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How Tournament Anglers Deal With Tough Conditions During “Indian Summer”

The first frost has cooled the waters and beckoned baitfish to the shallows. Bass soon follow the forage, and a feeding frenzy begins.

This same scenario plays out each fall as bass fishing excels when the water continues to cool after a long, hot summer. Anglers can enjoy weeks of excellent fishing if the cooler weather keeps dropping the water temperature until the shallows get too cold and bass start moving deeper.

However, some autumns experience a weather phenomenon known as “Indian summer” that slows this whole process. After a couple of weeks or a month of cooler temperatures, a spell of hot weather returns.

In his 15 years of guiding on Arkansas' Lake Ouachita, bass pro Mark Davis dreaded when Indian summer settled in during the middle of fall.

“When the weather cools off, the fish become active,” says Davis. “Bass tend to school up, feed heavily and get easier to catch, but then the water gets hot again. The fish are hung up in transition then. Indian summer scatters those fish and makes them suspend and do all kinds of crazy things.”

Despite the fishing malaise caused by Indian summer, bass can still be caught if you try some of the tactics tournament pros use during this tough time.

Stay Shallow
“The fish just seem to go into a funk during an Indian summer,” says Jay Yelas, 2002 Bassmaster Classic champion. “It definitely makes for tough fishing, so you have to try the same places that you fish early in fall.”

The Texas pro claims the backs of creeks and other shallow, dingy-water areas turn on first in early fall, while the clear waters on the lower end of a reservoir typically get better in late autumn.

“One good thing about Indian-summer fishing is that there is usually a shallow pattern that you can establish,” says Davis. “I'm a structure fisherman, so that is kind of difficult for me to do.”

The Arkansas pro abandons the humps, points and creek channels where the fish were schooled up previously and heads for the bank. Since the shallow bass are scattered, Davis tries to cover a lot of water with a topwater lure, spinnerbait or flipping and pitching tactics. He also pays close attention to where he gets most of his strikes.
When fishing bright, sunny days on clear-water lakes, Arkansas pro Scott Rook searches for dirty-water areas to catch bass close to shore.

“Those fish in fall want to be shallow, so if you can find conditions that allow them to be shallow, you will find the bass,” advises Rook. “The fish are triggered more by the decreasing hours of sunlight. When those daylight hours start decreasing, those fish start moving. They know it is fall. Even though it is warm, the fish are still in the fall patterns in the backs of creeks and pockets.”

The 2001 Bassmaster Classic runner-up suggests moving around a lot to find the most active fish. Just because one area fails to produce doesn't mean bass are shut down everywhere on a body of water.

Go Deep
The calm, sunny days of Indian summer prompt Rook to leave the bank and target the closest available structure. “Sometimes the fish might move into the middle of the creek, into a little ditch or in the creek channel but are still toward the backs of the creeks,” says Rook.

Since these fish usually will be feeding along the bottom, Rook depends on a medium-diving crankbait or a Carolina rig to produce bites.

“The best fishing in Indian summer is usually going to be very, very shallow (3 feet or less) or very, very deep (30 feet or more),” says Davis.

On clear-water lakes, jigging spoons, plastic worms and other summertime lures continue to produce then. Davis also likes to work a Strike King Spit-N-King topwater popper on the surface to catch bass suspended over standing timber or submerged vegetation. The topwater lures also produce bass suspended next to boat docks sitting over depths of 50 to 60 feet of water.

Slow Down
“An ultra-slow presentation seems to work best in fall, even if the bass are flying around chasing shad,” recommends Yelas. “Sometimes it will surprise you how a slow retrieve will outproduce a fast retrieve.”

The tournament competitor suggests a slow presentation for fishing in stained water around hydrilla, riprap banks, points and boat docks. However, a faster retrieve works best in clear water.

Crankbaits and spinnerbaits are two of Yelas' favorite lures to use in fall, but some anglers are tempted to crank these lures too fast, especially when bass are busting all around them.
“I've seen so many times where you can be right around the fish and retrieve your bait too fast and they won't hit it,” Yelas says.

Yelas avoids the need for speed by slowly winding his reel at a pace where he can barely feel his lure vibrating.

Most anglers retrieve lipless crankbaits at high speeds, but Yelas usually slows down his Berkley Frenzy Rattl'R during Indian-summer conditions. Even though a lipless crankbait is a sinking lure, Yelas can keep the lure close to the surface and retrieve it at a slow rate by using heavy line (25-pound test), which slows down the bait's sink rate.

The Texas angler also works topwater lures slowly across the surface. A Berkley Frenzy Walker and similar topwater plugs usually zigzag when retrieved at a steady to fast pace, but Yelas likes to twitch the lure once to make it head one way and then pause it. After letting the lure sit for awhile, Yelas twitches it again to make the plug move in the opposite direction.

A buzzbait is another speed-burner Yelas likes to slow down. “I've seen times in fall where you have to wind that buzzbait very slow and keep it up on top of the water,” says Yelas, who elevates his rod tip during the retrieve to keep his buzzbait crawling on the surface. “The fish wouldn't hit it at a medium or fast retrieve.”

Fishing slowly during Indian summer also means moving your boat at a snail's pace and thoroughly working an area. “I've seen sometimes where guys will fish one point or pocket all day,” says Yelas.

Since fish seem to be moody during the weather changes of fall, Davis recommends experimenting with presentations until you find out how bass want their dinner.
“Most people make the mistake of going too slow,” says Davis. “A lot of times when the fish are inactive, you will get more strikes fishing it fast because you are getting a reaction strike from them.”

The tournament veteran then retrieves a spinnerbait, buzzbait or the Spit-N-King at a fast pace to coax Indian-summer bass into biting.

Bang The Wood
When the weather warms again in the middle of fall, Alabama pro Tim Horton knocks on wood in dingy water. “I like to get into the back of a major tributary and try to find isolated wood, such as snags or stumps, that I can see,” he says. “The fish are active, but they don't really want to chase something very fast because it is still really hot.”

So the two-time Bassmaster titleholder delivers a meal to these fish by banging a Bomber Square “A” crankbait into the shallow cover. This pattern works best during the afternoon of a bright, sunny day when the sunshine drives bass close to the wood.

After casting beyond the target, Horton winds his crankbait until it hits the wood. When the lure deflects off the cover, Horton either keeps reeling or pauses and lets it flutter up to induce a strike.

“If I'm throwing to a tree that has a lot of limbs, I'll run my lure through it at different angles because the fish will be sitting in there somewhere,” says Horton.

If the back of the tributary he's fishing has clear water, Horton opts for a Heddon Zara Spook or Rebel Pop-R since he believes the fish will be schooling then.

“That time of the year, a Pop-R works really well in the clearer water because the fish are busting and the lure has the look of something feeding on shad,” says Horton.

Scale Down
The bright skies and slick water of Indian-summer days sometimes require downsizing your lures. “If the baitfish are good size and the water has some color, you can go with a larger bait and go for those quality strikes,” suggests Davis. “But the rule of thumb is if you are using the larger lure and not getting strikes, then you need to start dropping down in size.”

The three-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year scales down by using a 3/8-ounce Strike King Compact Premier Pro-Model spinnerbait or a 1/8-ounce Strike King Tri-Wing Mini-Buzz King buzzbait. These small, compact lures allow Davis to employ a finesse presentation with baits normally used for power-fishing situations.

When he encounters tough fishing during Indian summer, Rook switches to “power-finessing” to catch finicky bass. “I start by downsizing my power baits,” explains Rook. “I still flip to the same spots where they were hitting a big jig. A lot of times those fish don't move. They just don't want to hit those big baits.”

The Arkansas pro scales down to flipping a smaller tube bait or a 5/16-ounce Jewel Eakins Pro Model Jig tipped with a small Berkley Power Frog Trailer or Madman craw worm. He also drops down in line size from clear 20-pound test to low-visibility green 15-pound line. If the fishing gets extremely tough, Rook resorts to a finesse worm attached to a 1/8- or 1/16-ounce jighead.

If Indian summer shuts down your fall fishing, try experimenting with different retrieves, lure sizes and areas until you find the right combination to jump start the action again.