In the early spring of the year, we call this period the "Pre-Spawn" or "Pre-Spawn Period". The reason that this time of the year is one of the best times for bass fishing is because the bass are grouping together into areas called "Staging Areas". These staging areas provide elements that the bass need before going into their spawning grounds or beds!

Now, the fall of the year is the other "best time" of the year for bass fishing because of the following conditions:

1. The water temperature is cooling down which means (in most cases) that you have a greater amount of oxygen.
2. This time of the year you will find that bass more often than not, school together.
3. The cooler temperature from the warm summer temperatures allow the bass to become more active.
4. This is one time of the year when bass will strike just about anything that you throw at them, although there are certain patterns that work better than others. There are more reasons, but these are the primary ones.

The things you need to know when setting out for fall fishing is:

Knowing the temperature of the water.
Knowing the natural forage of that certain body of water.
Knowing areas where deep water is close to shallow water.
Knowing where aquatic plant life is located. 

The reasons for the above is that the cooler temperature will make the bass more active, which in turn will increase the digestive system making the bass feed more often. Bass will eat natural forage in any given body of water, so color patterns and size of baits are to replicate the naturage forage. Bass will normally be in areas where shallow water areas are close to deep water areas for a "Comfort Zone".

For example, if you have a shallow water area that holds bass, and it is close to deeper water and a weather front (whether it be a cold or warm front) moves in, it will effect the shallow water. The temperature will change much faster in the shallows than in the deeper water. The deeper water will hold more of a constant temperature, thus making the bass move down in the more constant temperatures (or deeper waters).

As I said before, almost any artificial bait pattern will work during the fall period. However, the following are some of the more preffered baits to use for Fall Fishing:

Lipless Crankbaits 
Top Water Baits 
Plastics 
Spinner Baits 
Crankbaits 

These are just some patterns that might help you to improve your catches.