Peak Fall Water Temperature

[Bankc]

On 10/14/2023 at 9:27 AM, WRB said:

My Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar Fall period following Summer period the water temps 68-58 degrees. Bass being cold blooded are a thermometer with same body temp are the water they live in.

Tom

68-58 is about right for me.  Once it hits the mid to lower 50's, the bite becomes very unpredictable.  There might be a few good days here and there, and some really good, but the good days are fewer and further between.  By the time the water hits 50, the bass pretty much lock down.  You can still catch them, but it's usually a lot of work for very few bites.  

[TnRiver46]

9 hours ago, Bankc said:

68-58 is about right for me.  Once it hits the mid to lower 50's, the bite becomes very unpredictable.  There might be a few good days here and there, and some really good, but the good days are fewer and further between.  By the time the water hits 50, the bass pretty much lock down.  You can still catch them, but it's usually a lot of work for very few bites.  

That’s surprising, I’ve had some wonderful days of fishing in the 47-49 degree water temp range. Even seen them schooling on top 

[Zcoker]

Just the other day (for the fun of it) I measured and recorded the length of all fish caught as well as the conditions, just to see the size differences throughout my morning session. All fish were caught on either a jig or a weightless worm. Water temps were stable with no major fluctuations, which is normal for south Florida this time of year, mostly mid to upper 70's. Most of the fish were smallish in the early morning hours, 15 inches and up. But as soon as mid morning came around, or, more specifically, as soon as the wind kicked up, I caught five 19 inchers and then three 22 inchers with a 24in kicker tossed into the mix....wind was the name of the game! Total inches of all fish caught throughout the entire morning was 330 inches, which gave me a great data-set to go by. What all this told me was that the physical effects like wind/time had more to do with getting those bigger bites, not so much the water temperature. Also gave me a better idea on when to go out fishing for them. 

[Cranks4fun]

Past reading, along with personal experience, has taught me to avoid fishing extreme post-frontal conditions (big temperature drops & high pressure). I wait 3-4 days after a front usually in the fall unless I am desperate to fish (which is often too -  ). Lots of guys love slowly dragging jigs in the late fall and winter, but when water gets around 50 degrees or lower, I love fishing suspended jerkbaits with long pauses (usually necessitates fairly clear water and bass in less that 15 ft of water). I have heard of guys nailing lots of bass on rat-l-traps when the water falls into the 60's, and I have caught some in those ranges too. However, I actually prefer lipped cranks and finesse worms at that time personally, but everyone has their preferences. I often still do well with topwaters too when water is in the upper 60's.