With fall officially less than a month away and early fall patterns usually starting the end of August and the beginning of September it's time to start thinking of cooler nights and fall patterns. As the days shorten and it starts to actually cool off from triple digits and the mid 90°’s and those night temps get into the lower 70°’s look for bass keyed in on shad in the creeks and backwater lagoons of the bigger lakes. Don't be afraid to go bigger either!

Remember these shad have grown since Spring and bigger bass will a lot of the time key in on the larger shad, bluegill and other prey items. Especially while fattening up for the coming winter. I'm big on lobbing large streamers like gamechangers and big deceivers this time of year. Mostly hammering the banks in 2-5ft of water and stripping back at various speeds, Working along structure such as docks, Lilly pads, down trees, and points where the bass have to travel to enter and leave these areas.

Also watch for bass busting schools of shad I'm big on pulling up to a spot and just watching for a few minutes. Shad are key this time of the year and If you find the shad you'll find the bass. If you don't see much action it's probably good to keep moving. When you do find them cast next to or past the schools and make sure to let the fly drop a second or three before stripping. They'll hit on the drop quite often so watch your floating lines for a twitch. If that's not working and they're busting aggressively still strip the fly faster.

Don't be afraid to try a popper or a gurgler in any of these same areas and situations in fact I highly encourage it! Don't be surprised either if your biggest bass of the year is caught in the next couple of months. Start tying flies, booking guides and wetting lines you've almost survived the Texas heat!