Late Summer/ Early Fall Bass

[TannerKillam]

What are everyone favorite techneque for this time of year when the fish are finicky? I like to throw a drop shot ondeep weed  edges

[Ohio Dave]

For me it changes day to day.    i like to still search with a spinnerbait but will slow roll it if its a cool day.   jerk baits when it has been cold all day

[WRB]

There is a related thread "fall transition", same topic.

My definition to this period is water temperature based as the summer period water column cools to about 70 degrees,at 68 to 60 degrees you are in the fall period. The cold water winter period occurs when the water temps are 58 degrees or less in most deep structured lakes.

The key is baitfish movement and bass changing from moving horizontal to moving vertical or deeper.

Find the baitfish and use lures that the bass react to, good period to bass fish with a lot of different lures and presentations.

Tom

[scaleface]

The fish are not finicky in North Missouri . This time of year more often than not , I   get on a hot crankbait bite with medium divers  Lures like a Bomber Model A really shine . But I rarely fish lakes that have significant weed growth .

[Neil McCauley]

Can't cover this topic enough imo... Fall bass fishing can be as great as spring, but with much less predictability.

Personally I throw crankbaits, but I often have to search with them first to find the right depth.

[Mainebass1984]

Fall is my favorite time to bass fish. It certainly can be better then the spring. I have caught more 8 lbers in the fall then the spring.  Isolate off shore structure/cover is great in the fall. Some of the biggest bass in the lake your fishing will be relating to offshore cover/structure. My favorites for early fall are squarebills, jigs, and a variety of soft plastics. Later in the fall a drop shot, silver buddy, and jig are my top three.

[bowhunter63]

Jig and Craw and Swimjigs with a swim bait trailer on the rivers

[lo n slo]

Went out after work today. On the lake around 4:30 til 7:30. Caught 15 spots, nothing to brag about, but the bite seemed to have improved from Sunday. Surface water temps here have fallen around 4 degrees since then as well.

[ReelCali510]

Ive had some of my best days this time of year throwing rat L trap type baits and Craw style baits

[Bankbeater]

When the temps cool down just a tad more I will be throwing Rat-L-Traps. I like fall more than spring around here. The weather is a bit more stable.

[Stingray23]

For me, its the same as what I use in the spring. Lipless cranks, square bills, weightless flukes, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, grubs, craws, topwater, jigs.....

[scaleface]

Went out today for the first time in a month. The lake had turned over and there was al lot of fish showing up around 14 foot .I went to a point and was throwing a rapala DT 14 and a deep diving Strike King crankbait . I would throw the lures   in 10 to 15 foot of water on top of the point. The crankbait would hit bottom and most of the strikes came after the lure came off the point and lost contact with the bottom. I caught around 50 bass 12 to 15 inches like that . It was fun .

[ww2farmer]

Junk fishing.....that is if we're talking that true "in between seasons" transition period. I will fish everything in my arsenal during this time, and often, one technique or presentation is only good for a couple of fish before you have to almost do a 180 and go with something else. I know this time of year is coming when the 2-3 weeks before I could do no wrong and the bite was on fire. IMHO, this transition is a tougher time to fish than the post spawn period, but when its over and they settle into a true fall pattern, it's worth the couple weeks of work I had to put in to get bites.

[roadwarrior]

Junk fishing.....that is if we're talking that true "in between seasons" transition period. I will fish everything in my arsenal during this time, and often, one technique or presentation is only good for a couple of fish before you have to almost do a 180 and go with something else. I know this time of year is coming when the 2-3 weeks before I could do no wrong and the bite was on fire. IMHO, this transition is a tougher time to fish than the post spawn period, but when its over and they settle into a true fall pattern, it's worth the couple weeks of work I had to put in to get bites.

 

I agree, everything works one day and the next it's something different. This weekend at Pickwick I will start

with topwater, a jerkbait, Chatterbait and the Norman Fat Boy. If that doesn't work I'll go deep with the Rage

Baby Craw and BPS Tender Tube. Somewhere in the mix I'll be drifting The Rig.

 

 

 

 

[thirtysixit]

When the temps cool down just a tad more I will be throwing Rat-L-Traps. I like fall more than spring around here. The weather is a bit more stable.

RAT-L-TRAP!!!!!!!!!! You will not be disappointed.   

[Bass2124]

Up here in New Brunswick, Fall is here. Color is changing as I speak.  Water Temps are between 62-68 on the river and we have already had 2 frosts.  Jerkbaits, flukes,cranks and dropshotting with 4" trickworms  are working on the smallmouth but as people have aluded to, each day is a different day.  No luck with jigs....ever! I must be the worst jig fisherman ever on the river.  Have caught a few in lakes flipping docks but never on the river. 

[byram bassturd]

There is a related thread "fall transition", same topic.

My definition to this period is water temperature based as the summer period water column cools to about 70 degrees,at 68 to 60 degrees you are in the fall period. The cold water winter period occurs when the water temps are 58 degrees or less in most deep structured lakes.

The key is baitfish movement and bass changing from moving horizontal to moving vertical or deeper.

Find the baitfish and use lures that the bass react to, good period to bass fish with a lot of different lures and presentations.

Tom

 

This.

[Further North]

Went out today for the first time in a month. The lake had turned over and there was al lot of fish showing up around 14 foot .I went to a point and was throwing a rapala DT 14 and a deep diving Strike King crankbait . I would throw the lures   in 10 to 15 foot of water on top of the point. The crankbait would hit bottom and most of the strikes came after the lure came off the point and lost contact with the bottom. I caught around 50 bass 12 to 15 inches like that . It was fun .

I'd be surprised if your lake had turned over that far south...I'm in NW WI, and we are weeks from turnover...water temps need to get a lot colder before turn-over happens.

[scaleface]

Maybe . There was no visible thermocline on the sonarand there has been a strong one all summer. The surface temp was 72 degrees at ten in the morning .  

[scaleface]

I'd be surprised if your lake had turned over that far south...I'm in NW WI, and we are weeks from turnover...water temps need to get a lot colder before turn-over happens.

Maybe . There was no visible thermocline on the sonar and there has been a strong one all summer. The surface temp was 72 degrees at ten in the morning  .  

[Further North]

Surface temps have to get to 39° for turn over to start.  Ours were 68° - 71° this afternoon.

 

What is meant by "lake turnover"? How and why to lakes do this in the fall and spring?

• The key to this question is how water density varies with water temperature. Water is most dense (heaviest) at 39º F (4º C) and as temperature increases or decreases from 39º F, it becomes increasingly less dense (lighter). In summer and winter, lakes are maintained by climate in what is called a stratified condition. Less dense water is at the surface and more dense water is near the bottom.
• During late summer and autumn, air temperatures cool the surface water causing its density to increase. The heavier water sinks, forcing the lighter, less dense water to the surface. This continues until the water temperature at all depths reaches approximately 39º F. Because there is very little difference in density at this stage, the waters are easily mixed by the wind. The sinking action and mixing of the water by the wind results in the exchange of surface and bottom waters which is called "turnover."
• During spring, the process reverses itself. This time ice melts, and surface waters warm and sink until the water temperature at all depths reaches approximately 39º F. The sinking combined with wind mixing causes spring "turnover."
• This describes the general principle; however, other factors (including climate and lake depth variations) can cause certain lakes to act differently. A more detailed description of the physical characteristics of lakes, including temporal and density interactions, can be found at the Water on the Web site, sponsored by the University of Minnesota - Duluth and funded by the National Science Foundation.

[scaleface]

Surface temps have to get to 39° for turn over to start.  Ours were 68° - 71° this afternoon.

Then that would mean southern lakes would never turnover . 

[Further North]

Then that would mean southern lakes would never turnover . 

Correct.

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/144395-thermal-turnover/

 

They might cool enough to loose stratification...but that's a different critter...and unless the weather has been unseasonably cold, I'm not sure that's what you're seeing.

 

There's often a good two weeks between southern WI turnover and where I live in NW WI...and you're a lot further south than that.