September is a tweener. It's less autumn than October. Yet, it's refreshingly less like sweltering summer than August. But for bass fishermen, September sometimes lands us smack in the middle of a month of confusion.
The first question is likely, "are they still in their deep summer haunts, or should I be searching the shallows?"
Kevin VanDam says whether the bass is shallow or deep in September depends on the weather. "Weather is such a huge factor in September, and I don't mean the weather on a given day, but the weather on a given hour. So the bite or pattern can change from hour to hour in September," the four-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year said.
"I remember fishing Table Rock once in September, and I was catching them on a drop-shot rig in 25' - 35' of water. Then a little storm passed over the lake, and suddenly, the deep bite stopped, and I started catching quality bass on a topwater," recalled KVD.
Speaking of topwater, Kevin says the surface bite can be a great safety net in September, especially in lakes with an above-average shad population, like Buggs Island, Guntersville, or Grand Lake.
Shad are a big part of September's sometimes puzzling equation, according to VanDam. "Often what happens in September is you start getting more rain than you had during the hot, dry summer months, and in turn, the rain runoff in the backs of the creeks puts groceries in the water for the shad. Then, when you couple the rain run-off with cooler evenings, it's not long before the shad move to the creeks. And, of course, the bass follow."
Ultimately, September is a month of seek and find. But again, only fools fail to acknowledge the weather. For example, without much rain, the shad might be slower to migrate into the creeks.
Accompanying Kevin on the September search is a wide-ranging arsenal of lures. "You pretty much have to bring all the weapons in September. Look at the front deck of my boat in September, and you might see anything from a drop-shot to a Spit-N-King topwater, to a Burner spinnerbait, to a deep-diving Strike King Series 6 crankbait - it just all depends on the weather," concludes VanDam.
