If I have said it once I have said it a thousand times, I love fall. I mean truly. I love this time of year. Well, not quite yet… I love the fall we get when highs are in the 50s and low 60s and nights are in the 30s. Sunny days that are comfortable for napping beneath a big oak overlooking a swamp bottom. Who cares about the deer, don’t interrupt the best sleep I have had in months! Afternoon front porch sitting with my wife is pleasant and easy because no one is sweating and swatting those dadgum kamikaze reprobates we call mosquitos.

Never fear though! Fall fishing is arriving soon. I say this because last night while fishing with my son we saw the first glimpses of our favorite fall pattern: white bass in the coves. There are places on this lake when the sun hits the trees in the evening the whites and even largemouths start to school and push bait around. This creates a LOT of fun if you are like me and think there is nothing better than catching whites and hybrids schooling. I mean come on. What’s more exciting than that?

Here’s what to look for. It’s easy. Cruise the lake until you find coves with channels running into them that are deeper than 6-8 feet, at least this is my observation. Watch carefully leading up to the golden hour and you will see bait fish dancing nervously around and an occasional explosion. The explosions get more and better as the evening and the fall wear on. At first just cast to the nervous bait. You might get bite. However, what I do is watch them for a little while and see what direction they are traveling and if they are in the channel, along the edge, wanting to be deep or shallow. Then I start to work those areas over. Your electronics can be a huge help here. You don’t need the latest and greatest forward facing sonar just really strong and good 2-D sonar is fine and a good mapping unit. Follow the bait and you will find the fish. It’s easy.

Now my favorite baits for this time of year are simple. I’ve used most of them literally all my life.

First, I will have a Little George or another brand of tailspin tied on. This is going to never be really any bigger than a quarter ounce. This is to match the smaller fry and bait fish running around.

Second, you know me and you know there is a lipless crankbait tied on and this is the reason why… It matches the hatch! I love a ¼ or ½ ounce bait this time of year and if our water is like it currently is I want a very natural looking bait, silver, or even white. Rat-L-Traps are by far my favorite but I have several others I love as well like the Quake by 6^th Sense.

Third, I will have a finesse swim bait such as a Cast Prodigy or a Suicide shad on a ¼ oz or 3/8 ounce ball head jig. I run these on a medium spinning rod and use 8 to 10-pound braid and a 10-pound flouro leader for them. Here’s the key to finesse swim baits though. GET A GOOD ROD! Best you can afford because these fish and bass will just suck that bait in sometimes and you will never feel that thud. You need a good high quality rod to feel that bite.

Finally, my new go to bait in these situations is a blade bait. If you don’t know what that is look it up. I’ll do a piece on them soon but it’s baits like the Silver Buddy from Pennsylvania and the excel in cooler water and at matching a small bait fish.

Now get out there and enjoy this awesome time of year. Tight lines and following seas y’all!

—Outdoors columnist James Pressley can be reached at jameskpressley@gmail.com .