Tips and techniques by pro angler Lee Bailey jr

Lees Seasonal Approach Guide is a system I’ve adapted to help find bass on unfamiliar waters. As a retired touring pro, I fished all kinds of lakes and rivers in many regions throughout the year. Obviously, I didn’t have time to become intimately familiar with each of these venues prior to tournament competition. When you only have three practice days to unlock the secrets of a large river system, you need some guidance to help you quickly get on a viable fish catching pattern. Lees Seasonal Approach provides that information, regardless of where or when I’m fishing. It helps me make educated guesses about where bass are most likely to be at any given time of the year. It’s a system that quickly eliminates unproductive water and helps me home in on areas holding the most bass.

The concept operates on the theory that at any given time, the majority of bass in a given river current system will be on certain key types of structure. Of course, not all bass will adhere to this “rule.” I could probably catch some bass off flats or in shallow bays in winter if I spent long enough trying, but in a tournament, I’m better off spending my limited fishing time in high percentage areas. The Seasonal Approach gives me the general direction I need to form a fish catching pattern quickly. How well I fine-tune this generalized pattern during competition determines how high I’ll finish in the standings.

I learned early in my fishing career that bass relate to the different seasons very predictably. Once you understand that the seasons are part of the foundation to a bass’s life, you too will be able to catch them more consistently.

A very important part to consistently catching bass is to understand what role the different seasons play in the lives of the elusive bass. Having a strategy to the seasonal developments will allow you to have an understanding of seasonal movements.

Lees Seasonal Approach for Fall: 75 to 55 degrees

I actually begin fishing a fall pattern when the water has cooled 10 degrees below its hottest point of the summer, this can vary greatly from river to river. A rapid temperature drop is best, for this can really put bass on the move from deep main river structure to shallow water. Bass react to cooling water by moving shallower to big flats, long points with a gradual taper, and tributary arms.

As surely as the seasons change, the behavior and location of bass change as summer passes into fall and fall into winter. Unfortunately, the exact changes the bass makes often seems as unpredictable as the fall weather.

From a fishing standpoint, “fall” starts when summer fishing patterns start to dissolve and ends when stable, winter patterns begin. It’s a period of constant adjustment, basically because it’s a period of nearly constant change.
Simply, river systems offer the most predictable option. The key to staying in contact with bass as they move through the fall cycles is having some idea where the bass are coming from and where they are headed.

Bass are more baitfish-oriented now than in any other season. Look for large schools of shad, alewives, etc., on your graph. In most river reservoirs, cooling water causes vast numbers of shad to migrate into tributary arms, and bass are close behind. Follow this migration by fishing the first third of creek arms in early fall, then gradually pressing farther back into the tributary as the surface temperature drops. I’ll often idle my boat up a creek arm, watching my graph for suspended shad schools or looking for bait flipping on the surface. Isolated wood cover or boat docks in the backs of creek arms are dependable fall bass patterns. In lakes that don’t have shad, bass feed heavily on bluegill and shiners, both grass-oriented species, so target weedy areas.

I actually begin fishing a fall pattern when the water has cooled 10 degrees below its hottest point of the summer. This can vary greatly from body of water to body of water. A rapid temperature drop is best, for this can really put bass on the move from deep main river structure to shallow water. Bass react to cooling water by moving shallower to big flats, long points with a gradual taper and tributary arms.

As surely as the seasons change, the behavior and location of bass change as summer passes into fall and fall into winter. Unfortunately, the exact changes the bass makes often seems as unpredictable as the fall weather.

Fishing a fall pattern starts when you see first signs of the fall cooling trend

Bass are more baitfish oriented now than in any other season. Look for large schools of shad, alewives, etc., on your graph. In most reservoirs, fishing a fall pattern as cooling water causes vast numbers of shad to migrate into tributary arms, and bass are close behind. Follow this migration by fishing the first third of creek arms in early fall, then gradually pressing farther back into the tributary as the surface temperature drops. I’ll often idle my boat up a creek arm, watching my graph for suspended shad schools or looking for bait flipping on the surface. Isolated wood cover or boat docks in the backs of creek arms are dependable fall bass patterns. In lakes that don’t have shad, bass feed heavily on bluegill and shiners, both grass-oriented species, so target weedy areas that still have living green weeds.

Identifying these reduced current areas is usually pretty simple. Look for the bass to move to big cuts on the main river, cuts and coves in the bigger creeks, and slack water ponds off the main current area.

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Binsky In Late Summer works so well when those bass move offshore and begin to school in deeper water, that’s when you can get your money’s worth out of this blade bait.

It’s a good bait for pressured or schooling fish. Bass don’t stop eating bait fish when the water gets warm, so continue to use a Binsky blade bait no matter what time of year it is. When it’s in the dead of summer, you might not be able to just pull up and drop-shot on a school of fish. But, if you use a Binsky, they eat it at first sight.”

A blade Bait is great to use in summer because it can sink like a rock to whatever depth you need it to/ You can get the reaction bite with it because it’s so fast and moves so quickly. It’s also a good casting bait to use when you’re waiting for topwater fish to blow up because it’s so heavy and you can throw it far.

Binsky In Late Summer is more effective than a suspending stickbait during this time because it can probe deeper and catch fish in the 30 to 40 foot range. Steep drop-offs along main and secondary points or creek channels in the major coves are the prime spots to introduce the metal Binsky to bass.

The best sizes to use for this blade bait are 1/2-ounce for depths under 20 feet and 3/4-ounce for probing deeper than 20 feet. After making a long cast, allow the bait to sink to the bottom on a slack line before starting your retrieve. You want to lift that bait just enough to where you actually feel it vibrate. Once you feel it vibrate then kind of let the lure pull back down on a more tight line to where it will pendulum out a little bit. You don’t want it to go straight up and down during your retrieve.

Make sure you work the lure all the way back to the boat because bass will frequently hit the lure right under the boat. Match the lure with a medium-heavy rod and baitcast reel filled with 15-pound fluorocarbon line.

Summer Glide Bait Fishing is best when bass are in their main summer patterns, understanding what the fish want helps you plan your big-bite strategy. Here’s the skinny on proven giant-finding prowess.

One of those innovations over the past 10 years is the emergence of Glide baits. These oversized, hard-bodied fish imitators originally were created to mimic trout in California lakes, but have transformed into replicating large bass prey across the country. Glide baits can resemble trout/ gizzard shad/ perch and other types of fish that bass feed on.

Summer is a prime time to fish Glide baits. For the most part, anglers have learned that these lures produce best in the late pre-spawn, and summer to late fall.

Summer Glide Bait Fishing requires a shift in perspective and expectations. The most important thing to remember is that the number of strikes you can expect go WAY down, especially as the size of the bait increases. For the most part, the most productive and popular sizes are 6-9 inches. Most of them will weigh between 2 and 6 ounces.

Glide bait areas are dependent of the type of cover and clarity available

Casting distance is critical. It is especially important to cast Glide baits as far as you can, as most of the time they are fished in cleaner water scenarios. As well, this give the bass more time to find and tract your bait while tracking the big ones in Summer Glide Bait Fishing . Most Glide baits have a built-in, wide side to side action when reeled straight in. Most experts with this technique prefer to work the bait almost like a jerkbait…twitching the bait to make it dart harder side to side.

Glide bait areas are dependent of the type of cover and clarity available on the lake you are fishing. Since you are targeting big bass, you must fish big bass areas. Some of the better Glide bait locations are bluff banks, steep channel banks, points, and over deeper grass beds. When approaching these areas, wind is your friend. Getting a Glide bait bite under calm conditions in the summer is exceedingly difficult.

Baby Buzzbait™ midsummer bassing begins after the hot weather has set in, bass fishing can be fantastic. Warm waters mean an increase in the metabolism of bass, which can lead to more frequent feeding activity. Additionally, Warm waters allow anglers to move faster and burn lures. The Baby Buzzbait™, not only works retrieving it directly by a bass, but also through the edges of their larger strike zones.

When bass are aggressive, anglers can choose between lots of different lure options and methods and can often use their favorites to score. Still, the most efficient method is usually going to be a faster approach. Smaller -sized offerings are usually best, the water has an abundance of small prey at this time. Picking a lure that can be fished fast, such as a Baby Buzzbait™, spinnerbait, lipless crankbait, is a top option. Swim jigs paired with paddle-tail swimbaits and some blade baits can be good choices as well.

Buzzbaits may all look the same on the shelf, but each has its own special features

While standard-sized offerings can produce, be ready to quickly switch to smaller sized lures if the bite doesn’t pick up. Likewise, while a slower Baby Buzzbait™ midsummer bassing retrieve speed is best, if the standard and slow speeds don’t produce, be ready to radically increase the speed, even faster than the higher-speed approach common when summer bass are active. Burning lures at high speeds can play on the instincts of bass and cause them to attack lures when they normally wouldn’t with slower retrieves.

Buzzbaits may all look the same on the shelf, but each has its own special features that will work better in different places. A basic buzzbait will simply spin the blade on the top of the water making a slight trail behind it and a slight noise as it moves. The Baby Buzzbait™ is the most compact size on the market today. It’s smaller size, especially the 1/4 oz size allows the bait to be sucked in the bass’ mouth deeper. This produces more bass in the boat, resulting in bigger creels and a lot of fun.