The bass have shut down.

[TriStateBassin106]

In Jersey the water temps are officially in the low 60s here and I've tried everything at my local ponds I fish, I've fished deep, shallow.. fast and slow, small and big.. and I just can't get a bite going on for a week and a half now. All the bluegill aren't near the bank anymore and I'm convinced the bass are under my nose but aren't biting anything. What should I do and will this continue into the later half of the fall. 

 

 

Is my season finished until spring? 

[Russ E]

That is ideal jerkbait weather.

Get a jerkbait that will suspend. A megabass vision 110 junior is great for ponds.

Cast it out, then give it a couple jerks. Let it sit for around 5 seconds. Then repeat.

Often times the fish will bite when the bait is just hanging out.

It is slow fishing, but can produces big fish, when nothing else works

 

[DitchPanda]

Low 60s? Ill trade ya..my water temps are in the 40s, its snowing right now and Monday the low is 8

[NYWayfarer]

I have a pond in my area that I love fishing. Every year its the first place I can start to catch fish in late March Early April. It is also the first place to shut down when the temps start to dip into the 30’s at night. 
 

What I did a couple of years ago is take my Vexilar T-Pod castable sonar device and used it to map the bottom. I found a deep spot, about 15 feet near the middle. That seems to be where the fish hang out in the late fall early winter.

 

It’s boring but in colder weather I can usually catch a Bass or Bullhead by deadsticking a bait in that spot. I have had to get creative with getting a weightless stickbait out that far. 

[Bluebasser86]

Low 60's is prime time bass fishing temps. You're missing something for sure. Your bass should bite until water temps get into the low 40's or high 30's, that's when it gets real tough. It's been 100% moving baits here lately. Anything moved slowly around the bottom is a waste of time.

[Ole man Fazul]

The baitfish may be at the feeder stream. If this is the case, any drop-off into deeper water with a nearby shallow area with cover and/structure close to this area will most likely hold a behemoth. These experienced older bass will reserve their energy wisely and strike as opportunity arises from this convenient spot. The convenience for them is diving deep when NJ temps drop or we get rain which cools the water further. They can also rise back to the structure in the shallow area as the warm part of the afternoon comes around.

 

I also recommend jerkbaits but jigs will work too especially if you happen to land one near the above mentioned area with cover/structure.

Edited October 25, 2020 by Ole man Fazul
Spelling

[brgbassmaster]

Low 60s! The fishing hasnt even got good then lol. Once the turnover happens from my experience up north Michigan. Largemouth flock to the banks and start smashing bluegills. Usually that happens by us at around 55F water all the way down to 45F. If u can find any off shore grass clumps too they will be stacked. No that doesnt mean 25ft of water. It could be 6ft in the middle of the lake and if there is green grass chances are big bass are close. Once all the grass dies therr is a move up to shoreline cover also. Logs, laydowns, rocks, boat docks etc. You can flip a jig around that stuff and have the best days of your life late fall. 

[Paul Roberts]

60's the bass are still cookin'. You are missing something for sure. Don't worry about "change" -keep fishing!

[joshuaray83]

I'm in the same boat as @DitchPanda here in southwest Iowa. Especially since I mostly fish ponds which are affected by temperature much more quickly. The high today is the upper 50s today and Friday. High of 62 Saturday, so I'm going to get out there on Saturday sometime after lunch. We'll see...

[BigAngus752]

Just be patient. We were catching NOTHING at 60. Now it’s 55 and its on like Donkey Kong. 

[TnRiver46]

44 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

Just be patient. We were catching NOTHING at 60. Now it’s 55 and its on like Donkey Kong. 

I agree. Water between 60 and 70 degrees is my least productive fishing, spring and fall year after year. I’d rather have it at 50 or 80 (47-49 is my favorite) 

[DitchPanda]

Most of my water is already hard enough to need a punch rig to get thru. Temporary of course since its gonna warm up..but annoying anyway.

[TriStateBassin106]

On 10/28/2020 at 12:55 PM, TnRiver46 said:

I agree. Water between 60 and 70 degrees is my least productive fishing, spring and fall year after year. I’d rather have it at 50 or 80 (47-49 is my favorite) 

Been raining a lot here recently. Hopefully the water is below the 60 degree mark now and the bass here realize it's feeding time before winter. I already winterized most of my baitcasters. Probably not even gonna throw any topwater at this point all slow baits like neds and jigs. 

[roadwarrior]

4 minutes ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

I already winterized most of my baitcasters. 

What does that mean?

[MN Fisher]

7 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

What does that mean?

For me it means taking them off the rods, stripping the line back to the backing and putting them in their storage drawer until I do winter-maintenance...after which they go back in their drawer until spring when I put them on their rods and load up the main-line.

[TnRiver46]

34 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

What does that mean?

Pour the gas out of them! Haha

40 minutes ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Been raining a lot here recently. Hopefully the water is below the 60 degree mark now and the bass here realize it's feeding time before winter. I already winterized most of my baitcasters. Probably not even gonna throw any topwater at this point all slow baits like neds and jigs. 

They will still bite reaction lures in cold water. Maybe not top water but jerkbait and rattle trap are two of my favorite in winter 

[BigAngus752]

1 hour ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Been raining a lot here recently. Hopefully the water is below the 60 degree mark now and the bass here realize it's feeding time before winter. I already winterized most of my baitcasters. Probably not even gonna throw any topwater at this point all slow baits like neds and jigs. 

No!  Not yet!  Keep up the moving baits. Lipless cranks, squarebills, bladed jigs. Once those stop working (prob below 45 degree water) then head for the Ned. And you should still have a frog tied on when the water is 50 degrees if there is any kind of green vegetation still visible. 

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

Probably not even gonna throw any topwater at this point all slow baits like neds and jigs. 

I have the same weather here. The past 2 days all the action was on top. Pompadour, Spook, and Bullwake. Not a sniff on slow rolled small paddletails or jigs, or anything else on the bottom or middle. Not even jerks. If it wasn't noisy, or on top, it wasn't happening at all in two different locations. Both qualify as ponds.

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

What does that mean?

Antifreeze and snow tires.

[roadwarrior]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

For me it means taking them off the rods, stripping the line back to the backing and putting them in their storage drawer until I do winter-maintenance...after which they go back in their drawer until spring when I put them on their rods and load up the main-line.

 

Okay, got it.

 

We do things a little differently down here. Our pet fish still like to eat and play

during the holidays. 

 

[Spankey]

I’m sort of in your neck of the woods. I’ll see how it goes on Sunday. Plenty of rain today. More into tomorrow. I have no idea what I’ll be up against. Probably check out creek mouths first. Maybe a few points with steep drop offs. 

[MN Fisher]

20 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Okay, got it.

 

We do things a little differently down here. Our pet fish still like to eat and play

during the holidays. 

Well, so do ours, but some of us don't fancy sitting out on the ice in below-zero wind chill to try and entice the fish to bite.

[roadwarrior]

It's 42* here today. Burrrrrrrr!

[MN Fisher]

Just now, roadwarrior said:

It's 42* here today. Burrrrrrrr!

You southern boys...sheesh

 

We're having a 'heat wave' here - it's 40^o

[MGF]

Water in the low 50's...I spent last Sat and Sun on the river working my back side off for almost nothing. I about casted my arm off last night on the bank of a smaller river. It's like the fish are gone. Well maybe they are gone but I don't know where they would be.

[TriStateBassin106]

1 hour ago, BigAngus752 said:

No!  Not yet!  Keep up the moving baits. Lipless cranks, squarebills, bladed jigs. Once those stop working (prob below 45 degree water) then head for the Ned. And you should still have a frog tied on when the water is 50 degrees if there is any kind of green vegetation still visible. 

I only caught 10 fish on lipless cranks this year. Maybe i'm throwing it wrong or in the wrong spots but it's been a absolute bust for me this year. Love the KVD 1.5s though. Favorite colors have been Tennessee shad and chart black back. Sexy shad has also produced for me well in bodies of water with no shad. 

2 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

What does that mean?

LOL! You southern guys have it soooo good down there. A friend of mine I used to fish tournaments with moved down to southern Georgia last year and caught his PB on New Years Eve. 7.2lb Largemouth on the alabama rig in cold open water. I was so jealous! 

1 hour ago, BigAngus752 said:

No!  Not yet!  Keep up the moving baits. Lipless cranks, squarebills, bladed jigs. Once those stop working (prob below 45 degree water) then head for the Ned. And you should still have a frog tied on when the water is 50 degrees if there is any kind of green vegetation still visible. 

Frog bite died off in early September in my neck of the woods. Once those night temps start reaching into the low 50s I give up on topwater.