Cool Weather

[Bullwinkle]

Looks as if the temperatures are going to be in the 60's by early next week. Any ideas as to what impact the cool temps will have on the bass? I have been doing well on rocks in 10ft but don't know how those fish will react to the cold. Any thoughts?

[MNBassGuy]

Many times as the water cools the baitfish will move shallower. When this happens you'll see a chain recation up the food chain. After the last cold snap there was an abundance of baitfish shallow, following them in were a lot of panfish, and following the panfish were a lot of bass! When the water initially gets cold I like to target shallow patterns provided I can locate some bait.

Interestingly enough, as the temps moved back upwards I saw less baitfish in the shallows and as a result, the bigger fish seemed to have moved out of the areas I was catching them in.

The main thing is to be aware of your surroundings. If you see baitfish schooling and cruising in shallow you may be in for a great fall bite! If you don't see them it doesn't mean they're not there, but it may be a tougher bite. Maybe they are burried in the weeds, maybe they moved to structure edges. It also depends on the lake. If the fish are feeding mainly on crawdads you may want to check out some sandy or rocky flats. Find the forage that the fish are after and the bass will close behind!

The morale of the story is that as the water cools the fish are looking to fatten up for the winter and will start locating their main forage in an effort to gorge themselves. That doesn't mean that the fish turn on and never turn off during those months, generally my numbers go down in the fall, but the size goes way up!

[ikeslayer]

My question is why do the bait fish move shallow? Does it have something to do with plankton?

ike

[lookincalifornia]

Quote:

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Does it have something to do with plankton?

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ah that plankton, will he ever get that crabby patty secret formula?

[Central Bassman]

Was out last night for a league event... We SMOKED them flipping and pitching into heaver grass and reeds... This morning went out on a different lake that’s is known for big fish and i couldn’t even buy a bight. I could see fish on the camera in deep water but nothing..??

[BassAkwards]

I fished mainly deep yesterday using dropshot. lots of hits but few committed. Found a spot and caught 6-7 in 15 minutes on drop shot. This was my main action in the morning.

Evening start deeper again, then went in towards shore casting spooks. Had the girlfriends dad catching nice bass on spooks and he hasn't fished in over 15 yrs! They were shallow and the bass are starting to chunk up a bit.

Going out tonight, I might just start close. I have not fished much in the fall, so trial and error it goes.

[bassNspear]

I fished a tournament this weekend on Bay Lake, Two Day tournament. 5 limit for two days, 18lbs won it. Horrible fishing. Cold killed it. We took 3rd with 17lbs. It was along three days of fishing.

[FRESHWATER PETIE]

I know for one thing, the cool weather keeps alot of people off the lake. With less people on the lake it does take alot of presure off the fish. It makes it quicker at the boat ramps too ,so I get more time on the water.

So, Yeh the cool weather is a good thing.

[Fever]

Cooler weather in my opinion... = success because of those reasons as well as the natual instinct to feed. I had the most success fishing shallow and targeting the agressive active fish by a quicker loud and flashy presentation. I caught numbers as well as quality. I only wish I wasn't sitting in school right now as I thing today's bite would be absolutely fantastic. What a beautiful day.

[Griggs]

I was out yesterday for a couple of hours and only caught 2 fish. One was over 4 lbs though, so I was ok with it. I started fishing 8-10 ft structure with no success. Then I moved over to some lilly pads, only found the one tucked back in the middle of it all.

[MNBassGuy]

Getting tough out there. Had a tourney on Tonka last night. Came in with 12.5 pounds thinking we'd have no shot and ended up taking 2nd! The crazy thing is that 10 pounds made the money.

Fall can be feast or famine sometimes and right now it's leaning towards famine.

[ducksnbucks]

Went out yesterday morning, was 33 degrees when I got out there. Tried a crankbait first only one little one. Then switched to a stand up jig with a 5" worm or a 4 inch brush hawg and got 11 between 15 and 18 1/2". Overall a decent morning I thought for being that cold.

[Griggs]

Sounds pretty good, where were you fishing? Shallow? Structure?