Fall Smallmouths

Autumn is a golden season for smallmouth bass fans. Summer fattened smallmouths are in prime condition, offering exciting possibilities for action hungry anglers. This season that offers some of the year's best smallmouth fishing is also a time of transition. The weather changes, air and water temperature cool. Smallmouth bass are on the move, shallow one week, deep the next. Fish that nailed almost anything yesterday refuse everything today. As autumn approaches, many smallmouth anglers cringe with frustration, because their favorite fish are so hard to figure out. You'll often hear this referred to as the "fall turnover" season, because on many lakes, the water is "turning over" as the layer cooling on top sinks and warmer water from below is pushed upward. Fishing can be difficult if you don't understand what's going on beneath the surface. You can actually benefit from this fall phenomenon, if you understand it.

Understanding Turnover: During summer, many lakes stratify into three distinct layers. These lakes have a layer of cold water with little dissolved oxygen on the bottom, and a layer of warm, moderately oxygenated water on top. Cold is heavier than warm water (to a certain degree), so warmer water stays on top and colder water sinks and builds up on the bottom. In between lies a layer of cool, oxygen rich water called the thermocline. Summer smallmouths usually stay in or near the thermocline, because that layer comes closest to satisfying their needs for oxygen and water temperature. In late summer or early fall (the exact time depends largely on the latitude at which the lake lies), cooling weather begins lowering the surface water temperature. When the upper layer cools enough, it becomes heavy enough to begin sinking. This action forces the warmer, lighter water below back to the surface. This water subsequently is cooled, just as the previous surface layer was, and begins its descent. This mixing, or "turnover" continues for several weeks until the thermocline disappears, and all lake water is roughly the same temperature. This mixing effect also reoxygenates deep water, so at this point, bass may be found deep, shallow or anywhere in between. Turnover continues until late fall or early winter, when the surface temperature drops below 39 degrees. Water is at its heaviest at this temperature and drops to the bottom. Cooler water "floats" on top. 

The autumn turnover period can be divided into three subperiods or "mini seasons", early autumn, autumn turnover, and late autumn, each of which is characterized by distinct smallmouth behavior patterns. Remember that autumn mini seasons follow no precise calendar; in some areas, for example, the first mini season may run from the last week of September into late October or early November. The dates can vary considerably from year to year, depending on the weather. They also vary from lake to lake and region to region. The transition begins earlier in more northerly latitudes than it does in southern regions. 

Early Autumn: Typically, the early autumn mini season starts right on the heels of summer. The angle of incident sunlight and the length of the day decrease, and water begins cooling. When lakes begin losing heat faster than it's absorbed, smallmouths begin staging along fairly definite routes into shallow water. During this time, fish the first structure that bass will encounter when they come up from deep haunts, creek and river channel edges, large flats bordered by deep water, underwater humps and long sloping points. Other good fishing areas include points rising into lighted water, and trees fallen into deep water. When you've located proper structure, you must entice the fish into biting. Topnotch artificials, include 6 inch plastic worms and salamanders, spinnerbaits, jigs, deep diving crankbaits and spoons. For big smallmouths, though, artificials often take a backseat to naturals. Properly presented, live baits like crawdads, night crawlers, salamanders, minnows and sculpins may seduce jumbo smallies when imitations fail.

Autumn Turnover: As autumn progresses, cooler, oxygenated water reaches ever deeper in stratified lakes, and autumn turnover begins. When this second mini season starts and ends will be closely linked to local climate and the depth and structure of the lake, but the phenomenon appears to get under way on many lakes when the water temperature drops to about 50 degrees. Autumn turnover brings acceptable levels of oxygen to all water levels, and no discernable temperature change from the shallowest shallows to the deepest depths. Thus, smallmouths scatter in all directions and can be found deep, shallow or anywhere in between; finding fish concentrations can be difficult. Fortunately, many bodies of water don't stratify in summer, so they don't experience autumn turnover. Streams are a case in point, and fishing for smallmouths on rivers and creeks is exceptionally good during the autumn turnover mini season. Since not all waters turn over at the same time, anglers can also try switching to waters that have already turned over or in which turnover hasn't yet started. In summer stratified waters, fish shallow water as much as possible during mini season. Some bass always are in shallows, especially around rocky structure. Other good fishing spots include tributary mouths, bluff areas, steep rockpiles and riprap walls around bridges and causeways. Many artificials can be used to fool turnover smallmouths. One hard to beat pick is the jig-n-pork combination. Bounce the lure across the bottom near likely smallmouth hideouts using a presentation that mimics a fleeing crawdad.

Late Autumn: The late autumn mini season is characterized by a gradual return to deep water holding areas. Water conditions, especially temperatures, are generally more stable at greater depths, so bass move deep and often remain in the same area for days at a time. Fishing patterns for this mini season will generally hold stable from late December or early January until early spring in most areas. A good reference depth at which to begin looking for late autumn smallmouths on lakes would be the 15 to 25 foot range. This index varies from lake to lake, depending both on the cover and structure present and on the weather, but it represents a serviceable starting point at most impoundments. Many late season smallies are taken over submerged islands and along outside bends of channels. Bluffs and ledges with stair stepping drops also are worth investigating, as they provide bass with both structure and pronounced depth changes side by side. Steep, vertical drops seem more attractive to late autumn smallmouths than does gently sloping structure. Look for stream smallmouths around ledges, boulders and treetops in deep pools. But don't overlook the importance of using past experience to locate fish. Late autumn bass tend to be found in the same locations year after year. If you've caught smallmouths on a particular tree, in the mouth of a creek, or in a certain pool in previous years, by all means, go back and see what you find. Presentation is extremely important for cold weather smallmouths. Late autumn bass tend to bunch up so compactly that an entire school could be covered by the boat. Jigs and jigging spoons are frequently used. Work with light line, jigging or hopping the lure along the bottom or through suspended fish. Vary your jigging action from short jumps to faster, higher jumps until you determine the manner in which the bass want a lure presented that day. Many anglers prefer 1/2 to 3/4 ounce lures, but jigs and spoons in the 1/32 to 1/8 ounce range frequently tease out a hit much faster than anything else does. 

Autumn smallmouths play by their own set of rules, and change them frequently. Autumn anglers who understand the distinct behavior patterns exhibited by smallmouth bass during the early autumn, autumn turnover, and late autumn mini season can discover some of the best fishing of a lifetime. The rule can be perplexing, but considering the prospective rewards of figuring them out, they're certainly worth learning.