Start of fall fishing?

[Ksam1234]

So I'm still new to fishing and this will be my first "fall season" fishing. Just wondering when does this tradition usually take place and what does everyone start to throw? I live in New York , western New York so everyone has a general idea. I hear good things about the fall so I can't wait. 

[WRB]

For me the fall starts when the water temps drop from the  80's to low 70's to mid 60's and the lakes start to turn over, bait fish leave aquatic growrth and start to migrate, the bass follow.

Tom

 

 

[BuzzHudson19c]

Well, in the fall it's all smallmouth for me. Smallies tend to go bananas and fatten up in the fall. I usually have the best smallmouth fishing of the year in the first week of October. This is very dependent on weather of course. Generally your looking at water temps in the mid 60's when they get really active. Some days in the fall I will tie on a buzzbait and never take it off. I take either the last week of September or first week of October off from work every year for the "fall feed" on the river.

[NHBull]

In the NE it seams like we are between seasons.  Fall is still several weeks away, but the bite is improving both in numbers and size.  Week long evening Temps in the 60's has slowed lake warming trends bait fish are moving.  Craw is still the meal of choice.

[papajoe222]

The fall bite turn on has more to do with the forage than the water temp. IMO.  If minnows and shad are the main forage, their movement can start as early as a temperature drop into the low 70's or upper 60's as mentioned.  If it's bluegill, expect it much later, closer to turnover. Around here, it happens around the same time the frogs start to migrate and the craws begin burrowing.

[A-Jay]

Looking for the Early 'fall bite' for me has me looking less at the water temps and more at the condition of the shallow water weeds.

Once they start to die back, the bait that usually hides in & around it, has to relocate. 

This makes the bait vulnerable.  The bass know that and that's when I expect my first 'fall bite' to get good.

Knowing when & where this happens is the trick.  Often times it happens much earlier than I expect and the early signs can be subtle.  This is something I want to get on as early as I can.  If I wait until the weeds are dead & Brown and lying on the bottom - it's way too late - I've missed it. 

Might take some 'searching', but when I get on it, it's usually a good time; for both numbers & size. 

Depending on the lakes, I can have both green bass & brown ones mixed together. 

So that adds a nice layer of variety too. 

Coincidentally, should be any day now . . . . 

A-Jay

[12poundbass]

8 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Looking for the Early 'fall bite' for me has me looking less at the water temps and more at the condition of the shallow water weeds.

Once they start to die back, the bait that usually hides in & around it, has to relocate. 

This makes the bait vulnerable.  The bass know that and that's when I expect my first 'fall bite' to get good.

Knowing when & where this happens is the trick.  Often times it happens much earlier than I expect and the early signs can be subtle.  This is something I want to get on as early as I can.  If I wait until the weeds are dead & Brown and lying on the bottom - it's way too late - I've missed it. 

Might take some 'searching', but when I get on it, it's usually a good time; for both numbers & size. 

Depending on the lakes, I can have both green bass & brown ones mixed together. 

So that adds a nice layer of variety too. 

Coincidentally, should be any day now . . . . 

A-Jay

What are the subtle signs to look for? I only notice after it way too late. It might be tough for me to catch prime time since I only get to fish once a week if that. Still good to know though for future reference. 

[scaleface]

I find fall largemouths  very unpredictable and very hungry around here . Ive had 70 fish days on the points and in the back of creeks . When I find them it can be a  fish on most every cast , I just dont know where they are going to be .

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

What are the subtle signs to look for? I only notice after it way too late. It might be tough for me to catch prime time since I only get to fish once a week if that. Still good to know though for future reference. 

You know it always pays to be on the water - more is better than less.

But one thing that  I've noticed over the years that can be and I'll say again Can be, an indicator on land - is as soon as I see any of the local ferns starting to turn even the slightest bit of yellow or brown, then I'm expecting good things on the water.

As for indicators on the water, and it certainly helps to have good vis and you know we have clear water mostly up here, is to look for the first signs of the weeds dying back.  Tips of cabbage & coontail brown or even wilt.  Not exactly magic.

Typically, but not always, places bass set up during pre-spawn and even bedding areas can be a good spot to start looking.  Deep water close by is almost a must.  

Squarebills, spinnerbaits, and topwater are my usual baits of choice.  Remember you're fishing in & around vegetation so whatever you like for that.  Often a fairly fast retrieve works but on 'slower' days - snapping a 3/8 oz tube out of the vegetation that's still left, works. 

But I'll warn you, if there's toothy critters in the system, they'll be trying to get in on this open bait free for all too - so I loose a few tubes - unless I take preventative measures.  

A-Jay

 

This was my most productive Fall bait selection from last season.

[Ksam1234]

6 hours ago, A-Jay said:

You know it always pays to be on the water - more is better than less.

But one thing that  I've noticed over the years that can be and I'll say again Can be, an indicator on land - is as soon as I see any of the local ferns starting to turn even the slightest bit of yellow or brown, then I'm expecting good things on the water.

As for indicators on the water, and it certainly helps to have good vis and you know we have clear water mostly up here, is to look for the first signs of the weeds dying back.  Tips of cabbage & coontail brown or even wilt.  Not exactly magic.

Typically, but not always, places bass set up during pre-spawn and even bedding areas can be a good spot to start looking.  Deep water close by is almost a must.  

Squarebills, spinnerbaits, and topwater are my usual baits of choice.  Remember you're fishing in & around vegetation so whatever you like for that.  Often a fairly fast retrieve works but on 'slower' days - snapping a 3/8 oz tube out of the vegetation that's still left, works. 

But I'll warn you, if there's toothy critters in the system, they'll be trying to get in on this open bait free for all too - so I loose a few tubes - unless I take preventative measures.  

A-Jay

 

This was my most productive Fall bait selection from last season.

Ok awesome info.  I went out today and it was super slow on my local lake. It's called bear lake  in ny. It's usually super active but nothing was hitting. No topwater. No lipless or crankbaits. Tried spinners.  Only thing that work today was worms.. and it was random areas. So idk if the fish are confused or what 

6 hours ago, A-Jay said:

You know it always pays to be on the water - more is better than less.

But one thing that  I've noticed over the years that can be and I'll say again Can be, an indicator on land - is as soon as I see any of the local ferns starting to turn even the slightest bit of yellow or brown, then I'm expecting good things on the water.

As for indicators on the water, and it certainly helps to have good vis and you know we have clear water mostly up here, is to look for the first signs of the weeds dying back.  Tips of cabbage & coontail brown or even wilt.  Not exactly magic.

Typically, but not always, places bass set up during pre-spawn and even bedding areas can be a good spot to start looking.  Deep water close by is almost a must.  

Squarebills, spinnerbaits, and topwater are my usual baits of choice.  Remember you're fishing in & around vegetation so whatever you like for that.  Often a fairly fast retrieve works but on 'slower' days - snapping a 3/8 oz tube out of the vegetation that's still left, works. 

But I'll warn you, if there's toothy critters in the system, they'll be trying to get in on this open bait free for all too - so I loose a few tubes - unless I take preventative measures.  

A-Jay

 

This was my most productive Fall bait selection from last season.

Ok awesome info.  I went out today and it was super slow on my local lake. It's called bear lake  in ny. It's usually super active but nothing was

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, Ksam1234 said:

Ok awesome info.  I went out today and it was super slow on my local lake. It's called bear lake  in ny. It's usually super active but nothing was hitting. No topwater. No lipless or crankbaits. Tried spinners.  Only thing that work today was worms.. and it was random areas. So idk if the fish are confused or what.

Although not familiar with that particular body of water - a bass is pretty much a bass most any place through it's range.

Searching out where the bass are & what works is called 'Bass Fishing'.

Clearly I haven't met them all, but I know of exactly zero bassheads, new, experienced & everything in between, who catches them every trip.  Whenever I'm fortunate enough to identify a successful location, technique and or bait, I am usually pretty psyched and rarely disappointed.   

And if there is any confusion during any part of this process, I can assure you - it's not the bass.

Continue trying new areas, at different times of the day, with an assortment of presentations.

Most importantly, Keep Fishing.

A-Jay

 

 

[scaleface]

1 hour ago, Ksam1234 said:

 Only thing that work today was worms..

 

The only thing you found that worked was worms . I've had plenty  of bad days only to talk to someone else who had a good day . We can only try to figure things out . Sometimes we get it sometimes we dont . 

1 hour ago, Ksam1234 said:

 Only thing that work today was worms..

 

The only thing you found that worked was worms . I've had plenty  of bad days only to talk to someone else who had a good day . We can only try to figure things out . Sometimes we get it sometimes we dont . 

[clayton86]

On 8/9/2017 at 6:07 PM, Ksam1234 said:

So I'm still new to fishing and this will be my first "fall season" fishing. Just wondering when does this tradition usually take place and what does everyone start to throw? I live in New York , western New York so everyone has a general idea. I hear good things about the fall so I can't wait. 

 

 

I'm also in WNY a lot of the weeds in the quarry's and reservoirs out in orleans county have died off significantly. Small mouth in the canal are gorging themselves on minnows ive been walking along the Erie Canal with a 2.8 keithech fat impact on a jig head crushing them like every 3rd or fourth cast. 

 

In johnsons creek and oak orchard pike also extremely active almost to the point of I'm gonna stop fishing the creeks because it's ALL I'm catching. 

 

Hulberton quarry's all the weeds have died off waters cooled from low 80s to the mid 60s in the morning and only reaching low 70s by mid day before cooling again. 

[Ksam1234]

18 minutes ago, clayton86 said:

 

 

I'm also in WNY a lot of the weeds in the quarry's and reservoirs out in orleans county have died off significantly. Small mouth in the canal are gorging themselves on minnows ive been walking along the Erie Canal with a 2.8 keithech fat impact on a jig head crushing them like every 3rd or fourth cast. 

 

In johnsons creek and oak orchard pike also extremely active almost to the point of I'm gonna stop fishing the creeks because it's ALL I'm catching. 

 

Hulberton quarry's all the weeds have died off waters cooled from low 80s to the mid 60s in the morning and only reaching low 70s by mid day before cooling again. 

d**n that sounds like heaven! We don't have anything like that here. An I heard a lot of good things about oak but never fished it. It's like a 2 hour drive for me but I would love to put my canoe in and go.  And as for the pike to well! That would make me very happy. I love toothy critters to. Any suggestion of where to go I can put my canoe in? Might take a trip this weekend or next. 

[Catt]

Start of fall fishing?????

 

Oh! Ya mean the start of football season!

 

Fall fishing means there's less idiots on the water!

[Bluebasser86]

6 minutes ago, Catt said:

Start of fall fishing?????

 

Oh! Ya mean the start of football season!

 

Fall fishing means there's less idiots on the water!

I was tagging my boat for the private lake I just bought a lot at and the lady commented on they don't sell many tags this late in the year since fishing season is almost over  I told her I'd be out there as long as the water was soft and she couldn't believe someone would want to fish while it was cold out. Makes me that much more excited to fish it knowing that it gets left alone once it gets a little chilly out.

[Catt]

@Bluebasser86

 

It gets real lonely around here from late fall until pre-spawn!

 

Transition: the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.

 

I find a lot of similarities between the "transition" from fall into winter & the "transition" from winter into pre-spawn.

 

I fish a lot of the same areas & structures, I'm looking for the same "feeding flats". 

 

Aint looking at water temperatures but like winter/pre-spawn I'm watching weather patterns. During winter/pre-spawn & fall/winter we start experiencing frontal conditions. I start watching for that minimal 3 day window of stable weather between fronts. 

[WRB]

As far human seasonal where I live we have basically 2 seasons winter and summer, the weather is very boring hot summers with no rain and cool winters with a few storms.

Bass have Winter or cold water period, pre spawn, spawn, post spawn, summer and fall with transitions between winter and summer. Bass move from deeper cold water to warmer shallower water to spawn, scatter during summer and regroup during winter.

We don't have very many hunters in our area, mostly fisherman and lake lice when school is out. Back to school the traffic drops off but the weather is so mild there is still a lot of recreational boating.

Tom

[Sword of the Lord]

6 hours ago, Catt said:

Start of fall fishing?????

 

Oh! Ya mean the start of football season!

 

Fall fishing means there's less idiots on the water!

Pffft, this idiot will be streaming games, burning my data, while I'm on the water. Football and beer, fishing and beer, good combos. Football, fishing, and beer, holy mother of God, what a d**n good thing.

[papajoe222]

Way too early in my area to be thinking about the fall bite, but one fact that was driven home last season was that a body of water cools MUCH faster that it warms. On one set of strip pits I fish, the deepest water is only 12ft. and in the span of a very cool week in Sept., the water temp. dropped fifteen degrees. It took me the better part of the day to figure out fish location. On other, deeper, pits the temp. only dropped seven degrees and that was just enough to trigger the movement of the gills and the bass. All you pond fishermen, remember... Water cools faster than it warms and a shallow body of water will cool much quicker than a deeper one.

[Gundog]

We here in northeastern PA had a couple of cool days in the 60's and low 70's for highs and 50's for lows on Thursday and Friday. I got out today and the bite was scattered at best. The first bass was deep, in about 15 ft. away from any grass and the second was shallow in about 2 ft. in the grass.  Those were the only 2 bass I caught. The weeds are beginning to die and to add to the problems, the water was muddy due to rain. Times are gonna be tough for a little while. Might try the river. 

[gim]

Its not even close to fall yet.  Traditionally, Labor Day usually marks the beginning of "fall" but lately its been more like summer weather all the way into mid and late October.  I'm afraid that its likely going to continue to be that way with a warming climate.  Last deer season was the warmest I can remember here in 35 years.  65 degrees in mid November spoils a deer rather quickly.  The nice thing about fall fishing is that there's noticeably less boat traffic.

[Sam]

When every retrieve is a problem due to the leaves catching your baits.

[Ksam1234]

1 hour ago, Gundog said:

We here in northeastern PA had a couple of cool days in the 60's and low 70's for highs and 50's for lows on Thursday and Friday. I got out today and the bite was scattered at best. The first bass was deep, in about 15 ft. away from any grass and the second was shallow in about 2 ft. in the grass.  Those were the only 2 bass I caught. The weeds are beginning to die and to add to the problems, the water was muddy due to rain. Times are gonna be tough for a little while. Might try the river. 

Yeah that's where I was the ther day.. only got 2 bass and was in random depth and areas.  Hoping it gets better soon! Miss those double digit fish days.