Hey, folks, I recently did a video about fall fishing, and I got an interesting comment on that. I'm gonna read it to you. "I've been watching tons of all fall vids, and not a single person is mentioning water temp ranges, including you. Why are you not including water temps?" Hey, that's a great question, and, you know, I can't speak on behalf of all the YouTubers out there, but for me, I'll tell you why. See, fall is a transition period. It's a transition season. The bass are in their summer places. They're hanging out there all summer long, and now they need to get to their wintering holes, and they also need to feed up. There's really two main things that drive their movement. That's, you know, feeding and making their way to the wintering holes. That is primarily driven by the length of day, not so much by temperature. Okay, temperature influences their disposition, you know, how aggressive they are, and it also influences their metabolism, so how frequently they eat. But their migration pattern from summer to winter and also feeding, that's primarily as the days get shorter, that triggers that behavior.
Now, temperature happens to coincide with that, meaning the days get shorter, the nights get longer, the air temperature begins to drop, and so does the water temperature. So there's a correlation there. As bass anglers, we don't have a very good way of measuring length of day and as it gets shorter, but we can use temperature as a proxy to get an idea of what the bass may be doing during the fall because they're being influenced by the shortening days. Does that make sense? I hope so. So let's do this. Let's actually go through the whole fall season from summer to winter using temperature as a proxy to understand what's going on and what to fish and when and where, okay? Let's do that.
So let's start off at the end of summer, beginning of fall. That's usually right around Labor Day, right? That's the unofficial end of summer. What you'll notice is air temperatures haven't changed that much, water temperatures haven't changed that much, but the bass will start moving. The days have been getting shorter ever since the equinox. Right now it's got to a period where it's like, okay, there's a trigger point. The bass...the primary thing about it is the bass will move from their summer haunts. You see, they can be pretty predictable through the summertime. You pretty much can tell where they're going to be, and now they pull up stakes and start to move, right? So that's...again, they're going to start moving to feed. That's the primary thing. They got to eat up.
So they're going to start moving to areas where it's kind of like in the pre-spawn. They're going to move to, like, those pre-spawn areas, those staging areas. We're talking about those areas that are near shallow water. They're not going to move all the way to the back of coves right now. That's not going to happen until later in the fall. We'll talk about that. But you're looking for areas that are shallow areas next to deep water, right? So that could be like at the top of points. That could be along main lake banks. Maybe there's a hump or ridge or something nearby, something like that, maybe towards the entrance of those coves. That's the area they'll start to migrate to and stack up. And the temperatures here are going to be in the 70s. That's what you're looking for. That's when you'll see that they'll start to move to those locations.
Now, the water temperature is still warm. They're still aggressive. They're feeding heavily. They're starting to feed even more. I mean, the big thing here is that they are chasing baitfish. They're going to start to follow the baitfish. So this is where it becomes really critical to find the baitfish. If you find the baitfish, you're going to find the bass nearby. That's a given in the fall in particular. And because they're aggressively feeding, as long as there's not any big fronts coming through, those fast-moving horizontal presentations are going to work for you, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, topwater, swim jigs, swim baits, that kind of stuff. Move that at a fast pace. That's typically what's going to work right now in the areas that I told you about.
Now, as we move into the 60s, it's not a big change in the upper 60s. Again, bass are going to be aggressive. Those fast-moving baits are going to work. But the bass are going to move up more so in those coves as the baitfish moves up in there. Largemouth in particular are going to congregate around the remaining green weeds, okay? Look for that.
Now, the green weeds in the super shallow water are probably dying off. Those are consuming oxygen, not emitting oxygen, so the baitfish aren't going to go there. Neither will the bass. So find those remaining green weeds, and that's where you're going to find them. In particular, Largemouth, Kentucky Spotted, that kind of stuff. Now, the smallies will be a little more structure-orientated. So find a rock pile or a hump or maybe a creek channel nearby. They will use the weeds too. They're not exclusive to that. Don't worry. You know, if all you got are weeds and you have smallies, they're going to be in the weeds. They're going to utilize what is available to them. But if you have both species in the same lake, that's kind of how they're going to be split up if you want to target a specific species. Now, that's as the temperatures are in the upper 60s.
As they move more towards the lower 60s, they all are going to become more structure-orientated, all right? So look for those, those points, those secondary points in particular, humps, those creek channels. Those are the things they're going to start loading up on as the temperature gets in the lower 60s. And as for baits, again, those horizontal presentations are going to do you well right now, right? So make sure you're throwing crankbaits. I would make sure I'm throwing the Rat-L-Traps, the One Knockers. Those are great baitfish imitators as well as much better crankbaits. Anything you really want to pick right now in your arsenal, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, swim jigs, again, the swim baits.
Don't put away your topwaters yet, okay? The temps are in the 60s. Remember, in the spring, the temps get in the mid-50s. That's when you start breaking out the topwaters and start having good success with it. It's the same in reverse in the fall. It still is good in the 60s. Don't put them away. A lot of guys do. So keep throwing those buzzbaits, those frogs, especially baitfish imitating, like your poppers, your Zara Spooks. Those things are going to work well for you. Jerkbaits, those work really well right now.
As the water temperatures get into the 50s, this is when it's feed bag time, right? The bass know it's getting closer to winter. They got to get going. They've got to feed up. So they really start feeding up heavily during the 50s. This is when you start to have a lot of fun. So crankbaits, man, crankbaits are it. I mean, that's really what I'd be throwing. Spinnerbaits, a little bit slower-moving as the water temps get in the lower 50s. Chatterbaits, same thing. Where they're going to be is in the deeper water now, right? Deeper weeds, the deepest green weeds you're going to find, long tapering points in the main lake, channel bends, channel swings. You might find some deeper flats with stumps or rocks on it. If you can find a combination of that, right, deep weed beds with some scattered boulders or something like that, we're talking gold, like, fish those areas. Right. Again, you can rely more on your electronics to find that baitfish because that's where the bass are going to be.
The bass are going to be more congregated right now. So you may go a long stretch and not catch anything. That can happen. And then you come across a key piece of structure, and boom, it's game on. If you're catching fish or you catch a few fish in a certain area, don't leave fish to find fish. You found them. So stay on them because you can go a long time and not catch a lot. If you're on a bank and you're sure you're fishing a point, say, for example, and you don't catch a bunch of fish, don't wait for them to come to you, pick up sticks and then find another point if you can. Now, bass are roaming chasing baitfish, but you may have a long wait, an hour or so, maybe more if you're on a spot that they like to hang out on. So it's not that the fish aren't biting, but if you aren't getting bit, that's because you haven't found the fish.
As far as baits, I'd be throwing crankbaits, deeper-diving crankbaits now. And I have two different kinds. One would be the tight wobbling crankbaits. The other would be the wide wobbling crankbaits. For some reason, bass on one day will want one type, and the next day they might want the other type. That can even happen during the day, right? Say, for example, in the morning, they want wide wobbling crankbaits, and then the bite wanes. If you switch over to a tight wobbling crankbait, you might start catching fish again. That bite might taper off, flip back to wide wobbling crankbaits, and guess what? You catch more or whatever, the reverse. Something like that can happen. So be aware of it. If you're not catching a lot of fish and you know you're in an area where there's fish, switch up your baits a little bit. Again, I mentioned earlier slower-moving, like slow rolling a spinnerbait or chatterbait and the deeper depths can be very productive as well. So that's what I would do in the 50s.
Now, as the temperature gets in the 40s, you've pretty much gotten...they're pretty much now in their wintering holes. Things have slowed down quite a bit. They're not winter quite yet, especially in the upper 40s, but they're going to be pretty much where they're going to be for the winter. So the deeper, deeper water now, this is probably going to get to the deepest water they've been all season long. In my neck of the woods, that's 45 to 55 feet deep, regardless of the overall depth of the lake. Some of these lakes get 200 more feet deep. They're still going to hang out in that 45 to 55-foot range if that depth is there for in that lake. You got to know what it is for your lake. I'm not prescribing this to you. It may be a different depth range for your lake. So don't go look into that range and don't find a fish and go, "Glenn, you're a liar." Some of these things, you just got to learn about the nuances of a particular lake or river you're fishing in. But the point is they're going to be pretty dang deep, and they're going to be in a certain range, and that's where you need to look.
Again, your electronics are going to help quite a bit in this regard, but bass become very bottom-orientated right now, and your electronics might not pick them up. The bass will, like, hug right up next to a piece of cover, like a boulder, or there's some lakes I fish that have some scattered 55-gallon drums on the bottom. I've been told they fell off of barges way back in the day. I don't know, maybe there's bodies in them. I don't know. Kind of a morbid thought. But the point is that they're rounded, and boulders don't come in perfect shapes. And underneath, you know, like, here's the bottom, and underneath here right in this little spot, that could be where a fish is snugged right up under there. And if you're looking on your depth finders, you're just going to see a oil drum or a rock or something else like a log. Logs, same thing. Logs are rounded. You won't see the fish. So if you're looking in that depth range where you know they're at and you see isolated cover like that, fish it, even though you might not see fish nearby. If you especially know the baitfish in that range, fish it because you'd be surprised. They're so close to cover, they'll just become a piece of it on your depth finder, but they're there.
So make sure that you make multiple casts. And this is where drop shot comes really in handy because drop shot is great for pinpoint working a piece of structure or a cover. They're not good for covering a lot of water, but when you found something, work it with a drop shot. Jigs dragged on the bottom work really well. I like finesse jigs.
I like football head jigs with a 5-inch white grub on it. Why white? Is because it contrasts with the bottom color of the lake, makes it easier for the fish to find it. That depth, most colors are black and white anyway. Shades of gray. So a white grub against the dark bottom background really stands out, makes it easier for the bass to find. Now, that's when you get in the lower 40s.
In the upper 40s, the fish may still be up a little bit higher, a little bit more in the depth range, and they might be more accessible with crankbaits. So don't throw away your crankbaits yet. If the temps are in the upper 40s, you can still use the crankbaits the way I just mentioned and catch some fish off that. But as it gets colder, just follow them out to that deeper structure, and you'll find them. And then now you're into winter patterns, fishing slower. Damiki Rigs work well. On the drop shot, I would put like a little 3-inch minnow, 3-1/2-inch minnow. I like to use 3-inch Senkos on it. And we're going to downsize now. Instead of using that big 5-inch, 6-inch Senko that we did in the summertime, now we're using like a 3-inch Senko, something small, bite-sized snackable, something they can eat, and it's about baitfish size for them, which is what they're targeting. So that all works. Anyway, that is fall from the temperature ranges point of view. I hope that helps. For more tips and tricks like this, visit bassresource.com.
