When is fall actually here?

[RochesterBasser]

So fall is just a cast away, but how does one figure out when it's actually here?  I know the water has to be a certain temperature for the fish to know it's fall and that they gotta bulk up for winter.  Do the temps range from the region that you're in?  I'm in SE Michigan but I don't know what temp means fall.

Also, the only way that I have to find out the water temp is with a little pool thermometer.  My question about this is, does the surface temperature (right on the surface) differ a lot from the water temperature about a foot or two down?  I'm asking this because this thermometer float in the water, but I could add a little weight to it to get it down a bit.  I know that most fish finders have their transducers mounted on the trolling motor or other stuff like that.  Is it crucial for me to get it down deeper than just the surface or will the surface give me a good enough temperature to know when fall water temps have arrived?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Colin

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Autumn begins around Sept 21, but the fall bass season usually starts a little before that in the North once the surface cools about 3 degrees and holds steady. Any lasting drop in shallow water temperature begins bringing bass back from the deep as soon as they can find cool water close to what they've been living in. Creeks cool first due to more shade and fresh cool water entering. It takes about until October for surface cooling to reach more than 3-5 feet deep here. When surface cooling becomes significant, a turn-over begins from cool water sinking through warmer water below it. So as soon as the surface temp drops 3-5 degrees from its summer high be sure to enjoy it until a turn-over occurs. Bass scatter to all areas and depths here when that happens. Once it reaches about 55 on the surface the Fall season is over and winter tactics begin.

Jim

[roadwarrior]

Autumn actuall starts this year on September 23 at 4:02 Universal Time or 12:02 AM EDT which means 9/22  as you move further west (11:02 PM CDT).

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I just looked it up too, and noticed it falls on Saturday's "National hunting and fishing day".

Jim

[Matt Fly]

Even if the fall temps don't drop, the fish know what time of the year it is.   They know the days are getting shorter and nights are longer, even if 100 degree days persisted, the longer nights will start the cooling off process.    

True signs that the season is changing.    Longer nights.  

[flechero]

Fall begins when the calendar says so... fall fishing for me normally begins arount the 2nd week of October, when the bass start schooling like crazy!!  Although this year, I may consider it the end of October... when the smallies start to move up and hunt craws!!  

[senile1]

A number of factors play into when the bass start to move into a fall pattern.  For instance I've seen the high temperatures stay in the mid to high 90s up until late September in the Kansas City area.  When it is like this and we have no cool rains, a number of bass will remain on a summer pattern or at least they won't fully move up into the coves.  I find most bass in the pre-spawn areas when temps are like this.  But if we have some cool night rains, even if the temps reach the 90s during the day alot more bass will move up into the coves where the cool water is flowing in.  I can't say I see alot of bass move up when the water temperature drops from 86 to 84 or 83.  It seems to take more than that in the lakes I fish.  

This summer it has been extremely hot with no rain, but just this weekend we finally received a cool downpour of 5 - 8 inches of rain depending on the location.  Temps this week will only be low 80s during the day.  While the lakes may be muddy for a few days, this should cool the water significantly.  I expect to see a fall pattern emerge.

[Guest the_muddy_man]

I know about Sept.21 but fall starts when the Baseball playoffs start for me