Has the bite turned off dramatically for anyone else in the last 2 days?

[TriStateBassin106]

4 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

I’m in Ohio, we did not get much of that cold front if at all. Still been in the 70s/80s mostly. However, at night the lows dropped down into the 40s and 50s last weekend, cooling the water considerably then the air temps shot back up to the 80s again during the day. Could this have spooked them?

Bass don't react well to sudden water temps changes This is interesting because it's starting to get like that here in Jersey. Last night we had some rain and the temps dropped down into the lower 50s but todays high was 79 degrees and tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 73, let's just say the fishing today was brutal. Not even one bite, all the heavy rain probably spooked them to suspend or hold tight to structure, I fish a lot of retention ponds and it was a good bite until the rain. I really hope the fall bite in the northeast isn't a bust this year. 

[N Florida Mike]

On 9/10/2020 at 8:12 AM, Catt said:

Ugh try the last 2 weeks ?

Heard that !!

[Sphynx]

On 9/11/2020 at 8:42 PM, TriStateBassin106 said:

Bass don't react well to sudden water temps changes This is interesting because it's starting to get like that here in Jersey. Last night we had some rain and the temps dropped down into the lower 50s but todays high was 79 degrees and tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 73, let's just say the fishing today was brutal. Not even one bite, all the heavy rain probably spooked them to suspend or hold tight to structure, I fish a lot of retention ponds and it was a good bite until the rain. I really hope the fall bite in the northeast isn't a bust this year. 

It might be a bit erratic, but if you can catch a weekend or whatever times you have for fishing where the bite is good, and you can locate fish, you stand a pretty good chance to wear out your arm catching them, on the days they are cooperating with me being bank bound it isn't unusual for me to be in the double digits of fish in the same spot in a 2-3 hour period...the other times suck kind of bad, but boy when it's hot, it pays to be organized, have a search bait and something else tied on to follow up and you can catch a bunch of them in a hurry. 

[TriStateBassin106]

7 hours ago, Sphynx said:

It might be a bit erratic, but if you can catch a weekend or whatever times you have for fishing where the bite is good, and you can locate fish, you stand a pretty good chance to wear out your arm catching them, on the days they are cooperating with me being bank bound it isn't unusual for me to be in the double digits of fish in the same spot in a 2-3 hour period...the other times suck kind of bad, but boy when it's hot, it pays to be organized, have a search bait and something else tied on to follow up and you can catch a bunch of them in a hurry. 

I'm only able to fish pressured ponds around here so a good day of fishing for me is 5 to 7 bass and a fair day is 2 to 3 fish over the span of 2 hours, usually the low number of fish are the result of me targeting bigger fish which I'm usually rewarded with, I don't go after anything less than 14 inches and below a lb. If I did though I would catch a whole bunch lol. Water temps yesterday were 75 degrees and it's starting to get chilly out, managed to get a couple on a war eagle spinnerbait though. 

[Russ E]

numbers have been down the last couple weeks but quality has gone up.

 

[roadwarrior]

[TriStateBassin106]

1 hour ago, Russ E said:

numbers have been down the last couple weeks but quality has gone up.

 

Yes! I fish many smaller lakes and the bigger fish have been out feeding! Much needed since my summer was full of dinks! 

[Spankey]

Recently my fish quality has been good. I hit a few tough weeks a couple of weeks back where a few dinks was the best it got. 
 

Yesterday I had high expectations. Really cold air settled in. Was 38/40* when I put in.  Ok fine, cold, but lake temps didn’t really tumble. Surface temps varied differently, low 60’s to about 69*. 
 

I really struggled for two 12” fish. Caught in about 15 ft. depth. U Tail Worm. Was marking a lot of bait fish in 21-23 ft. depths. Spent majority of my time drop shotting. No results. I had high expectation that nice fish would be feeding on bluegills at grass and pad edges. Had been somewhat of a pattern the last few weeks. Suppose to warm up again. But no rain. I’ll take some rain. Might put those nice ones up into those shallower bluegills. I went with my gut feeling and was wrong. No real surface activity or fish jumping. I’ll struggle with the deeper water fishing if that where the fish regressed to. Not a strong point, weak point for me. Will see how it plays out on the weekend. 

[pdxfisher]

The fires out here in Oregon have kept me off the river for the past couple of weeks but I went out yesterday. 

 

The water temp was right around 60 and the bass here are definitely in the fall transition.  The number of fish patrolling the flats is way down as expected. Fish mostly seem to have moved to deeper water near the edges of flats. To be clear, there are still some fish on the flats, just far fewer. 

 

A drop shot was the best bait for me. I spent most of the day seeing fish on the finder and dropping it on their head. Overall numbers were a little lower than normal for summer but quality was up. Fewer dinks as a percentage.

 

The other indicator I have out here for the fall transition is that when I start to catch Pikieminnows on the flats where I would normally catch smallmouth. That means that the bass are mostly no longer using the flats.

[TnRiver46]

19 hours ago, Spankey said:

Recently my fish quality has been good. I hit a few tough weeks a couple of weeks back where a few dinks was the best it got. 
 

Yesterday I had high expectations. Really cold air settled in. Was 38/40* when I put in.  Ok fine, cold, but lake temps didn’t really tumble. Surface temps varied differently, low 60’s to about 69*. 
 

I really struggled for two 12” fish. Caught in about 15 ft. depth. U Tail Worm. Was marking a lot of bait fish in 21-23 ft. depths. Spent majority of my time drop shotting. No results. I had high expectation that nice fish would be feeding on bluegills at grass and pad edges. Had been somewhat of a pattern the last few weeks. Suppose to warm up again. But no rain. I’ll take some rain. Might put those nice ones up into those shallower bluegills. I went with my gut feeling and was wrong. No real surface activity or fish jumping. I’ll struggle with the deeper water fishing if that where the fish regressed to. Not a strong point, weak point for me. Will see how it plays out on the weekend. 

Ever drop a heavy spoon straight down and hop it around? 

[Spankey]

29 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Ever drop a heavy spoon straight down and hop it around? 

If my situation is the same this weekend I’m going to have to go to these tricks. I’ll also will do some Carolina Rigging in this deeper water. I do have some Kaster and Acme Spoons to try. We are suppose to go into a bit of a warm up with summer temps starting tomorrow. This might put these fish shallower. I just try to reason with the fish. And never really give up. Admittedly I know I do not have the answer for everything. Thank you. 

[Bird]

Fished a 38,000 acre lake all week and the bite was on the first couple of days. 

 

On Thursday we had several inches of cool rain.....Friday and Saturday the bite was non existent. 

 

Arrived home on Sunday and went to the backyard pond where I've been pellet feeding the various fish stocked. 

They were all huddled in the deepest section and were lethargic. 

 

The water temp dropped 10* after the heavy rain so this is telling. 

Fish become less active with sudden drops in water temps. 

 

Also believe they will acclimate and the bite will spike before the winter slowdown. 

 

 

[Ohioguy25]

On 9/11/2020 at 11:42 PM, TriStateBassin106 said:

Bass don't react well to sudden water temps changes This is interesting because it's starting to get like that here in Jersey. Last night we had some rain and the temps dropped down into the lower 50s but todays high was 79 degrees and tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 73, let's just say the fishing today was brutal. Not even one bite, all the heavy rain probably spooked them to suspend or hold tight to structure, I fish a lot of retention ponds and it was a good bite until the rain. I really hope the fall bite in the northeast isn't a bust this year. 

So I’m thinking of going back out tomorrow as it’s been highs in the 60s the last week and tomorrow is shooting back up into the high 70s/low 80s through the weekend.  Water temp of the creek has been hovering just below 60 midday, I assume it will climb tomorrow and into the weekend back into the 60s.  Do you think the bite will be on or is it a total crapshoot? Here are screenshots of weather & river temps:

 

https://ibb.co/FDtkKr8

https://ibb.co/D5sFjRM

[Ohioguy25]

15 hours ago, Spankey said:

If my situation is the same this weekend I’m going to have to go to these tricks. I’ll also will do some Carolina Rigging in this deeper water. I do have some Kaster and Acme Spoons to try. We are suppose to go into a bit of a warm up with summer temps starting tomorrow. This might put these fish shallower. I just try to reason with the fish. And never really give up. Admittedly I know I do not have the answer for everything. Thank you. 

You think it’ll take a day or two of the warmer weather for the bite to return?

[TriStateBassin106]

On 9/22/2020 at 1:24 PM, Ohioguy25 said:

So I’m thinking of going back out tomorrow as it’s been highs in the 60s the last week and tomorrow is shooting back up into the high 70s/low 80s through the weekend.  Water temp of the creek has been hovering just below 60 midday, I assume it will climb tomorrow and into the weekend back into the 60s.  Do you think the bite will be on or is it a total crapshoot? Here are screenshots of weather & river temps:

 

https://ibb.co/FDtkKr8

https://ibb.co/D5sFjRM

Temps shot back up into the upper 70s and lower 80s here, bite has been brutally slow, still catching a handful of fish though on finesse tactics. 

[Ohioguy25]

3 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Temps shot back up into the upper 70s and lower 80s here, bite has been brutally slow, still catching a handful of fish though on finesse tactics. 

Had a pretty good weekend, caught the biggest smallmouth I’ve ever caught today.

 

https://ibb.co/HrnZMqV

[r3825]

On 9/10/2020 at 7:12 AM, Catt said:

Ugh try the last 2 weeks ?

I feel like I moved to skunk city usa

[TriStateBassin106]

Bite is dead beyond belief, my ponds got raised from heavy rain and I can't get a bite anywhere, kid caught a nice 2lber today on a nightcrawler right infront of me and I was livid, temps have barely reached 70. Water temps are still around the 70 degree mark. 

[Ohioguy25]

Just now, TriStateBassin106 said:

Bite is dead beyond belief, my ponds got raised from heavy rain and I can't get a bite anywhere, kid caught a nice 2lber today on a nightcrawler right infront of me and I was livid, temps have barely reached 70. Water temps are still around the 70 degree mark. 

What state are you in? I’m guessing either down south or out west. Why not try some live bait?

[TriStateBassin106]

1 minute ago, Ohioguy25 said:

What state are you in? I’m guessing either down south or out west. Why not try some live bait?

New Jersey lol, I got a nice one Wednesday after the rain though, pitched a pitboss into the flooded bushes. 

[Ohioguy25]

1 minute ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

New Jersey lol, I got a nice one Wednesday after the rain though, pitched a pitboss into the flooded bushes. 

Nice! Yeah, you think that’s proof that live works better if your boy caught one on a crawler when you couldn’t even get a nibble?

[TriStateBassin106]

7 minutes ago, Ohioguy25 said:

Nice! Yeah, you think that’s proof that live works better if your boy caught one on a crawler when you couldn’t even get a nibble?

He wasn't my kid lol but I asked him if he was deadsticking the worm and he said he was using it actually for catfish, so I took the advice and deadsticked my jigs and slowly crawl it along the bottom. No bites but I think it's the fact that we got heavy rain and we're in a transition from summer to fall.