Best fall conditions

[gim]

Fall conditions are a bit of a mystery to me. I’ve had good and bad days when it’s sunny; good and bad days when it’s cloudy. Then I’ll have a good day when it’s unseasonably warm and yet a poor day when it’s warm. It’s harder to pinpoint an ideal pattern based on the conditions in the fall.

 

In the spring, I find it better when it’s a warmer, sunnier day and the water is warming up, as opposed to an overcast or rainy day.

 

In the summer, I almost always do better when there is low pressure with clouds/rain instead of hot, sunny high pressure.

 

So in the fall, if you had a choice what conditions would you prefer in the fall?

[DitchPanda]

I'd choose fairly warm with a light breeze with clouds and maybe even a light drizzle off and on. I think the biggest thing like with most seasons my preference is stable weather. Last week we had several days in a row like I described and did well..this weekend we had clear skies and cool temps and fishing sucked.

[scaleface]

As long as I'm comfortable I'll figure the fish out or at least give it a heck of a try .

[WRB]

Steady warm weather with light wind.

Tom

[Catt]

3 hours ago, gimruis said:

So in the fall, if you had a choice what conditions would you prefer in the fall?

 

Stable ?

[bowhunter63]

I like wind and kind of rough water. Spinnerbait bite 

[Hammer 4]

5 hours ago, WRB said:

Steady warm weather with light wind.

Tom

Same for me.

[papajoe222]

You, sir, have bought into the hype that fall bass feed heavily to put on weight for the winter months and, therefore, are easier to catch. That statement should end with a big BUT.

but they are harder to locate.

Locating where the fish are is the first in a number of things that successful anglers do that separates them from others. So, in the fall the one condition I prefer is finding fish quickly. A day where I spend hours searching can still end up a good day once I find them. A day where I'm lucky enough to find them early is a day I dream about the night before I go fishing in the fall.

I prefer weather conditions that are comfortable for me and I can stay comfortable in most conditions if I dress accordingly.  I have found that in the fall the worse the conditions are for me, the easier it is to locate Ms. Largemouth and catch her. The exact opposite seems to be true the majority of times for me. 

 

[TcRoc]

In the Fall.. good question. I had a great Fall last year. This Fall haven’t been out much ?. Got out yesterday . Had rained Saturday.. the bite was … well I got skunked.. I don’t think I got Skunked once last fall.. I did catch a lot of Grass . I did miss 2.. one on a ned as I was reeling in and one … of course one on the drop with a Trig.. made my cast, right when it hit the water put my hand in my back pocket as my phone felt it is was about to pop out.. and yup saw my line dart .. big old nope…?…. And I was reminded again.. I suck tying knots with Flouro when it’s cooler outside and also don’t have my cheater glasses with me… braid no problem .. flouro ?

[TnRiver46]

Funny I was looking back through my old October photos from years past just yesterday. Lots of nice 20” smallies. One particular year I found pics of nice fish in the sunshine in short sleeves and in the same week, nice fish bundled up in the freezing cold with clouds. So for me the fish don’t change up or move much. The one thing I can rely on in fall is heavy current because they lower the two 30,000 acre lakes upstream of me 30-40 feet apiece. All that volume has to come ripping right by me and the fish set up in predictable spots and eat

I remember this week fairly well. This fish was October 26 2017 after work, warm and sunny 

And these two were 3 days later on a Saturday morning oct 29, 2017 in freezing conditions with some sideways snow 

All 20”+, the middle one was skinny and decrepit but the bottom one was a beast around 21.5”

 

don’t need it stable , don’t need it sunny, don’t need it cloudy. I just need to go fishin

[Spankey]

Took a skunking yesterday also. Thought I might of been able to pull off a couple after that rain we had late on Saturday. When the wind picked up I packed it in. The few hours I was out I was glad to get in. I might try during the week later. Winds are Suppose to calm out some. 

[GaryH]

36 minutes ago, Spankey said:

Took a skunking yesterday also. Thought I might of been able to pull off a couple after that rain we had late on Saturday. When the wind picked up I packed it in. The few hours I was out I was glad to get in. I might try during the week later. Winds are Suppose to calm out some. 

Well at least you got out. More than I can say ?

[N Florida Mike]

I dont think about it much. I just go when I can. I usually do well in the fall . I fish afternoons more the cooler it gets. I like a light to moderate breeze with partly cloudy to cloudy conditions. We really dont get severe cold fronts much until true winter here, which keeps things from being too extreme. I can’t remember being skunked in the fall. I don’t catch many bigger fish in the fall for some reason though. Looking forward to a better spinnerbait bite. It is virtually non existent here in summer…

[gim]

Some good answers so far.

 

And some not so good ones that don't answer the question I originally posted.

 

When I went a couple days ago, it was frigid when I started.  Air temp 38 degrees.  The fishing was not so good.  But it improved as the sun came up and the temperature warmed.

 

Last season I hammered them in Sept/Oct.  This season, not so much.

 

The reason I wondered was because I do have a choice when I want to fish sometimes based on the conditions.  I realize that not everyone has that choice and they are only able to fish when they have time to.

[TnRiver46]

21 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Some good answers so far.

 

And some not so good ones that don't answer the question I originally posted.

 

When I went a couple days ago, it was frigid when I started.  Air temp 38 degrees.  The fishing was not so good.  But it improved as the sun came up and the temperature warmed.

 

Last season I hammered them in Sept/Oct.  This season, not so much.

 

The reason I wondered was because I do have a choice when I want to fish sometimes based on the conditions.  I realize that not everyone has that choice and they are only able to fish when they have time to.

I was trying to say you can get them either way. I can also pick and choose what days to fish, but I choose them all. Seems like a no brainer, fish are unpredictable and you might get surprised with a monster size on a day when you thought the conditions were wrong. 
 

as to which conditions do I prefer, all I can think of is no waves please. And if it’s pouring rain all my hooks get rusted 

[gim]

18 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I was trying to say you can get them either way. I can also pick and choose what days to fish, but I choose them all. Seems like a no brainer, fish are unpredictable and you might get surprised with a monster size on a day when you thought the conditions were wrong. 
 

as to which conditions do I prefer, all I can think of is no waves please. And if it’s pouring rain all my hooks get rusted 

YOU might be able to get them either way, but I can't.  Because I've tried.  I already know which conditions present better odds in the spring and summer, but fall is still a bit of a mystery which is why I asked.

 

Really kind of annoys me when people respond without actually answering the question in the original post of threads.  What spinner bait color do you prefer?  "I prefer a topwater in black" answer.  Doesn't do much good.

 

I do appreciate the honesty in your response but for purposes of what I'm trying to gather here, some responses are clearly better than others.

 

Why does that not surprise me that all your gear gets rusted in the rain?  At least the wench at the front of your boat should be free of rust at this point, courtesy of @MN Fisher!

[Zcoker]

5 hours ago, gimruis said:

YOU might be able to get them either way, but I can't.  Because I've tried.  I already know which conditions present better odds in the spring and summer, but fall is still a bit of a mystery which is why I asked.

 

Really kind of annoys me when people respond without actually answering the question in the original post of threads.  What spinner bait color do you prefer?  "I prefer a topwater in black" answer.  Doesn't do much good.

 

I do appreciate the honesty in your response but for purposes of what I'm trying to gather here, some responses are clearly better than others.

 

Why does that not surprise me that all your gear gets rusted in the rain?  At least the wench at the front of your boat should be free of rust at this point, courtesy of @MN Fisher!

 

What he said about fishing being unpredictable despite conditions is very true. Can't understand why it would annoy you, either. Fish will surprise anyone ALL THE TIME> even you! Even under the worst possible conditions or even under the best possible conditions. 

[PressuredFishing]

20 hours ago, gimruis said:

Fall conditions are a bit of a mystery to me. I’ve had good and bad days when it’s sunny; good and bad days when it’s cloudy. Then I’ll have a good day when it’s unseasonably warm and yet a poor day when it’s warm. It’s harder to pinpoint an ideal pattern based on the conditions in the fall.

 

In the spring, I find it better when it’s a warmer, sunnier day and the water is warming up, as opposed to an overcast or rainy day.

 

In the summer, I almost always do better when there is low pressure with clouds/rain instead of hot, sunny high pressure.

 

So in the fall, if you had a choice what conditions would you prefer in the fall?

this weekend I went out with "prime" pre frontal windy conditions with complete cloud coverage, sounds good for them schooling right? I guess not because the weather wasn't stable, after looking back on the weather I realized weather was dipping down to 30 at night and it has been 60 compared to the average 80, and after questioning why they where not eating, ive concluded this is my answer.

[Bankbeater]

I want it cloudy, maybe sprinkles off and on, calm wind, and the temp not to move much.  Some of my best fall days fishing was when the low temp and high temp were no more than 10 degrees apart.

[gim]

4 hours ago, Zcoker said:

What he said about fishing being unpredictable despite conditions is very true. Can't understand why it would annoy you, either.

Re-read my original post. I didn’t ask if fish were unpredictable. I asked for what would be ideal fall fishing conditions.

 

Start your own thread if you want to discuss the unpredictability of fishing.

[Way north bass guy]

35 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Re-read my original post. I didn’t ask if fish were unpredictable. I asked for what would be ideal fall fishing conditions.

 

Start your own thread if you want to discuss the unpredictability of fishing.

This seems like a subject that can have many different, and “correct” answers. The “best” fall conditions for someone like @N Florida Mike are likely to be much, much different than for a guy like me, way up here in Ontario. He’s probably looking at a very slightly cooler weather pattern, with probably fairly clear sky’s, whereas I’m likely looking at cold, possibly even at or below freezing conditions ( at least in the mornings), with often wet days and lots of wind thrown in for good measure. All I’m saying is it’s very hard for so many guys from all over North America giving you an answer, they might be all correct for where they’re wetting a line. 
I will say that I’ve personally had some good days when it’s downright miserable outside in the fall, but as the season gets closer to ice up, I’ve had some fantastic days when we get a warming trend with low winds. Hope this helps…

[BigAngus752]

3 hours ago, gimruis said:

Re-read my original post. I didn’t ask if fish were unpredictable. I asked for what would be ideal fall fishing conditions.

 

Start your own thread if you want to discuss the unpredictability of fishing.

Most of these responses are answers to your question. You just don’t like the answer. In the fall it’s the changing of the season that causes the fish to move. Shorter daytime and longer nights with decreasing water temps. Weather isn’t the primary factor as @TnRiver46 is trying to tell you. You are asking the wrong question like the guy at the dock that keeps asking me “what lure are you catching them on”.  He should be asking me what depth I caught then at and what cover/structure were they relating to. The lure is secondary. Keep asking about the weather and you probably won’t find your fall fish. 

[Zcoker]

13 hours ago, gimruis said:

Re-read my original post. I didn’t ask if fish were unpredictable. I asked for what would be ideal fall fishing conditions.

 

Start your own thread if you want to discuss the unpredictability of fishing.

Dude, if you are getting annoyed so much then your are most likely in the wrong place asking the wrong questions.

[gim]

Me: "What is your favorite color spinnerbait?"

 

Random responder: "You should be using a topwater, not a spinnerbait."

 

Regrettably, I now wish I hadn't even started this thread to begin with because of a few individuals.

 

Before I'm done though, I'd like to acknowledge @Bankbeater for his short, honest, direct response to the original question.

[ironbjorn]