Autumn Fishing In The Southwest

Can Provide the Best Action of the Year

By Rory K. Aikens

      The mad scramble of autumn when sport fish are trying to put fat on before winter arrives also provides anglers an opportunity to fill their creel, livewell, or memories.

      Autumn in the southwestern mountains is not only one of the best times of the year to be out fishing, it is one of the best times to catch fish, especially the big ones.

      Drop a few thousand feet or so to the warmwater lakes, and predatory sport fish are actively chasing threadfin shad or gobbling up crayfish to put on fat before winter conditions arrive. Sometimes, there are vast surface eruptions as large schools of bass chase even larger schools of shad.

      Schools of lightning-fast striped bass on the Colorado River lakes ambush large schools of shad over open water, sometimes causing vast eruptions like a depth charge went off.

      Autumn is when the whole ecosystem comes alive, often with frenzied or aggressive activity as seed and fruiting plants ripen with their bounty and wild animals in the terrestrial and aquatic worlds try to fill their bellies and create fat reserves.

      For farmers, autumn is the prime harvesting time. The same goes for anglers, even though a host of fishermen will and should practice catch and release.

      In the high country, anglers should key in on the fact that both brown trout and brook trout will be spawning (or at least in spawning-type activity patterns) – that spawning activity often holds the key for catching other sport fish, such as rainbow trout.

      Fly and spin anglers will want to consider egg-type patterns in waters that hold multiple salmonid species. Spin anglers, especially, should look at using the eggs milked from browns and brookies as bait for rainbows, cutthroats and other fish.

      Rainbow trout colored crankbaits can be very effective for browns and brookies in lakes, streams or rivers that host multiple salmonid species. Brown and brookies can become especially aggressive gobbling up their competing cousins.

      In the warmwater lakes, shad are typically congregating into large balls of fish to feed on the plentiful plankton that is usually found near the cooling waters at the lake’s surface where oxygen is often concentrated. For anglers, this means going to topwater lures or jerkbaits that are slightly subsurface. Shallow running crankbaits can be devastating at times.

      Although schools of bass will be actively feed on schools of shad at the surface and can be readily caught, the lunkers can often be found deep beneath all the frenzied feeding action where they don’t have to expend much energy to get a meal of wounded or dying shad. Spoons can sometimes be deadly for the behemoth bass below.

      Another technique I like to use is putting a small weight, such as an in-line swivel, on the line about four to six inches above a soft plastic jerkbait, then just letting the bait slowly fall to the bottom like a dying shad. This can be especially effective in shallower water up to 15 feet deep, especially along shelves adjacent to deeper water.

      In more turbid waters, using spinnerbaits can also an effective technique. Sometimes working your spinnerbait fast will trigger a strike, or multiple strikes. Other times, using a soft plastic trailer, such as a small curly-tailed grub, and slowly cranking the spinner across the bottom and bumping structure can be the ticket. Experiment.

      In the some of the lakes with clearer water, take a leisurely stroll along such areas and wear polarized sunglasses. You will typically see the shad actively feeding on plankton and other small critters along these extremely productive zones. That creates a premier area for predatory fish to also feed.

      Also, take along a pair of binoculars so you can not only see surface boils further away, but bird activity as well. On some lakes, seagulls, osprey, great blue herons and other fish eating birds can key you into the more intense shad and predatory fish activity.

      Sometimes, the biggest problem in the fall is deciding where to spend your available angling time – the high country lakes, or the warmwater ones. No matter what your choice, fall fishing in the Southwest can provide you with some of the best – if not the best – angling action of the entire year.