It's now fall

[iiTzChunky]

I have heard the bass start to bite better trying to get fat for winter. It's been unseasonably warm so far. Just got hit with a cold front so Temps are 70 at the most right now. How long till the first start to realize it's fall and start getting on the good bite? 

I've just started fishing this summer so I'm really in need of some good fishing since my best days in the summer have only produced 4 fish in 5 hours. 

[scaleface]

I'm just north of you . There  is usually a good shallow bite when the leaves  change .  But the fish are biting now .  They have been biting good all summer .

[jr231]

Where you are fishing comes into play as well... find the prey. 

[CybrSlydr]

I'm going again this Friday as we should have a couple showers with cold rain move through - and I've read on here that cold rains lower the water temps faster than cold air does, so I'm hoping that we'll start having better luck from then on.

Fingers crossed!

[bagofdonuts]

follow the bait. when the shad start moving to the backs of creeks the bass wont be far behind. you can usually see clouds of bait fish this time of year even without sonar. look for birds, dark clouds of bait, bait flipping on top.

[iiTzChunky]

The place where I really like to fish has a stupid amount of bluegill and other bait fish. So pretty much everywhere you throw a line there's food for the bass. 

[scaleface]

45 minutes ago, iiTzChunky said:

The place where I really like to fish has a stupid amount of bluegill and other bait fish. So pretty much everywhere you throw a line there's food for the bass. 

Then try to mimic an injured baitfish . Bass , like a lion on the  Serengeti , will take an injured prey over a healthy one . That may be the reason  that a pause or rod twitch often triggers a strike .

[jr231]

An abundance of food may take a toll on your catch rate. When bass get keyed in on certain bait images they can be hard to catch even if you're doing your best to imitate the certain bait fish. 

These are the lures I ALWAYS try before I decide I'm skunked. 

-Weightless stick worm

-texas rigged ribbon tail worm and craw imitator (rage craw or hula grub)

-Rapala #7shad rap (I like the perch color. Or original silver)

-bomber model A 

-jig (always with trailer )

-popper/walking bait

-lipless crank

- and lastly a spinner bait . Usually an inline spinner just hoping to get a bite from something .

I'll spend time with each technique. Not give up in 10 minutes. I've caught bass on all these lures consistently so I'm confident in each one . 

[iiTzChunky]

9 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

An abundance of food may take a toll on your catch rate. When bass get keyed in on certain bait images they can be hard to catch even if you're doing your best to imitate the certain bait fish. 

These are the lures I ALWAYS try before I decide I'm skunked. 

-Weightless stick worm

-texas rigged ribbon tail worm and craw imitator (rage craw or hula grub)

-Rapala #7shad rap (I like the perch color. Or original silver)

-bomber model A 

-jig (always with trailer )

-popper/walking bait

-lipless crank

- and lastly a spinner bait . Usually an inline spinner just hoping to get a bite from something .

I'll spend time with each technique. Not give up in 10 minutes. I've caught bass on all these lures consistently so I'm confident in each one . 

I have thrown some top water but I'm all the time I've spent at this spot, I have never seen a bass breaker the surface of the water. The only bait I've had success with was a soft plastic worm. 

[Glenn]

This might help!

 

[Bankbeater]

Is the water you fish under heavy fishing pressure? You may need to use a bait that the bass haven't seen in a while.

[geo g]

In south Florida it might be fall but there will not be any changes for months.  Still hot, humid and raining everyday.  My least favorite time of the year! 

[jr231]

Yea bank beater has a point.. is it a public pond ? Or a private farm pond.. cuz there is a huge difference. For some reason I've lucked up enough to not have to fish over pressured public ponds.. I have access to several ponds out here in "ohi-a" . And occasionally get to put my jon boat in small lakes when time allows. 

Out of the three ponds I fish regularly I honestly can't remember the last time I got skunked. With the list of lures I gave you. Even at the lakes I go, I more often than not catch bass.. without any electronics but a trolling motor. 

I truly believe once you have the "feel" for any of your favorite lures/techniques you are at much better odds of catching fish. 

Fall is a great time.. as to when it's "fall" ... well that's regional... technically fall starts September 22nd. And here in ohio, and back home in Michigan.. it won't be long before the snow.. I will be hitting it hard from now until late November.. but I hit it hard spring through fall anyway. 

I always hear "it's too hot for the fish to bite". Noooooooo.. it's too hot for YOU to stand out there and cast. My biggest bass are usually caught in summer for some reason. But the action is always better this time of year and In spring IMO. 

 

[Cardiologist]

3 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

Yea bank beater has a point.. is it a public pond ? Or a private farm pond.. cuz there is a huge difference. For some reason I've lucked up enough to not have to fish over pressured public ponds.. I have access to several ponds out here in "ohi-a" . And occasionally get to put my jon boat in small lakes when time allows. 

Out of the three ponds I fish regularly I honestly can't remember the last time I got skunked. With the list of lures I gave you. Even at the lakes I go, I more often than not catch bass.. without any electronics but a trolling motor. 

I truly believe once you have the "feel" for any of your favorite lures/techniques you are at much better odds of catching fish. 

Fall is a great time.. as to when it's "fall" ... well that's regional... technically fall starts September 22nd. And here in ohio, and back home in Michigan.. it won't be long before the snow.. I will be hitting it hard from now until late November.. but I hit it hard spring through fall anyway. 

I always hear "it's too hot for the fish to bite". Noooooooo.. it's too hot for YOU to stand out there and cast. My biggest bass are usually caught in summer for some reason. But the action is always better this time of year and In spring IMO. 

 

Couldn't agree more. I'm also in Ohio. Northwest Ohio. Farm ponds are definitely the best. The bass will bite anything! Where in Ohio are you?

[jr231]

Bout 45 mins north of Cincinnati. 15 miles from Kings island. 

[soflabasser]

I personally love this time of year for both freshwater and saltwater fishing.Lots of big fish opportunities in South Florida to those who know how to fish this time of year well.

[iiTzChunky]

12 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

Is the water you fish under heavy fishing pressure? You may need to use a bait that the bass haven't seen in a while.

It's Newtown, I think it's gets a pretty good pressure on the waters but at the same time a lot of the people use it for swimming and what not. Every time I'm out there I see a few others fishing but I see them fishing for crappie or kids looking for bluegill. Doesn't seem like a lot of people are looking to get the bass. Since it's all catch and release. 

[Cardiologist]

12 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

Bout 45 mins north of Cincinnati. 15 miles from Kings island. 

If you ever want to come fishing in northwest ohio or southeast Michigan, let me know. Lot's of great stuff. But I'm sure you are a short drive from some of the nice Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri lakes.

[Don Reeves]

How do you guys deal with fallen leaves in the river?

God Bless,

Don

[jr231]

Fish under the surface... jigs and weedless lures. Or cast the cranks into the pockets while using braid. 

Or you could frog em 

[scaleface]

5 hours ago, iiTzChunky said:

It's Newtown, I think it's gets a pretty good pressure on the waters but at the same time a lot of the people use it for swimming and what not. Every time I'm out there I see a few others fishing but I see them fishing for crappie or kids looking for bluegill. Doesn't seem like a lot of people are looking to get the bass. Since it's all catch and release. 

Newton use to have an 18 inch length limit , does it still ?so I'm speculating that its being managed for big bass . 

[iiTzChunky]

16 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Newton use to have an 18 inch length limit , does it still ?so I'm speculating that its being managed for big bass . 

All bass are catch and release. I'm not sure about catfish or anything else. 

[gim]

Up here in MN we got 6+ inches of rain last week and some isolated areas got 9.  The lakes and rivers came up very high for September.  After the rain, the temps dropped since.  We haven't had a daytime high over 70 and a couple nights got down around 50, so the water temps took a nose dive.  I have been basically burning a buzz bait or spinner bait as fast as I can along weed lines and they're smashing it.  Both bass and pike, big and small.  That tactic was not effective a month ago, and not even really 2 weeks ago, because I had to slow down and finesse fish to catch any.  Fall is definitely here.  Not many leaves down yet but lots of trees turning now.

[Matt Duprau]

I was out on the Bay Of Quinte in Southern Ontario last week. Surface temp was high 60's in the morning and peaking at 70-72 in the afternoon. Fish were biting great! Nothing huge but once I got onto schools of shad, the bass were there. Burning and stopping a Spro Square Bill was the most productive. Looking forward to getting back out. Going to do some early morning walking baits as the shad were breaking the surface. Most moving baits will work well this time of year, i.e Spinnerbaits, Square bills, lipless cranks, chatterbaits, etc. Good luck!

 

Matt 

[WRB]

Autumnal equinox, got to wonder what bass think that is as it means nothing to them.

The days are getting shorter, the temperature in some places are getting cooler, the water column may be cooling very slowly or faster depending on day and night temperatures, the photo period for plants is changing. 

Where I bass fish in SoCal it's difficult to determine any fall seasonal changes with the exception of the photo period, you see a change the plants and trees, the water temps are still in the mid to high 70's as they are during the summer. End of November we will see a change in the water column temps and experience a fall turn over, until then it's still summer to our bass.

Tom