Bass fishing tips for autumn in Minnesota

MN bass fishing tips for fall

Bass fishing this fall has been phenomenal, and FOX 9's Jared Piepenburg spoke with Bassmaster Angler Josh Douglas about how to maximize the time on the water.

LAKE MILLE LACS, Minn. (FOX 9) - Autumn is a unique time for fishing in Minnesota as many anglers turn to hunting, leaving boat ramps less crowded as fish feed more aggressively in response to falling temperatures. 

FOX 9's Jared Piepenburg spoke with Bassmaster Angler Josh Douglas to learn more. 

Fall fishing questions and answers

What they're saying:

How has bass fishing been this fall?

Josh Douglas: Yeah, bass fishing is phenomenal. You know I consider Lake Mille Lacs probably the doorstep to northern Minnesota and it's really good everywhere. How can it not be? There's 10,000 lakes -- you can't possibly pressure them all, but fall is a really unique time because you know i would say a lot of fishermen tend to want to hunt and do other outdoor activities that time of year so the boat ramps tend to be pretty deserted and at the same time the fish couldn't be bigger if you're willing to go out there and brave the weather, of course

Touch on the size of fish to catch this time of year.

Josh Douglas: Here specifically on Lake Mille Lacs it's always just been a big fish factory. It is obviously known for our state fish, the walleye, it's been a walleye big fish factory for a long time, smallmouth and even largemouth when you fish for them if you're targeting them but smallmouth in particular, muskies they all get real big and right now they've been bigger than ever actually. I moved up here eight years ago, and I've watched the fish get bigger and bigger and bigger every year. And a large part of that isn't just the fish we're chasing, you know, bass and walleye, musky, stuff like that, but the forage, the tullibee and the perch and everything just seems to be getting a lot bigger out here, and the fish are getting bigger as a result. 

You’ve had a post about Mille Lacs Lake being a 5 pound smallmouth factory right now!

Josh Douglas: It is, it's incredible. I would say, and I know I'm super biased…I guide on this lake, I fish this lake. I live up here, but this is the best smallmouth factory, smallmouth fishery in the United States that's not connected to the Great Lakes. We sure are close, but we're physically not connected to them, you know it's an awesome place just to come and fish and definitely catch trophy smallmouth.

What baits should someone use right now to catch smallmouth and largemouth bass?

Josh Douglas: Yeah, I kind of put an array of baits that are going to be great for both. I'll start with probably this one. This is a chatter bait. A lot of people that are in the bass fishing world are very familiar with the chatter baits made by Z-Man. This is just a great search tool all the way around. I can catch smallmouth with it. I can get largemouth. You can catch pike, all that different kind of stuff on this bait. It's great to move water and right now in the fall the vegetation is starting to die off just like the trees are changing -- you can kind of wheel around a bladed jig around some of those dying off weeds where those fish are starting to congregate.

Next you know another good one is going to be a ned rig. This ned rig is a little bit bigger because it is fall and s I mentioned, the forage here is getting larger. It can mimic a crawdad or a perch, something like that. But a Ned rig is just probably one of the best "getting bit" baits that there is for just someone going out and wanting a finesse application. So you got your reaction bait, something to fish, and then when you find some fish, you got something to throw back at them.

For forward sonar lovers, which is a big thing in fishing right now, just a minnow like this. This is just a Z-Man scented shad. It's a larger one, six inches. You know, in the spring, maybe I'm using a four-inch. The forage is a lot smaller in the Spring. This time of year, winter's coming. These fish are going to be eating up because they know it's going to be a real long winter.

Couple other baits, you can't ever go wrong with a wacky Senko of any variety. It's another great finesse application for largemouth and smallmouth. And you got to remember, even though it is cold out here on the lakes and the water temps are going to be plummeting, when the sun comes out those fish are going want to get in the shallow water just like they do in the spring. They're going to want, just like all of us, we want to out in the sun and feel that warmth while we can and those fish will do the same thing. So any of your wacky, senko, stick bait style presentation or maybe just a little single swim bait, a good presentation for those smaller fish. 

Maybe anglers have already put their boat away for the year. Can anglers still catch fish from shore?

Josh Douglas: Oh, absolutely, because I mentioned those fish want to move shallower on those sunnier days. It's more pleasant to be out there anyway. A chatter bait would be a great thing to be thrown from the bank. The wacky Senko, even a Ned rig, something you can throw out there. Some of the river systems are real good throughout the Metro. Mississippi and others all have great shore opportunities for people to get out there, but, you know, the big thing is with the fall is just safety. The water is getting cold. Making sure if you're on a boat, you're wearing a life jacket. Bundling up really good and definitely bring a change of clothes just in case you do get wet or you take a wave over the gunnel on it especially on a big lake like Mille Lacs.

Do water temperatures play a role in how the fish are biting?

Josh Douglas: I just like the water temp to continually go down in the fall as opposed to the spring where I want it to be gradually coming up. In the spring, if it's getting warmer, the bites getting better, and then it drops back down, they kind of get a little dormant, vice versa in the Fall, you know, it starts to dip down and those fish are going to have their days where they just know that they need to eat, they're eating to their maximum, and they're getting ready for that long winter. So, as long as that temperature is going down... I'm going to I'm going to go after them until the ice blocks me off from launching my boat.

Is there also a deeper water bite besides the shallow bite we talked about?

Josh Douglas: Those are actually the two areas I tend to want to look, especially on a lake like Mille Lacs that does have a deeper forage base, like tullibees and perch stuff that's going to get out off the bank(shore) is definitely going to lure those fish out there. Even in shallow water I'm still looking for deep water to be close by because in the fall those fish don't want to travel miles to go up a few feet. They just want to vertically move up the water column, kick their tail and just be up in two or three feet of water.

These are all glacial lakes. They really made a mess when they came across here. There are rock piles and reefs and vegetation clumps, islands, humps out there that are absolutely great spots for those fish to both want to be deep and shallow. And you can utilize that. And then those sunny, nice, calm days get up shallow and definitely catch them up there.

Are the next couple of weeks going to be good for catching bass?

Josh Douglas: Yeah, absolutely, to be some of the best. Matter of fact, most of people's personal bests are going to come right now. These are when those fish are well rehabilitated from the summer, they're back in bigger schools, and you're going to get dominant reactions out of bigger fish when you have more fish around. And like I said before, if you're willing to get out there and brave the elements, it's definitely worth the reward. I know I'll be out there until the bitter end, that's for sure.