Rick Clunn’s Early Fall Topwater Strategy: Bass Still Look Up
By Steven Paul
For a lot of bass anglers, the first instinct when fall settles over a reservoir is to go deep. That instinct is not necessarily wrong, but as Rick Clunn explained when we sat down for the Livingston Largemouth Bass Podcast, the word “deep” has changed considerably since forward-facing sonar gave anglers a better look at what fish actually do.
Clunn spent much of his career fishing before modern electronics could simply show an angler where suspended bass were sitting. What he learned during that time was that hot weather does not automatically drive every bass toward the bottom. In many reservoirs, especially during August and September, baitfish may actually rise in the water column. Light, plankton, oxygen and forage all influence where that food stays, and bass ultimately have to stay connected to it.
That is one reason Clunn has never been afraid to fish a topwater in brutally hot weather.
He pointed to his experience on Lake Mead, where he won two U.S. Opens held in July and August. The desert heat was extreme, yet some of the most productive fishing came on topwater. In clear water, bass could hold 20 or 30 feet down and still move a long distance vertically to attack something on the surface.
That should change the way anglers think about September fishing. A bass does not have to be sitting beneath a laydown in two feet of water for a surface lure to be relevant. The fish can be considerably deeper and still be looking up.
Why a Small Topwater Can Be Better
One detail from our conversation that stood out was Clunn’s preference for relatively small topwaters during this period. His choices include a small chugger and the Livingston Walking Boss rather than automatically reaching for the biggest surface bait in the box.
The retrieve is also important.
Clunn does not always work a chugger in the traditional pop-and-pause style. During hot weather, and particularly in September, he likes a faster, more erratic presentation. He wants the bait spitting and moving, then he stops it. That speed creates the impression of something struggling to escape, while the pause gives a bass the opportunity to finish the attack.
He learned that lesson years ago while guiding on Lake Conroe. Clunn was fishing worms in 20 to 25 feet of water around intersecting creek channels when a customer picked up a small chugger and began working it over the same area.
Clunn initially thought the presentation made little sense. Then the customer caught one. Then another. After several fish, the “fluke” explanation no longer worked.
That experience became part of the way Clunn looks at topwater fishing in the heat.
A Predator Does Not Have to Be Hungry
Clunn’s explanation comes back to predator-prey behavior. A surface lure does more than resemble food. Properly worked, it can resemble vulnerable food.
Predators are built to recognize weakness and opportunity. A bait sputtering, darting and struggling at the surface can trigger a response even when a bass is not feeding aggressively. That helps explain why a topwater can pull fish from surprising depths and why the presentation can continue producing when conventional thinking says the water is too hot.
The key is not simply throwing a topwater everywhere. Clunn still wants to connect the bait with the places bass and forage are using.
Follow the Current
On reservoirs with generation, current becomes one of the most important variables in early fall. Clunn pays close attention to water-release schedules from dams above and below the area he is fishing. Moving water positions bait and creates predictable feeding opportunities.
He especially likes river sections where the old channel concentrates flow. Even though an angler cannot see that submerged channel from the boat, the water still follows it. The current then interacts with channel edges, points, banks and other structure, creating seams and breaks where bass can position efficiently.
Timing matters. Clunn noted that fish can become conditioned to recurring generation schedules. If water has begun moving at roughly the same period over several consecutive days, bass may begin positioning before the strongest current arrives.
In Clunn’s words, he wants to be “the first one to the table.”
For anglers fishing the final heat of summer and the beginning of fall, the larger lesson is simple: do not let surface temperature make the decision for you. Find the bait. Understand where current is positioning it. Pay attention to the depth the bass are actually using rather than the depth you assume they should use.
Then keep a topwater ready.
A Livingston Walking Boss worked aggressively over the right piece of water may look out of place on a sweltering September afternoon. According to Rick Clunn, that can be exactly why you should be throwing it.
