Posted by Travis

Gregg I devide this period into phases like any other in this case: pre turnover*, turnover, post turnover --> pre ice. What I state below has not a thing to do with smallmouths.

pre turnover(not covering the other phases, yet) with a caveat(my asteric up there)

When : I always keyed on this when I was a kid by looking near our dock on the lake. If the sunnies were no longer there. Pre Turnover, while not exact it was close. Second to third week in September never failed me. even with an Indian Summer or whatever you wish to call it, the nights were getting obviously cooler.

water temp: between 62-69 . I would be nightfishing if that isn't a possibility fish the weedlines(deep outside) with a horizontal presentation. The panfish under my dock went outward to this area in mass. In early evening I would be throwing a topwater, some of the best topwater fishing of the year can be had here(early evening). Though most miss it , thinking it is too late for topwater or refusing to throw one over 10-20 feet of water(the word deep depends on YOUR lake). Their mistake my gain. This temp zone has proven a magic time for me but the bite is short lived, lasting typically 10 or at most 14 days. Cool nights begin to become more prevalent. Look for the steepest breaks on the outside weedlines in the lake. (they will be back here soon as weed flats dye, by that I mean turn brown, no green on the flats, you are coming back here)

AFTER that short lived time frame, this is STILL pre turnover(just a different stage), here's why I added the asteric.

Water temps: consistently will be in the high 50's(57-60) and not move much. YET

weedflats.Largemouths that utilize slop and heavy shoreline cover in summer begin dispersing out in the expansive weedflats. get on the lakes largest expansive flats and target every weed clump, stump or anything unusual you can and cover water. This is no time for an anchor. Wind is welcomed as it helps you move along, let it blow who cares. Water depths 6-8 feet and under. Long bomb casts with blades and ripping minnow baits(raps) is a good idea. This is similar to the late pre-spawn when people rip minnow baits(on some lakes could be the same area). Most in the fall miss it.

When the largemouth are up on these large flats(some guys are still on docks and shallow crap during this) this is what becomes a purple haze for most fisherman. We see the light pullover give way to a coat You may witness weeds dieing off and floating. The lake may smell funny. This is your transition into the turnover BUT that does NOT happen as early as most would believe. In fact MANY times it comes and goes and you won't know it. The lack of success after and during turnover is often peoples inablity to find congregations of bass. Well one could say Trav. The problem most guys have all season may be their inablity to find congregations of bass. In these periods I speak of you either are on them or you aren't. They are consolidated and stacked after they get back on the DEEP weedlines that you fished prior to this.. It is a where not an IF. Moving on. High blue bird skies, barometric changes and colder nights that have bass scattered on weed flats often push them tight to cover. They resist the horizontal baits moving at a good clip....must be turnover time WRONG. Bring your anchor back out of the garage and fish slower, they are still on the flats. Fish a large jig TIGHT and in those thick clumps mentioned prior. Pull up anchor, go to the next obviously different visual key. They will remain on these flats until you see the last clumps of green. In fact the turnover doesn't have to be the demon everyone believes it is Turnover into pre ice is my trophy time of the year. Fish stack and are very reliable. More on that in a minute.

Something VERY important in the fall phase to know or read up on: Weeds

It becomes important to know the types and their characteristics both while first fishing the deep weedlines in early pre turnover, on to the flats and then back again to the deep weedlines. The most hearty and noteworthy include:

Curly leaf cabbage: typically the last cabbage to disappear from mid depth flats. Also can be called (pondweed).

Milfoil: stalks will concentrate bass along edges of large flats, stalks persist until ice up.

Coontail: these clumps will remain out of site, patches grow one to four or five feet off bottom. can be found on a graph easily and felt with a jig.


White water lilly: persist along 4-6 foot depths(usually breaklines) and hold bass into the 40 degree air temp range.

The information covering pre turnover above is VERY important to get a grasp on. If you lose track of fish during this period you are in for a long winter because the fall time will leave you shaking your head until spring. Learn it, grasp it and like the turnover period into ice up and believe me on this: those patterns will hold up year after year on that body of water.

I am a VERY firm believer in that not all bass are doing the same thing at any one given time. What I state above is just that. Patterns. You will have large fish move on to the flats later (not much) than smaller ones. You will see smaller fish move off the flats and back on to deep weedlines at different times than the bigger fish(again not much). By grasping what I speak of you are assured to place your lure in front of the MOST available biters at any given time. Upping your odds by a wide margin.

I will get into turnover at depth as the time arises or if I see someone blame a blue bird sky windy day, not having the right lure brand/color and/or a lack of catch on the turnover. This term becomes a crutch more than actual lack of biters. A lack of seasoning on the water could also be the culprit here.

Ahh that location + timing thing. As you requested Gregg, I didn't get into WHAT to throw(too much). In fact as I often say...everyone mumble under their breath now......none of the lure or tackle crap matters unless you are on fish. I think that may apply in the above.

T

Last edited by Travis on 2002 at AM