Fall Mods in Brown Town

YEP, FEW FISH are more frustrating than smallmouth, which have a habit of shutting down or disappearing just when you think you have everything figured out.

Seth Feider must agree. I had to chuckle when the 2021 Bassmaster Angler of the Year muttered “stupid smallmouth” during the Bassmaster Elite Series tourney on Lake Champlain last July.

But there is a time — yes, outside the spawn — when smallmouth movement becomes predictable, even reliable. Hit the right waters at the right times, and odds are you’ll find stacked fish feeding aggressively.

That window is mid- to late fall on rivers in those parts of the country where water temps slide from the 60s into the 40s as winter takes hold. In most cases that means Northern waters, but not always.

There are variations to consider — river size, water depths,