Fall

Fall: 75 to 55 degrees

Fall patterns start when the water has cooled 10 degrees below its hottest point of the summer — this can vary greatly from lake to lake. A rapid temperature drop is best, for this can really put bass on the move from deep main lake structure to shallow water. Bass react to cooling water by moving shallower to big flats, long points with a gradual taper, and tributary arms.

Bass are more baitfish-oriented now than in any other season. Look for large schools of shad, alewives, etc., on your graph. In reservoirs, cooling water causes vast numbers of shad to migrate into tributary arms, and bass are close behind. Follow this migration by fishing the first third of creek arms in early fall, then gradually pressing farther back into the tributary as the surface temperature drops. Idle your boat up a creek arm, watching my graph for suspended shad schools or looking for bait flipping on the surface. Isolated wood cover or boat docks in the backs of creek arms are dependable fall bass patterns. In lakes that don't have shad, bass feed heavily on bluegill and shiners, both grass-oriented species, so target weedy areas.

It's important now to keep your lure off the bottom, because most baitfish are suspended in the water column. Match lure size to baitfish size. My fall lure preferences include spinnerbaits with willow leaf blades (they match the profile of baitfish), and shallow to medium running crankbaits. In clear lakes, shad patterns; in murky lakes, standout colors, like chartreuse with a black or blue back.

Their aggressive pursuit of baitfish means bass often school on the surface in fall. Always keep a topwater lure, especially a noisy chugger, tied on now. As the water cools to the lower end of the autumn range, a suspending jerkbait will catch fish.