Thread: Fall Fishing - where to find them

Follow the food source. Should still find them as a summer time pattern. Off of points with some timber of rock. Just work up and down the point.

fall is awesome! it is just getting started way u here on north end of the state. you know then the leaves start to turn and fall in the water, and temps are falling, its close! what happens is they start to school up tighter. in summer the biggest ones have been spread out hunting more like other like cats bass and pike. in fall they too join in the schooling feast and things get hot! location really depends on what kind of water your fishing. my go to waters are reservoirs and rivers. takes much less time to figure out res./rivers than true lakes. there are big differences in a lake and a reservoir. just because one is called "racoon lake'(for example) dont make it a "lake". it only means an idiot or manipulative developer named it. lol

in these flowing waters you want to look for the depth fish are holding first, when you hit the water. then you can look for and probe cover in that depth zone. remember the flowing water and imagine how it would effect the fish holding on that spot. always remember that current! that flow controls everything in that body of water. current flow dictates the bite, 90% of the time! if the flow has them shut down, there isnt much you can do to turn them on. run and gun till you find the fish you seek. its just not as easy as telling you to go fish tree tops in 15tow 6' down. as bigarm said, they will fallow the food. that food changes location a lot, for many reasons. as fall goes on that food will migrate even shallower and closer to shore. search search search and remember what you find! lots of time is the way to become an efficient successful angler. take the time to learn one water close to home. that will give you a much faster understanding of the bigger picture, that can be applied to other waters.

in lakes i find crappie holding over deep water in the middle of nowhere. they too will move to breaks and up on flats as fall progresses. generally in "true lakes" there isnt any standing timber or stump fields or channel edges, so you look to breaks around the basin. points, inside, turns, steep breaks, weed beds, humps. later on dips on flats, bays, boat channels,and other shallow spots hold fish. current can be a factor in a lake too. wind blowing hard across a point will develop a distinct area fish will gather. with generally clearer water and lack of 'fish positioning current", lakes can be a bit more challenging to locate fish.

you can also skip all this learning junk, if you have the scratch. just go buy a 3000$ finder that basically lets you see through the water all around. eliminating the need for the whys & what fors.

where ever you try though, 10 point, fall will not disappoint! good luck man.

great post river scum!!

Originally Posted by retiredff

great post river scum!!

Yes, thanks for the info.

I could spend the kids college fund and go buy the 3k depth finder but that would double the value of my over 40 year old boat my Dad gave me. I do have a decent sonar unit with down imaging.

that is all you need

Catching gills in 10 ft. of water at glendale

Originally Posted by dipsydiver

Catching gills in 10 ft. of water at glendale

Ah. Nowhere like Dogwood Lake in the fall with leaves turning and cool temps. Great campground. Used to be my special spot when I lived in Washington. Don't get there nearly enough anymore.