According to many bass anglers, it is a sin to fish live bait for bass, but Andrew Ragas tells us why it is a viable option in the fall.

The live bait extraordinaire    

From May season opener till the closing days of open water fishing, smallmouth expert and my frequent fishing partner, John Amato probes through the deep structure of mesotrophic and oligotrophic lakes of northern Wisconsin, locating and catching big smallmouths. In his mind, nothing beats jigs and craw imitation plastics, and skirted hula grubs worked through deep rock structure and steep break lines. But when fish turn off, then working those same spots with live bait often transforms a non-bite into a bite for Amato.

Many anglers consider live bait cheating. But it has become acceptable when our preferred traditional fall strategies of deep water cranking, drop-shotting, swim-baiting, and jigging don’t catch them.

“I only live-bait fish in the fall,” says Amato. “I’d rather be throwing jigs and lures just as much as the next guy, but over the years I’ve learned that live-bait fishing in the late fall just simply catches more and bigger fish.” When describing the scenarios and conditions that call for live bait, Amato only waits until the water temperatures get down to about 55 to 60 degrees, and lake’s thermocline thins prior to turnover, before considering it.

Amato often sets up on the deepest, coolest, clearest and structure-filled lakes he can access by boat.

“Fall success varies by lake, and the smallmouths usually come in waves once located,” describes Amato. “On one particular lake I fish, the action is always on and off. It seems one fish bites, turns on the pack, and you will get a few in a row. Then it slows again until they either return to the area, or one fish bites and they get active again.” The oligotrophic lake Amato describes features many steep drop-offs that lead to multiple wintering holes. Lots of deep structure and potential locations forces Amato to jump spots back and forth as activity slows and picks up again on these locations.

“On another lake, on a good day, the action seems to go non-stop all day from just a few different areas,” he says. The lake Amato describes here is a large mesotrophic lake of a couple thousand acres with fewer classic fall and wintering spots. Fish are easier to locate.

Amato has had plenty of incredible, memorable days of fall fishing with live bait rigging, including some days with numbers and others with trophies. Days of personal bests have happened in autumn too, including a monster surpassing 6 pounds caught and released with yours truly. This incredible fall success is attributed to his open-mindedness and lack of shame with the live-bait game.

To learn more about fishing for smallmouth bass in the fall, check out the September Issue of MidWest Outdoors, available the first full week of September at a newsstand near you, or by subscribing on our website.