Is there a normal in between seasons dead time?

[Pkfish49]

I've been having a ton of fun catching fish in my favorite lake since early April.  I caught lots of Panfish in the spring, then some Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass once the season opened, as well as some Pickerel.  

 

The problem is that I haven't caught anything since mid July.  I got skunked the last two trips, including last weekend.  Last weekend, nobody was catching anything from shore.  I did see some guys bring in a number of Largemouth Bass, but they were on a boat and caught the fish farther out, in places inaccessible from shore.  For completeness, I have no idea what the lake was like in August, as I wasn't around.

 

Some folks are telling me that the fish will come back once the weather and water cools down a bit.  Assuming that the lake isn't all fished out, does this make sense?  In some lakes, is there normally a dead season between the end of Summer and sometime in the fall?  Also, is it normal for Bass to move to the middle of lakes during certain times of the year?

[MichaelCopeland]

Yeah I believe it is pretty normal. I've had a bit of a hard time here lately finding any big uns. Even the dinks and keeper sized ones have been hard to locate, with the exception of the 2 I caught today. The bass are starting to get ready for their fall habits, which means they will start getting more active and have feeding frenzies to gorge themselves for the winter. There's a lot of good info in the Fishing Articles section of the menu here under Seasonal Fishing Articles. Explains alot about what the bass are doing around this time and during the fall. There's also articles that explain the other seasons as well. Check em out and good luck in the upcoming fall season! ? 

[Pkfish49]

15 minutes ago, MichaelCopeland said:

Yeah I believe it is pretty normal. I've had a bit of a hard time here lately finding any big uns. Even the dinks and keeper sized ones have been hard to locate, with the exception of the 2 I caught today. The bass are starting to get ready for their fall habits, which means they will start getting more active and have feeding frenzies to gorge themselves for the winter. There's a lot of good info in the Fishing Articles section of the menu here under Seasonal Fishing Articles. Explains alot about what the bass are doing around this time and during the fall. There's also articles that explain the other seasons as well. Check em out and good luck in the upcoming fall season! ? 

Thanks - I'm checking out some articles now.

[Mike L]

Fish, like us have to eat year round. They don't go anywhere.

They're still in the water just may be in different locations with different habits based on the different seasonal patterns of any given lake. 

If you learn those and make the necessary adjustments as they happen, you'll catch fish anywhere all year long. 

 

 

 

Mike

[MichaelCopeland]

9 hours ago, Pkfish49 said:

Thanks - I'm checking out some articles now.

You're welcome. I've read alot of them already. I fish a couple ponds in my neighborhood  mostly and move around constantly covering as much water as I can. Wish there was articles for pond fall fishing patterns. I'm finding it hard to determine what would be equivalent to the backs of creek channels. These ponds are pump fed, I believe, and there's not any channels that branch off the main body of water. I've been able to find a bass or two here and there but I'm thinking they're in the parts of the ponds I can't get to without a boat/kayak. Really wish I could afford one. I believe my catch ratio would increase tremendously.

[deep]

Not sure about "dead time", but summer and winter are stable seasons, spring and fall are transitions between them. If the fish have moved, go find them.

[OCdockskipper]

There is if while out fishing, you discover that the HOA began a "weed eradication program" the day before.  No wonder the water looked purple in some parts of the lake.

 

The fish are sluggish, scattered and apparently distracted.  Then again, I would be too if someone poured a liquid on my house & it began to break up and float away.

 

Largest bass of the day was out in the middle of the lake, suspended, nowhere near any cover or structure.  Only cast out there because a catfish broke the surface and I was getting tired of hauling water.  Couldn't duplicate catching him, apparently the Ned rig falling past his nose was too much to resist.  Lucky me...

[scaleface]

When fishing from banks I target the rip rap banks , the dam area and any cover that is accessible . Spring , summer and fall .

[Tw3ak]

My friend a Carolina rig with a one ounce or larger sinker make those long cast to deep water fan cast the area and find rock piles and sunken trees that hold those summertime bass. Try different plastics till the bass answer you. I shore fish a ton . it works !!!! For shore bound fisherman.