How To Adjust Your Lure Retrieve For Fishing In The Fall
- By: Wyatt Parcel
- on
Are there different tactics for retrieving lures in the fall compared to other seasons?
How should you be retrieving different lures this fall?
The different seasons cause fish to behave and hunt differently which has a direct impact on your lure presentations!
Learn more here!!
How To Adjust Your Lure Retrieve For Fishing In The Fall [VIDEO]
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Fish biology is important to make note of and keep in your mind when presenting lures to fish in the fall and winter.
In the colder months, the metabolism of fish will drop.
On the other hand, in the spring and summer fish metabolism is higher because of the heat and they are fired up to eat more food.
As we approach fall and winter, the energy level of fish decreases.
Fish are not going to move around as much and are unwilling to chase after bait.
In accordance with this pattern, you have to adjust your retrieve to match this behavior.
During spring and summer, you use a constant, straight retrieve that will catch a bunch of fish.
Fish during the colder months are in search of stable temperatures which can be found at depth changes.
Your retrieve over these ledges and depth changes is going to transition from a constant retrieve to a slow roll with intermittent pauses.
You can even mix in some jigging because you want to create a vertical presentation as opposed to a horizontal presentation.
A few feet can make a huge impact on where your bait is traveling in the water column.
By changing your retrieve to intermittent pausing with a slow roll, you will cover all parts of the water column.
Trout in particular will respond to you jigging your lure every now and then by seeing it pop up and ambushing your lure on its way down.
Redfish have decreased energy levels in the fall and a slower retrieve with pauses will produce strikes.
The biggest takeaway is to slow your presentation down and work the vertical water column along depth changes.
Do you have any other questions about fishing in the colder months?
Let me know down in the comments!
And if you know someone who wants to learn the best lure retrieves for the colder months, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Great Reminder Wyatt! We get sometimes into a “Summer Rhythm” & continue that into the fall. Big Mistake! Great wake up call!
Absolutely Bob! I definitely fell into that mistake myself, and realized it on one of my last trips… surprised me how much this simple adjustment increased the amount of strikes I got!
How true Wyatt. During later Fall and into winter, I slow my retrieve to a snail-like crawl and most often I even pull and drag the line on the bottom after a pause rather than twitching. On average I’ve caught 30 trout a session this past week. Experimenting with this difference, I’ll occasionally switch back to the typical, steady retrieve just to test it all out… and zero hits until I switch back.
I couldn’t agree more! The overarching theme of “slowing down” seems synonyms with cold water fishing! Congrats on a solid day of trout fishing!
Thanks for the insight, Wyatt. Good info!
No problem Matt!
Wyatt, I would like to suggest that every one of these informational videos include some background information. Like generally the date( beginning, mid, end of November), where you are (around Corpus Christie) and maybe the water temperature. Anything that might help to put the video in context. It would be helpful for ALL of the Coaches to include this type of information.
Hey Steve! This was just one of our simple blog tips… for the more detailed location, date, etc, we create weekly insider reports (including one filmed at this location on the day of this trip, which I’ll drop the link for here: https://community.saltstrong.com/post/53660/Picking-Apart-Fall-Shorelines-to-Find-Schools-Of-Reds-Insider-Report )
what if I am using the Power Prawn? should I allow the lure to hit and rest on bottom for a moment and then resume a slow retrieve? last week I was getting good hits from trout with the Power Prawn resting on bottom but still 4-5ft of water. thanks for the video & tips, much appreciated
Yes! Luckily the Prawn has an intended action/retreive that factors well into a cold water scenario. Just allow more time between the pops and resting on the bottom to account for sluggish fish!
Thanks for the good reminders Wyatt.
No problem Adam! Thanks so much for watching!
Thanks Wyatt, excellent presentation as always. Is this technique good for fishing around oyster bars too.
Thanks Bill! It can definitely work, just make sure not to place too much time on the pause and allow your lure to get caught in the shells.
Excellent post, Wyatt! Always enjoy the insightful biological, energetic perspective.
Thanks so much Aaron! I nerd out with fish biology but find that it’s extremely helpful for predicting behavior and getting a jump on pattern shifts before I’m too late. Thanks again for watching!