Fall fishing heating up as water temperatures chill on lakes across the state

Riley Harris of Orange has reeled in plenty of heavyweight bass over the years, but none to compare to the bruiser that gobbled up his football jig on the morning of November 22 at Sam Rayburn Reservoir.

Harris, 26, was out checking a few waypoints on a chilly Friday when he spotted a few fish on his electronics. The bass were holding around a brush pile in about 22-25 feet of water.

“I could tell it was an active pile, so I threw in there with to check it out,” Harris said. “She ate it on the second cast. When I set the hook I knew it was a really big fish because I couldn’t move it for like 5-10 seconds, but I had no idea how big until I got it in the boat. It was a giant — way bigger than my previous best 10.80 pounder.”