Of all of the fishing seasons, spring, summer, fall, and winter one of them stands out about all others as far as productivity, scenery, weather, and water conditions are concerned and that season is the fall. As a person who has been a fisherman for more than a quarter of a century and has fished for all manners of freshwater fish at one time or another, I have learned that when it comes to fishing, the fall fishing season simply can't be beat.
In this article I will outline a few tactics that have helped me to experience success fishing for a variety of fish species over the years in the hopes that this information will help you to do the same. The first thing that should be mentioned is that my preferred method of fishing is to be wading in a river that I am attempting to catch fish in. Some of the most common species that I catch are rainbow and brown trout, smallmouth bass, and even on occasion walleye. With that being said, this isn't the only way that I catch fish and all of the information in this article can easily be adapted to other styles and methods of fishing as well.
- Try To Be Fishing When The Fish Are Active - During any given day the fish that you are attempting to catch will be more or less active depending on a variety of factors. Some of these factors would include: the phase of the moon, the time that the moon rises and sets, the temperature of the water, and the movement of weather systems through the area that you are fishing. No matter what particular tactic you employ during the fall try to have as many of these factors in your favor as is possible.
- Learn How To Drift Fish - Learning the technique known as "drift fishing", which means allowing your bait or lure to "drift" with the current of the water that you are fishing is one of the most effective fall fishing tips that I have ever come across. I have always found drift fishing with live bait (such as a live worm) to be as effective a technique as there is when fishing during the months of September, October, and November.
- Change Your Line - After a spring and summer of fishing your fishing line can become pretty beat up and old or heavily used fishing line doesn't perform as it was designed to perform, which means broken knots, fish "breaking your off", and less accurate casting. For all of these reasons, before the fall fishing season begins, do yourself a favor and re spool your reel with "fresh" line. I've learned the hard way by having a trophy sized rainbow trout break me off for no apparent reason that you should never be using old or worm out fishing line (which I was at the time).
The bottom line is that the fall of the year is the best season for catching fish and the aforementioned tips will help you catch more fish, there's no question about it. These tips should be added to your fall fishing repertoire sooner rather than later.
Trevor Kugler is president of JRWfishing, a website dedicated to ultra light fishing, with an emphasis on ultra light river fishing. Sign up for our FREE newsletter and get a FREE ebook about how the weather and moon impact fishing: