees, and can be in even cooler water. I've had good days with the frog early and late in the year with water temperatures around 55 degrees."
Multiple Frogs Ready to Go
Ploeger and Jang will typically fish with several versions on deck and ready to go when the frog bite kicks back up. This allows them to match different forage sizes and experiment in other areas to see what triggers the most bites. Among their favorites are the Snag Proof Bobby's Perfect Frog, Snag Proof Zoo Kick, Zoo Wake, and Scum Frog Leap Frog.
"The Bobby's Perfect is probably one of my favorites, and the Zoo Kick is like the old Wobbletron frog they used to make," said Ploeger. "She really likes the Zoo Wake a lot because you can fish it in more open water and cover a lot of ground with that tail."
According to the duo, the Bobby's Perfect frog excels in the matted vegetation, such as duckweed and 'cheese'. "You'll find some of those mats blown into the backs of pockets and sloughs," said Ploeger. "This is also a great time to find schooling fish back there along those little grass channels as they chase shad. A lot of times they'll push the shad under the mats at night, and you can get a great frog bite going, they lose their mind on it."
For colors, both say black is hard to beat. "I don't know why, but black always seems to be the best color, maybe because our water is a little dingier," said Jang, who shared some insight on fishing the Zoo Wake. "You don't have to do too much with it, I just reel it slowly and sometimes give it a little stop and twitch, but for the most part it's a steady retrieve."
When the shad are small, they also like a smaller frog, like the Scum Frog Leap Frog. "It's got a much smaller profile and will get a lot of those fish to show that won't react to larger frogs," said Ploeger. "I'm big on profile. I find it's one of the biggest factors in catching fish, and they'll show you what they want. They'll show you real quick."
This bite will be hot for the next few months on Clear Lake and many other fisheries. To capitalize on the great fall froggin', it can be smart to mix and match different styles of frogs and pay close attention to the size and profile of the bait to see what the bass will bite best that day.
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