when is it considered fall

[brgbassmaster]

well the lake here the water temp is between 68 and 74 degrees depending on what end of the lake you are at. is that considered fall temps. the water was in the upper 80s this summer. i never fished new mexico in the fall and my next trip is october 2nd - 5th. and i was wondering if that is fall water temps so i can start my fall patterns?

[5bass]

A big happening that triggers "fall" is when the water temps drop and the lake turns over. Bass and bait both will start to head into the creeks where the 'fresher' water is flowing in. If your water temps are currently that low, I'd give the fall patterns a try. (I'd be looking around for big groups of shad too, but thats just me)  

[brgbassmaster]

well that sounds good to me. i will be trying fall patterns. i think this is what i will have rigged on my rods... one baitcaster Medium rod i will have a swim jig for all the numerous bushes, second baitcaster and medium rod i will have a spinnerbait in white with silver blades for  bushes also...third baitcaster and medium rod i will have a buzzbait for all the shallow boulders and brush, for my flipping rod i will have an *** *** tied on like i always do then i might switch to a jig. for spinning im going to have a soft jerkbait on one rod a tube on another rod and a dropshot on the other one. and i think thats about it for starters hows that sound? i like the spinners swim jigs and buzzbaits for fish that are chasing bait.  and the soft jerkbait also.

[GRIZZ]

Try night fishing now.....with that buzzbait Seriously no BS

[Catt]

When is it considered fall?

When I can no longer wear shorts & a t-shirt  

[brgbassmaster]

haha true...its pretty chilly here in the mornings but it never gets to cold even in the winter by 12 its just long tshirt weather for the most part.

[roadwarrior]

Here is a new article from the Home Page with several additional links:

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/fall_bass_fishing.html

8-)

[Raul]

when is it considered fall

Got me on that one skipper.  

[Muddy]

I'll give you a clue

[basser89]

I'll give you a clue

And I expected you to say September 22! LOL

[Matt Fly]

When HS football season gets started in Texas.  

Better known as "Friday Night Lights".    

[atx_newbie]

When HS football season gets started in Texas.

Better known as "Friday Night Lights".

I think you meant to say when Death Valley lights up Baton Rouge on Saturday nights, and the Tigers start their run at back-to-back national championship.  But it's ok, I'll forgive the typo  ;D

[Matt Fly]

Maybe for La.   Not for Texas.

[indy basser]

A big happening that triggers "fall" is when the water temps drop and the lake turns over. Bass and bait both will start to head into the creeks where the 'fresher' water is flowing in. If your water temps are currently that low, I'd give the fall patterns a try. (I'd be looking around for big groups of shad too, but thats just me)

How exactly  do you go about doing that? What "signs" show you that a big group of shad is around?

[FD.]

When is it fall?

That would be Dec 3 thru Dec 12... and then Spring starts around the middle of January...  

[Muddy]

YOU DOG!! I hpoe it rains all spring ;D

[Paul Roberts]

Fall is just a label; It's not suddenly fall one day. Instead, it's a set of developing conditions actually of eroding solar energy. The transition is rapid because daylength change accelerates in late summer. By the time Sept 22nd rolls around we're sliding into it fast the weather just lags some, trailing behind. This is MUCH more pronounced the further north you go. Hence, Raul's, Huh! What's fall!

Here's how it sets up in my area:

I fish shallow vegetated waters in northern Colorado and southern NY. I see the first major change following the first really cold cold fronts (40-50F nights). (BTW: My waters are too shallow to stratify, so I don't have to deal with turnover). I've seen years when something akin to summer hangs on well into September. But most years we get hit by serious cold fronts by then. In some waters (the shallowest that really heat up in summer and reach inefficient temps for bass) I see daytime action increasing just from gradual erosion of temps. I call that late summer but it's not the spectacular feeding binges we associate with fall. I wonder if this gradual erosion period is as much fall as far southern waters get.

Those first cold nights knock temps down from summer highs, and then those Indian summer days re-heat the shallows. I look for shallow bass to turn on. Following chilling (water temps down into the 60s overnight), good warming days that bring surface temps back up strongly can bring on very aggressive fish and intense midday fishing. I call this early fall when the sun is still high enough and days just long enough to re-heat chilled shallows. On all but the brightest flat calm days I also call it buzzbait time!

These cold nights also kill off shallow vegetation, exposing prey fishes. A feeding binge results and my bass start showing bulging bellies.

As fall wears on, the sun gets too low in the sky and the days too short to effectively re-heat the shallows. I then look for bass away from shore on remaining live weed beds. It's not that all the bass come shallow in early fall, then all go deep. There are deep bass all summer and fall. But aggressive shallow bass can be pretty easy.

As fall progresses, shallower weeds die back and not only expose prey fish but also expose bass, and they begin collecting where the remaining cover is kind of a reverse of pre-summer. By late fall, the mature bass in that water body are exposed and collecting up on deeper weed beds. This is trophy time. You probably know that most big bass are caught in the spring. It's not just because of the spawn. It's also because they are exposed. Big bass are most susceptible from late fall through spring. In the fall, they begin to collect up on remaining cover, and then head to the best available winter quarters.

Fall is not a period, but a transition, that brings on really good fishing when bass noticeably fatten up. The above is how it seems to pan out in the waters I fish. Weed free reservoirs, those that stratify (and turn over), and those with a pelagic food base (shad) respond differently.

[indy basser]

I get when fall is but how do you locate the schools of shad?

[brgbassmaster]

thanks paul roberts...i know fall in northern states with the grass dieing and all that becuase i am from michigan and fall was my best fishing times..but here in the lake i fish there is no vegitation just brush and rock. hard to belive but its true. the water this weekend was 72 degrees and morning fishing was awesome but middle day it sucks. but i will be going again here soon hopefully i can figure somthing out.

[Paul Roberts]

Should be a neat project.

Find the food. Find out what the forage is, and then where it hangs out. Shoot your Fisheries people an email.

I chase weeds around bc that's where everything hides.