Northwoods Bass Fishing Report – Mid September to Early October, 2025
For almost an entire month I woke up every morning to the same conditions, and we fished repetitively. It truly felt like Groundhog Day. The smallmouths felt this way too as bites were quiet and locations didn't change much over the course of a full month.
Since my fall trips started on September 9th, we’ve exclusively fished for big smallmouth bass only. Really no action fishing, and if the interest is in numbers September and October are the wrong months. These past few weeks, 10 to 15 fish days of mid-size to very large fish have been the usual result. Meanwhile, we also had some numbers of 20 to 30 fish days too. Lots of dead periods and hour(s) in-between.
So far this fall, we have captured 19 smallmouths at 20-inches or better. Fishing has been a little sub-par, as by this week last year we had 37 - and finishing with 44. This just proves that big fish and quality catches and their catch rates are a product of conditions which we've simply not had up to this point in early October.
September's heat truly sucked, and was far from fishy or September-like. This last month was nearly as hot as July was, and August was much cooler. Water temps




















