As November settles over Iowa, most bass anglers have already hung up their rods, convinced the season’s best days are behind them. They’re wrong. If anything, November offers some of the most underrated bass fishing of the year—a window when the fish are aggressive, predictable, and far less pressured than they are in spring and early summer.
Late fall changes everything about how largemouth bass behave. The water temperature has dropped into the 40s, which sounds like it should shut down the bite. Instead, it concentrates the fish. They abandon the scattered shallow cover they’ve been relating to all summer and move to a specific, deeper structure they’ll hold tight to until the ice comes. Once you find that structure, the fishing can be remarkably consistent.
The key is thinking like a bass in November. These fish are feeding aggressively before the long winter ahead. They’re not burning calories chasing baitfish across open water—they’re positioning themselves where they can ambush prey with minimal effort. Drop-offs, deeper weed lines, submerged timber, and channel ledges become the hunting grounds. Work deeper than you’d think, especially midday. Some of my best November bass have come from water sixteen to twenty feet deep, jigged slowly over structure.
The key is thinking about how bass position themselves and what they respond to. These fish are feeding aggressively before the long winter, but they’re not moving far for a meal. Position yourself where you can work structure thoroughly and methodically. Precision matters more than in summer fishing. Cover the same stretch of bottom carefully from different angles. Patience is rewarded—the bites might be softer than summer strikes, but they’re reliable if you’re working the right areas.
Lure Picks of the Week
Ben- My lure pick of the week is a topwater frog. Frog fishing in the fall is still productive for bass, especially when focusing on shallow, matted vegetation during warmer afternoons when the sun is higher. Key strategies include downsizing lures to match smaller baitfish, using a slow and methodical retrieve with plenty of pauses. Focus on areas with lots of cover such as long grass and weeds.
Jack- My lure pick of the week is a soft plastic. Soft plastics can be effective when fishing them very slowly as bass tend to slow down this time of the year. I like to fish soft plastics on a spinning rod.
