Shad-Less Lake In The Fall?

[BassinMidWest]

Water temps are dropping pretty fast, and I figure the bass will soon be transitioning into their fall pattern.

This year I started fishing a small flowage about 150 acres. The lake contains no shad, and no significant structure in the form of points. The most common form of cover is coon tail which gets very heavily matted in the summer. And according to my local DNR, the main forage is bluegill and crappie. Average depth is about 7 feet.

The lake has some really nice fish in it... they seem to be bigger then the shad filled lakes I fish. And as any good bass angler knows fall is a great time to catch a hawg! Problem is, is I've never fished a lake in the fall without shad! Not really sure where the fish should be, and how to catch em (smaller swimbaits, and spinnerbaits are my current plan of attack!).

Anyone have experience fishing similar lakes (one without shad) in the fall?

[Jigfishn10]

No shad here either, and you posted a great question. I basically find that I have to go back to a spring pattern. I look for whatever weeds are left, points, creeks, channels and from the second weedline on in (here anyway and depending the time of day and conditions) and anywhere adjacent to deeper water.

Hope this helps.

[dwtaylor]

Look for green, for that is where bass will be seen. Basically anything that you were using early in the year would work here too.

[Bluebasser86]

They will be cruising the weeds. I fish several small lakes with no shad and fish in those lakes are probably easier to catch on a daily basis. Bluegills and crappie will hide in the weeds along with crawdads and other prey items, so that's where the bass will be. Look for edges or holes in the weeds. Fish baits like spinnerbaits, wakebaits, chatterbaits, and swim jigs over the top of the weeds and along the edges. Flip tubes or beaver baits into holes in the weeds and along the edges and you should be able to find some fish. Since they aren't chasing schooling shad around open water, these fish will usually be much easier to find and won't tend to roam around as much.

[Raul]

Problem is, is I've never fished a lake in the fall without shad!

Neither have I, so what´s so hard about fishing a shadless lake ?

Just because a lake is shadless/minnowless/bluegilless/crappieless/troutless/crawless/etcless doesn´t mean you can´t use shad/crappie/minnow/shiner/crappie/trout/etc "imitators", bass can´t tell much the difference since they are programed to react and respond to a particular set of stimuli, lures and you have or can create that stimuli, therefore, lures work everywhere.

You don´t need to "match the hatch", what you need to do is with your baits imitate the behavior and movement pattern of what to the eyes of a predator can look like an easy meal.

[WRB]

Crappie, like shad, are pelagic fish and fill that niche for off shore bait fish.

Bass in natural lakes behavior is different; they are more shoreline oriented due to the majority of prey being dermasal or near shore species.

There will be migrations from shallower to deeper water seeking warmer water as the lake cools. Think movement, ambush spots and as mentioned greener weed beds.

Lakes with reeds or tules and off color water; black colors with blue , red or orange highlights often work good for jigs and soft plastics. Baby bass and fire tiger crank baits or spinnerbaits. A wake bait like U2 plastic shell cracker should be good for larger size bass, worked along the weed breaks.

Very active bass will react to nearly any type of lure movement, however you may be better off fishing with lures that have similar profiles of the prey the bass are targeting.

Tom

[BassinMidWest]

Thanks for the help guys, I'll give it whirl, and see how it goes!

Neither have I, so what´s so hard about fishing a shadless lake ?

Just because a lake is shadless/minnowless/bluegilless/crappieless/troutless/crawless/etcless doesn´t mean you can´t use shad/crappie/minnow/shiner/crappie/trout/etc "imitators", bass can´t tell much the difference since they are programed to react and respond to a particular set of stimuli, lures and you have or can create that stimuli, therefore, lures work everywhere.

You don´t need to "match the hatch", what you need to do is with your baits imitate the behavior and movement pattern of what to the eyes of a predator can look like an easy meal.

It was not a question of "what" to use, and matching the hatch, but a question of where to find the fish.

[Jigfishn10]

Raul was just pointing out that you need to follow the forage and behavior patterns of your lake.