Fall & Spring

[Catt]

Let's look at some of the similarities between the two & how to use these similarities to locate bass during both.

Pre-spawn: the bass are coming out of the cold winter, the water is warming up,  their metabolism kicks in & they become aggressive feeders.

Early fall: the bass are coming out of the Dog Day of Summer, the water is cooling off, their metabolism kicks in & they become aggressive feeders.

Pre-spawn: as the water warms the bass move to the shallows (back of creeks) where the bulk of the food source is located.

Early fall: as the waters cools the bass move to the shallows (back of covers) where the bulk of the food source is located.

Spawn/post spawn: after the spawn & water temperatures are steadily rising the bass start moving back towards deeper water.

Fall/early winter: water temperatures are drastically dropping, shad are dying off, metabolism is slowing, & the bass are moving back deeper.

Now think about this a minute!

Do y'all think the bass would not use the same breaks/break lines to move from shallow to deep during both spring & fall?

[bagofdonuts]

Your right. I would say though the main forage is different (shad in fall , crawfish in early spring) so the bass might position on different cover types in the same area.

[A-Jay]

 

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Let's look at some of the similarities between the two & how to use these similarities to locate bass during both.

Pre-spawn: the bass are coming out of the cold winter, the water is warming up,  their metabolism kicks in & they become aggressive feeders.

Early fall: the bass are coming out of the Dog Day of Summer, the water is cooling off, their metabolism kicks in & they become aggressive feeders.

Pre-spawn: as the water warms the bass move to the shallows (back of creeks) where the bulk of the food source is located.

Early fall: as the waters cools the bass move to the shallows (back of covers) where the bulk of the food source is located.

Spawn/post spawn: after the spawn & water temperatures are steadily rising the bass start moving back towards deeper water.

Fall/early winter: water temperatures are drastically dropping, shad are dying off, metabolism is slowing, & the bass are moving back deeper.

Now think about this a minute!

Do y'all think the bass would not use the same breaks/break lines to move from shallow to deep during both spring & fall?

They do in much of the water's I have the opportunity to fish Catt.

Certainly doesn't mean they always bite but it can at least make them a little predictable & every once in a while, easier to find.

Easier being a relative term. 

I'll also say smallmouth, especially in Larger bodies of water, are SERIOUSLY Nomatic . . . so I would not apply the same approach.

A-Jay

["hamma"]

     Although alot of my waters over here are mostly natural lakes and ponds, the bass do tend use what I call "highways" into and out of the shallows, and they are the same ones in spring and fall.

    

[scaleface]

In the fall around here , it doesnt take bass long to move from the points to the back of creeks and vice vesa . Here today and gone tomorrow .

[WRB]

4 hours ago, Catt said:

Let's look at some of the similarities between the two & how to use these similarities to locate bass during both.

Pre-spawn: the bass are coming out of the cold winter, the water is warming up,  their metabolism kicks in & they become aggressive feeders.

Early fall: the bass are coming out of the Dog Day of Summer, the water is cooling off, their metabolism kicks in & they become aggressive feeders.

Pre-spawn: as the water warms the bass move to the shallows (back of creeks) where the bulk of the food source is located.

Early fall: as the waters cools the bass move to the shallows (back of covers) where the bulk of the food source is located.

Spawn/post spawn: after the spawn & water temperatures are steadily rising the bass start moving back towards deeper water.

Fall/early winter: water temperatures are drastically dropping, shad are dying off, metabolism is slowing, & the bass are moving back deeper.

Now think about this a minute!

Do y'all think the bass would not use the same breaks/break lines to move from shallow to deep during both spring & fall?

Spring up, fall down is the direction the bass are moving.

Tom

[shimmy]

Only issue with these posts is that lakes without shad behave MUCH differently. I wish articles and posts would address this to anglers when they prepare for fall fishing.

[Glenn]

1 hour ago, shimmy said:

Only issue with these posts is that lakes without shad behave MUCH differently. I wish articles and posts would address this to anglers when they prepare for fall fishing.

Actually, I did in this video:

 

[Catt]

7 hours ago, shimmy said:

Only issue with these posts is that lakes without shad behave MUCH differently. I wish articles and posts would address this to anglers when they prepare for fall fishing.

So ya think post is about shad?

Bass in lakes with out shad don't move deeper in summer/winter & shallower in spring/fall?

[shimmy]

6 hours ago, Catt said:

So ya think post is about shad?

Bass in lakes with out shad don't move deeper in summer/winter & shallower in spring/fall?

It is when you say they, "move to the back of creeks" in the fall. Shad go back in the creeks for plankton-rich water as you know. Thus, it would seem the advice always given is to go way back into the creeks, but for lakes without shad, that migration is not happening. Baitfish do go shallow and in many instances on the lake side shallows or coves nearby main lake spots. But to keep posting (not just you, but posts in general)  that bass are migrating to the "back of creeks" doesn't make sense. I just think of all the fall fishing I have experienced on lakes without shad and if people are to assume the big bass are going to the way backs of the creek, they are going to be surprised. We know some big bass will prefer shallow grounds year round and there is no doubt that they can be caught in a creek with fresh water coming in and possibly livelier weeds in the fall, but it is misleading to assume that is the best place to fish in the fall. They will end up fishing the back end of the creeks in the fall and miss all the big bass on the lake side, adjacent lakeside coves, flats, and points.

[lo n slo]

On October 28, 2016 at 2:04 PM, scaleface said:

In the fall around here......Here today and gone tomorrow .

amen

[Catt]

@shimmy

Understand you 100% which is why I posted the following on another thread

y'all think all bass on lake Eufaula move into & out of the creeks during spring/fall leaving no bass in the creeks during summer/winter?

Or do we understand there is a resident population of bass in every creek & on the main lake?

Does the resident population in creek "A" swim over to creek "B" & the resident population in creek "B" swim over to creek "A" to satisfiy the saying " they move into the creeks during spring/fall?

[shimmy]

On 10/28/2016 at 10:50 PM, Glenn said:

Actually, I did in this video:

 

Glenn, I must say, that is my favorite video of yours now. I think that is very informative and one of the better videos I have seen for fall. I think if more people understood fall fishing, they would plan more vacations around it.

["hamma"]

It was a very good video,..best piece of advice in it? I think the part about when you catch one, throw back in there, dont move along, stay put. So many anglers are cruising the shoreline, and will catch one and keep moving along. The fish are there for a reason, there's more likely than not, a few more there. Maybe, a pig at that. 

If you think about it, the smaller fish are "usually" a bit quicker than the bigger fish. they expel less energy to run down a bait, especially in cooler waters. The first one you catch in a area is most likely the smaller of them. Throw back in there and see if there are bigger fish down there as well, what's it going to hurt by sticking around for a few more casts.

[long island basser]

How about the ones around my area with no shad and no creeks?

Kettel holes formed by glaciers, mostly a round bowl.

[scbassin]

Catt you are dead on.

[NorcalBassin]

Really enjoying this thread and Glenn's video. Admittedly, I usually move along to other things in the fall and now I'm thinking I have a new "excuse" why I need to push off some yard projects til winter.

["hamma"]

On 10/30/2016 at 7:10 AM, long island basser said:

How about the ones around my area with no shad and no creeks?

Kettel holes formed by glaciers, mostly a round bowl.

If there's bass? there must be forage,... follow the bait.

 I know some Bowl lakes that are just nothing but a sand pit filled with water no real cover, nothing. The depths become what they relate to in them,..and when you find where the forage is, within that correct depth? the bass are close by.