The Spoonpluggers Forum

I've been spoonplugging for 4 years, and do pretty good on the bass in the summer months, but have trouble connecting with the bass on my lake in the fall. I'm fishing a man-made lake,around 1200 acres, and i'm not sure what lake clasification it is. the deepest water is 40-50'. Most of the structures are bars connected to the shore. I conect with most of the fish during the summer at 16 to 22'. When the water starts cooling off, it seems I can't connect with the bass anymore. I've tried live bait, but when I catch one there mostly stinkers. Any suggestions?

Larry, Any time you are not catching fish, you are not carrying your depth control deep enough. If you have checked the shallows, the inbetween depths and some of the deep and still no fish then go deeper. In the fall, many fish movements occur between ten and two so make sure that you are on the ball during that time of the day. Rarely do I bring live bait into the picture. It is such a small picture of speed control that it is hardly worth the time or effort. I would rather think that your depth control is off. John

Larry,

If my memory serves me correctly, you posed this very question on America Outdoors. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to respond at that time.

First, if your confident that the feature(s) you're connecting with bass on during the summer are indeed "primary", (meaning an entire school migrates to them) then you have much of the battle won. With this knowledge, you've already eliminated quite a bit of water, and would focus on seasonal alternatives (structure wise) that are adjacent to the summer pattern.
Secondly, when working a reservoir during the changing season i.e. fall, the depth of the main channel will determine how quickly bass will shift their migratory patterns. The initial seasonal change could put the bass in the channel for a prolonged period, without any movement towards the coves/steep shorelines. Therefore, it is desirable to have reachable depths in the channel(s). Moreover, knowing the channel area, and even a good approximation of where migration is originating from, will be necessary.
At some point during the cooling process, the bass will frequent the feeder channels, but only for a limited period of time. The timeframe of this transition would be governed completely by existing weather conditions.

Earlier, the reason I mentioned that you may have the battle half won by knowing the summer pattern is because your efforts would be confined - checking and rechecking the seasonal options that are in close proximity to productive summer features. Discovery, at least in this regard, takes time & patience, and can best be learned by working waters that are accessable to you at a moments notice.
As for productive time slots, movements can be unpredictable, and their duration, limited, but experience has taught me that fish activity occurs during the midday a high percentage of the time.

Walt