Finding those Fall/Winter Bass

[dilbert]

I know that the bass are moving deeper as the water temperatures cool, but I still can't seem to locate where the bigger ones have relocated. How deep do they typically move? Do they step down little bits at a time as the temperature cools or all at once when they reach a certain threshold? I imagine them moving from their summer homes down to the next closest deeper area with comparable structure and cover. Also, I'm fishing for smallmouth in a reservoir that has an annual drawdown, so I'm guessing that their fall homes would be in an area with easy access to the deeper sections of the lake that remain filled all winter.

This is my first year seriously bass fishing (reading books, researching, and trying to understand the bass) and I've never fished this late in the season for anything before. I look forward to hearing what some of our local experts have to say.

[cavdad45]

As the bass go into their winter patterns, they will usually move toward the steeper breaklines and lounge around near the bottom of the break and if they feed they usually will move up toward the lip of the break.

It's still Fall, so look for more gradual breaklines because the water in most places is still in the mid-50's, so I would tend to look for the bass where I found them in early-March where they were transitioning to pre-spawn patterns from their winter haunts.

[Nik]

you can still find bass up shallow feeding up for winter, especially on those cloudy, windy days. this is some of the best fishing of year year for big bass. i like using big baits and fishing them slow. bass are looking for a big, easy meal right now.

[JayBoy]

Im not quiet sure about this, but I have heard that Using a trout swimbait in times like that would work pretty well for them big hawgs. No experience with one myself, but I might give them a shot. Just a suggestion.

[Gisteppo]

This is probably not a terribly en-vogue technique, but it is incredibly effective on the eastside.

Find weed edges (preferrably ones which are submerged such as milfoil, loosestrife, or pondweed) which are in the 10-20' depth range. Get on the CLEAR edge of the bed, and troll crankbaits. Use cranks that will simulate what forage is found in your area. In our lake, perch and crawdad prints seem to do well. Cover water effectively, using a light rod to make sure you have a slow steady action on the lure. Don't forget to change speeds on occasion to get the reaction bites. Once you have trolled an area, you will find where the fish are concentrated, so you can focus in that area.

Currently we are working a hidden weed edge that was only found by trial and error, but its basically a channel about 20' wide, 10-16' deep, and surrounded by submerged weeds. This has been producing crappie over 15", perch weighing a full pound, and bass in the 3+lb range.

Give it a whirl, the fall fish aren't hard to find, as long as you cover water and figure out where they are feeding.

E

[jake campbell]

Fish the deeper drop off points of the lake, and directly off extended points, these areas will be where the bass are feeding to fatten up for winter. Also if you know of any submerged timber in deeper water fish will suspend off of those too.