Late Summer (Fall Transition) Tactics

[lavbasser]

I am looking for feedback on how people approach the Fall transition.  For me this period starts in mid to late August and can last through a significant part of October.  I know the fish can be scattered.  I fish deep to shallow and can cover many of the small lakes I fish in a few hours.  Scattered fish are fine with me but I most often encounter the fish in a very negative bite.  The pike and other species fish the same way during this period.  Right now there are still a lot of healthy weeds in deeper water and most of the bait and alewives are still relating to these weeds.  Some bait is suspended over long unremarkable flats.  Some main lake banks have strong weed growth and bluegills and the secondary coves are the same.  I have caught most of my fish shallow, but the deeper weeds have the greatest amount of bait and activity.  I have fished deep to shallow, including the areas they should be staging in and am looking for suggestions. 

 

I will downsize or upsize this time of year and have really mixed things up over the years wanting better results.  I know the fish tend to be more scattered but I can cover these lakes in a few hours and know them extremely well.   The strange thing is that there is often so much surface activity and the bigger fish are really filled out.  If you fish early and late in the day you have a better opportunity for fish and better quality fish.  However, daylight hours, even low-light days are still really tough.  My lakes are only about 15 feet deep.  The water up to about 4 feet is clear, the rest is stained.

 

This year I am getting a few with buzzbaits, Buzzjets, and pitching plastics but not enough to establish any sort of pattern.  I am interested in knowing how this period sets up on your lakes, what works for you, why you believe it works, and what does not work for you.  Thanks.

 

 

Lou

[WRB]

Transition periods are usually no longer than 2 or 3 weeks, less than a month, in most lakes.

Late summer is usually a continuation of summer, days getting shorter, however the day and night temps not dropping quickly, the core water temps staying fairly stable. Once the water temps start to drop into the 70's, the fall transition is starting, the baitfish start to migrate into deeper water or to warmer water depending on the type of bait, pelagic like shad, herring, Cisco etc or shore oriented bait. Crawdads also start to migrate towards clay and rocky areas.

Key to catching bass is locating them where they are active feeding. I use my sonar a lot year around and tend to move around more during transitional periods to establish depth and locations.

Tom

PS; a good rule to remember regarding baitfish and bass migration; spring up and fall down.

[ColdSVT]

Spring up and fall down is goooood advice!

I tend to go more finess during the fall transition. I like a drooshot, A smally beaver, and finess jig this time of year but I will also have a deep crankbait, medium sized spinnerbait and a lucky craft sammy on deck as well

[lavbasser]

Thanks for responding. I find this time of year to be very unique.  It begins after a few cooler nights in August.  It is like flipping a switch.  The fish turn off and you can barely get them to react to anything.  Even after ice-out, with water temps in the low 40's, I can find active fish or fish that will react to something at some point.  Tom, this period last more than few weeks for me so maybe there is more going on.  Our lakes have very good numbers of pike and perch as well.  These species and others turn negative as well.  At times I have used Beetle Spins and other crappie/panfish tackle to no avail. Also, It is not uncommon to catch a few dozen pike in the Fall up until the lake freezes.  Yet during this period the pike bite is very slow as well.  

 

ColdSVT- I go finesse as well.  I will drop shot and use very small light tackle as well.  

[Cgrinder]

I am experiencing a similar shutdown in lower Michigan. Downsizing has brought in a few fish, but I can't hook up with anything consistently. Last night it seemed like there were no bass in the lake.

[WRB]

To understand bass behavior you should have at least a grasp on seasonal periods and forget about human behavior, we are not related!

Bass like nearly all fish are cold blooded, the water they live in controls the body temperature, unlike warm blooded animal where the body temperature is controlled by the blood temperature as a heat source.

Bass prefer warm water verses cold water and 70 degrees is about ideal, lowest temp is about 40 degrees F, upper limit is about 85, with short term excursions a little colder or warmer. Dissolved oxygen DO limits about 3-12 mg/L, colder water holds higher concentration of DO, warmer lower levels. Water reaches it's highest density @39.4 F, then gets lighter with very high levels of DO and floats on top of the 39.4 water or warmer.

When the water freezes @ 32 F the lake ices over.

For sake of this discussion there are 6 seasonal periods in the basses calendar:

Winter. (40-55)

Pre spawn (55-62 F)

Spawn. (62-65)

Post spawn. (65-68)

Summer (68-80)

Fall ( 68-58 F)

There are 2 major transitional periods; winter to pre spawn and summer to fall that affect bass migration from colder to warmer water (pre spawn) and warmer to colder water ( fall ). Think of these transitional periods as coming and going; pre spawn the bass are coming into shallower warmer water to stag before the finally move into spawning. Fall the are leaving their summer locations and moving deeper and will stage in similar locations before scattering into deeper water.

Bass tend to be very aggressive feeders during transitional periods, it's all about timing and locationing the preferred prey source.

I like to fish jigs during these transitional periods because crawdads are a prime prey during these periods and swimbaits because larger high protein baitfish are also preferred at this time. You have a lot of lure choices.

The key element is going to be at what depth and each lake is different regarding at what depth is optimal.

Tom

PS; temps at the depth where the bass are located, not surface water.

[NathanW]

Where I fish on the Columbia the current and water levels are major factors as they both take a dramatic fall right around Sept 1. I can always find good numbers of smallmouth this time of year, year after year on main river current breaks that didnt hold fish all summer due to high current usually in 15-60 foot. The problem I have is finding quality fish this time of year without running points and wing dam breaks (burn too much fuel). A lot of times I am guilty of settling for 1-2 pounders all day this time of year. Usually the weedlines have deteriorated and milking out a 200 yard stretch of weed line  for quality fish becomes a bit of a chore.

 

On the lakes I fish I dont have a great answer reagarding what works year after year for me. It usually takes me a few days to figure it out, and once I figure it out I have a few days to fish good fish. Next thing I know we get a good rain or frost and its all over.

[ww2farmer]

For me this time of year is all about JUNK FISHING. I have caught good fish the past few trips out of 6" of water to 20+ FOW, and everywhere in-between. Patterning them is tough right now. Just today for example, 2 decent ones up shallow, do that FOREVER with out a bite, slide out to some 12' stuff get a good one quick.......then haul water for over an hour. Go to some deep junk, get 3 off that before it dies, back shallow, pick up one good one, and a couple 2lbers, hit some 5'-7' deep stuff I like and nab a few...etc.. In a little while they will stack up again in predictable spots and be on fire for a little while, then the fall to winter transition will come , and it'll be much of the same as it is now, except slower. My bait selection now is the same as it is the rest of the year.

[lavbasser]

Yesterday I had a little revelation on the water.  I found the bait in the same transitional areas but fished the broader areas of the flats with plastic craws, not the near banks or the immediate area.  I picked up 5 good bites in a few hours of fishing.   With so much bait activity I may have been too keyed on that.  Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, lipless, worms, drop shot, topwater....Despite all of the bait maybe they are focusing on craws.  It is still too early to know but I am encouraged.  I fished an adjacent flat, in another transitional spot,  with bait and  better structure but did not get bit.  Thank you all for responding.  

[papajoe222]

The two lakes that I fish regularly are like apples and onions in comparison when it comes to just about everything. The average depth is the biggest difference and at this time of year that makes a major difference in how fast the lake cools down (just the opposite in the spring).  The shallower lake will turn on earlier in both seasons and the deeper will be a few weeks behind it.  The other big difference is fish location in the water column.  The fish tend to be the most active in the upper water  on the shallow lake once the temps drop into the 70's, but the fish in the deeper lake will hold in the mid to lower water until the lake turns over.

Until you learn the lake you're targeting, you'll have to put in some time both on the water and off.  This time of year the best research you can do is looking into the main forage base of the lake and use it's seasonal movements as a guide of where to begin. 

Try keeping a fishing log and make notes in it as to what you used that worked and what didn't.  Next fall when you go back check that log because if your memory is only half as poor as mine, you may start out with the presentations that didn't work when you just might be able to get into fish early using what did work last year.