During the early Fall water conditions and the cool Fall weather will start bringing surface temperatures down from 80 degrees to 60 degrees typically. Some lakes may have ultra-clear water and others will have turbid areas caused by rains. During early fall bass will still be in their summer holding areas, although they'll move around more and travel the migration routes between deep and shallow areas. As the water and air temperatures drop, bass will move toward the shallow areas and spend more time feeding in them. A sudden rise in a lake or reservoir due to fall rains can cause a mass migration into the freshly submerged weeds and brush. Major tributaries are also prime fall spots, since bass tend to follow foraging fish toward the influx of water. Water depth varies from very shallow to fairly deep. Your lure choices will consist of Spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and crankbaits in white or silver. I would go with a good 1/4 oz for smallmouth bass and a little larger for largemouth. Just like in Summer weather. Zara Spooks and topwaters can be extremely good worked in submerged trees, over major channels and over deteriorating weedbeds. Shallow-running crankbaits or rattling shad-type lures are also excellent. Tactics include more aggressive retrieves and should be fairly fast. Lures should be larger at this time to match the larger size of the forage. Shad are the top forage on many reservoirs, and again anything white or silver can be productive.During late Fall water conditions continue to drop from 60 degrees down to 42 degrees or so. Water is usually fairly turbid because of incoming rainwater as well as lake turnover. Bass location will include the upper ends of tributaries and major creeks. Bass will also be more in the shallow areas for aggressive feeding purposes. Same places the baitfish will be located. Look for Osprey and other fish eating predatory birds to find baitfish locations. Your lure choices in late Fall include spinnerbaits, crankbaits and buzzbaits. As the water temperature continues to drop, pig-and-jigs can become increasingly productive also. It's best to fish slow at the beginning of this period.
"Catching bass in the fall means finding shad. In the spring and summer, you have dozens of structure options. In the fall - only one: Find and fish the shad schools. You can find them with sonar, but the easiest way is spotting surface schools in creeks and coves. You can see them easily this time of year. If shad schools aren't working in a particular creek or cove, it's time to move. Ignore "fishy" looking water. Seek only the shad. Begin your post-turnover fishing trip by searching for shad in the major creek arms. Follow the wind into coves and pockets. When you find a school, throw a crankbait along the channel drop offs leading into the cut or cove. Don't throw into a school of shad unless you suspect bass are feeding beneath them. A calm school is often holding in a protected area. That's why it's better to throw your lure along the channels leading into a cut or cove first. When shad flip on the surface or large schools scatter and dart, bass are probably feeding beneath them. Target the school as if it were structure. Retrieve a crankbait through the school or drop a shad colored plastic grub into the group and bounce it on the bottom. Also, shad will gather around flooded timber, creating rings around the tree trunks. If you find this situation, make a low trajectory cast with a double bladed willowleaf spinnerbait so it hits the tree."
This article was produced by Big Fishing Blog and most commentary along with phrases were taken from http://www.bassresource.com. Images were inserted by Big Fishing.
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