I have read several articles about "Fall" Fishing. They have great tips and such but I was wondering when those tips would apply to us in the Desert Southwest.

In many parts of the country the daytime temps have fallen and thus the Bass have changed their behavior/Feeding patterns.

Here in Arizona,where I live,were still looking at 100+ degree days and I cant tell when that will end. So with the temps still being that high,are fish gonna still be in their Summer Feeding pattern,or because the days have gotten a little shorter,they should be in the Fall pattern?

When can I typically say "fall" has arrived in Arizona as far as a Fishing stand point. Is there a specific temp? Because even in December we can still be looking at average Temps in the mid to high 60's

As you might have noticed, daylight has been getting shorter. This is a good indicator that fall is approaching fast. I'm on the east coast and our nights have been in the 60's the past couple weeks but its still been mid-high 80's during the day, in fact, it was 90 today.

Thing is, ever since the length of daylight has been getting shorter (about 3 weeks or so), even though we were having high air temps, we've had fish schooling and the water temps have been slowly dropping.

The schooling fish typically wont show themselves until they start to move from summer to fall so everytime I've been out in the past few weeks I have made it a point to run into some major creeks to look for baitfish. So far, there are a few creeks that are full of shad and the rest just have some here and there. I've had the best luck in the creeks that have the most shad. I suspect the other creeks to 'turn on' once the shad population grows in those other creeks as fall comes on.

I guess to answer your question, just act like it's fall and check the spots where they should be in the fall. The baitfish population in these spots should tell you a lot about what's going on and you shouldn't have to fish too long in these spots to figure out whether it's on or not. If it's not, go back to the last places you caught fish and start looking. If they arent at the last spots you caught them, they've got to be in between those last spots and the spots you find them in the fall. Baitfish should be a priority in your search.

Guess I gotta look for small Bluegill. There arent any Shad in the lake I fish and Im guessing the bass primarily feed on the Bluegill or Crawdads.

five.bass.limit - I fish SML and have noticed the same thing, also the stripers are starting to come up early and late in the the Gills Greek and Blackwater areas. Fishing Kerr on Saturday (without getting to practice/look around) and I am hoping things may be similar.

Guess I gotta look for small Bluegill. There arent any Shad in the lake I fish and Im guessing the bass primarily feed on the Bluegill or Crawdads.

The waters here do not have a shad population either, so I'd be interested in some opinions as well.

What I do notice now that the summer heat has given way to much cooler nights, the surface water, as well as shallow water, have really cooled down and it has drawn the bass in feeding on gills and craws. It's almost like a spring pattern here in MA.

I've been catching them around sparse weedlines and remaining lily pads in about 8' of water. The bass have also been on steep banks adjacent to much deeper water.

In past years, the bite would really heat up when the waters get stocked with trout, which is mid-late October.

Anyone else have any opinions as to a fall pattern with no shad population?

The Northern's are getting thicker and thicker in the shallows. Exponentially happening as the water temp drops. In the early AM, LM are also feeding shallow.