When Bass Tie On The Fall Feedbag, Defoe Ties On Terminator Jigs. When southern-reservoir bass start following shad to the backs of creeks in the fall, they’re about to put on the feedbag. To catch ‘em, target deep, hard-bottom flats with a Terminator Football Jig and shallow cover in current with a Terminator Pro Series Jig. Pair each with a crawfish-profile soft-plastic trailer.
“Those two jigs are what I’m fishing the most this time of year,” says Bassmaster Elite Series pro Ott DeFoe, who hails from near Knoxville, Tenn. “And for both, my number-one color this time of year is Green Pumpkin Orange. I’ve never been anywhere that didn’t have some orange in the crawfish, so that’s why I think that color combination is so productive.”
As nights get cooler in the fall, bass begin migrating to the backs of creeks. In October, you can catch ‘em en route and once they get there. “The later in the year it goes, the fish know that at some point, it’s going to get cold,” DeFoe explains. “And they’ll take every advantage that they can until it gets there. So once it does get cooler, they’ll start to feed.” The bite should get better each week until at least late November, when it will usually taper off.
Water temperature helps determine if DeFoe targets deeper or shallower water – when it’s in the 70s, he’s more likely fishing deeper; in the 60s, shallower.
Terminator Football Jigs
Before bass get to the backs of creeks, DeFoe picks them off in the fall with Terminator Football Jigs. He targets flat, hard-bottom areas surrounded by a softer bottom. These areas are often “rest stops” located on migration routes from the main lake up into a creek arm.
“I’ll catch fish in the fall on places that are really pretty flat, nothing-looking stuff,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be steep. Close to where I live, I’ve caught big, big schools of them and we’ll be sitting in 28 feet, throwing to 25 feet.”
On some reservoirs, current is important in such spots, he says. In others, it’s not. Always important, however, is baitfish and a hard bottom.
“If there’s just a little bit of hard bottom, a little bit of rock or rubble, that’s good enough,” DeFoe says. “It usually has to do with the presence of baitfish. Because even at 25 feet, there will be some type of algae growing on those rocks.”
The best hard-bottom areas are often surrounded by larger areas of softer bottom. “Usually it’s an area where there’s a big, slick, mud or clay flat and then you find a place – maybe just the size of your boat – and it’s got some gravel or some chunk-rock,” DeFoe explains.
DeFoe’s go-to Terminator Football Jig size is ¾ oz. If he’s fishing “really deep,” or it’s really windy, he’ll upsize to a half-ounce jig. He fishes Football Jigs on a 7-foot, 3-inch medium-heavy casting rod with a 7.9:1 gear-ratio low-profile baitcasting reel spooled with 30-pound-test braided line attached by an Albright Knot to a 15-pound-test fluorocarbon leader.
“You’ve got to make long casts with Football Jigs and your hookset ability with braid 50 yards away is as good as it is right beside the boat,” DeFoe explains. “You reel down and stick him and you’ve got him.”
Although his go-to Football Jig color pattern is Green Pumpkin Orange, he will sometimes go with Peanut Butter Jelly in clear water.
Terminator Pro Series Jig
When bass get closer to the back of creeks, it’s time to start targeting shallow cover in and around current with a Pro Series Jig. Flipping and pitching it, or casting it, on rocky banks is one good tactic.
“Another thing is rock bluffs – anything with a really steep rock face to it,” DeFoe says. “Because what will happen is as that current washes up against it, it will create a little buffer – a little eddy right on the face of those real steep, rocky-type places.”
Although the rock face must be steep, the water shouldn’t be too deep. “You don’t want it to be more than five or ten feet deep,” DeFoe says.
A dam’s tailrace is another great location to target shallow, current-washed wood cover. “If there’s any kind of log, any kind of wood cover whatsoever, that’s what you want to key on in tailrace areas,” DeFoe says. “Sometimes it will be stumps, sometimes it will be laydowns.” In addition to those, he will also pitch to undercut banks when he finds them.
DeFoe’s go-to Pro Series Jig size is a half ounce. “That’s what I’m going to start with most of the time and usually end up with,” he says. “But there’s a lot of times where that half-ounce isn’t enough, and I’ll actually go up to a one-ounce.”
Although his go-to color pattern for Pro Series Jigs is Green Pumpkin Orange, DeFoe will often go with Black/Blue/Purple in muddy and heavily stained water. He fishes them with a 7-foot, 6-inch medium-heavy casting rod and a 7.9:1 low-profile baitcasting reel spooled with 17- to 20-pound-test fluorocarbon.
Judging from recent cold fronts, DeFoe says, fall bass fishing is likely to heat up soon in the southeast.
“Typically once you get into October, a lot changes week to week, depending on how many fronts you have,” he says. “The fish are steadily getting more aggressive all the way through November. And then it starts going the other way, it seems, once you hit December.”
So tie on a Terminator Pro Series Jig and Football Jig and get after ‘em sooner than later.