Days are getting shorter, leaves are changing colors, it’s getting a little nippy outside, and the largemouth bass fishing is heating up.  The fall season in Michigan is the beginning of a lot of changes.  Everything begins to get ready for a long, bone chilling winter.  In natural lakes largemouth bass school up and eat as much shad as they can.  Fishing during fall months can be spectacular.  This fall I’ve done some research in books and on the water in order to pattern largemouth bass in natural lakes.  I’ve concluded that successful bass fishing during the fall is like putting together a puzzle.  The fall puzzle consists of four pieces; Weather pattern, Lake Conditions, Food Chain, and Presentations.  Putting these pieces together has made largemouth bass fishing very exciting this fall. 

            I’m going to leadoff by describing the lake conditions anglers' face during the fall.  When long sweltering summer days begin to shorten and cool, the lake conditions change as well.  First, the surface water temperature starts to slowly drop, and then the once noticeable thermocline starts to dissipate.  Second, the water will turnover and the surface water temperature will equal the temperature in the depths.  When turnover occurs the water temperature is anywhere between 50-55 degrees.  This causes bass to spread throughout the water column making them tough to catch.  As the amount of sunlight lessens weeds in deep water will start to decompose and give off (CO2).  This forces the bass shallow towards oxygen rich water.  These events start the largemouth’s fall migration into shallow water.

            Water doesn’t cool down all by itself.  The second piece of the puzzle requires an understanding of fall weather patterns.  During fall months shortening days and fast moving cold fronts plague Michigan.  The fall weather pattern is like a rigged boxing match between summer and winter, and winter always wins.  Every Canadian cold front that passes during the fall creates optimum feeding conditions.  Cold fronts remind baitfish, and bass that winter is right around the corner.

            The most difficult piece of the puzzle is patterning the effects water conditions and weather patterns have on the food chain.  Cold fronts, cooling water temperatures, and oxygen levels dictate the migration of plankton, shad, and largemouth bass.  The first link of the food chain in most natural lakes is plankton.  The two most common types of plankton are phytoplankton and zooplankton.  Phytoplankton is considered a plant because they are phototropic whereas zooplankton is an animal.  My understanding is that zooplankton hangs out around oxygen rich weeds and phytoplankton migrates vertically in the water column to meet its needs most of the summer.  When fall cold fronts mix the water column it greatly affects plankton.  After a cold front passes it’s normally followed by bright blue skies.  This causes phytoplankton to move towards shallower water.  Phytoplankton usually flourishes in coves that are rich in oxygen and nutrients.  The best coves are ones where the homeowners fertilize their lawns.  The fertilizer will run-off into the cove and give phytoplankton more nutrients and keep them alive longer.  Coves like this will have a little green tint to the water.  Locating a cove with a green tint to the water, during the fall, could mean a bass bonanza.

            Lets not get ahead of ourselves talking about a bass bonanza when we find green water.  Bass don’t go around chasing plankton but shad and other baitfish do.  Plankton is the main food source for shad and they follow them wherever they go.  During the fall shad follows plankton to shallow green weed beds, long tapering points, creek arms, and coves.  Shad will school up and feed heavily to get ready for a long winter. 

            Lurking behind the schools of shad are aggressive, hungry, schools of largemouth bass wanting to gorge themselves.  They eat so much during the fall frenzy they could almost burst.  Some bass will hide out by any cover they can find like, weeds, wood, or docks.  Other bass will hunt in wolf packs until they find a school of shad.  Largemouth bass will push the shad into shallow water in order to make them easy targets.  Once one bass eats they’ll start a feeding frenzy.  Often times I’ll catch a bass and three or four more will follow it to the boat.

            The final piece of the puzzle is cashing in and catching fall largemouth bass.  Before I drop my boat in the water I study a map and locate weed beds, points, and coves that could produce.  I like to target coves during the fall because I’m most confident fishing them.  When I get into a cove I look for deep water close to the mouth of the cove, green weeds, green water, and most importantly shad.  I always start by throwing a lipless crankbait, silver buddy, or a spinnerbait.  I try to match the size and color of the shad I can see.  Fall bass usually don’t hesitate to drill a fast moving lure often times engulfing the entire lure in its mouth.  If the bass are fussy than I will try a jig, tube, or drop shot minnow, more times than not these baits get the job done for me.

            I’ve caught some of my biggest stringers of largemouth bass when I put together the fall puzzle.  On October 21, 2006 Matt Morgan and I were able to put together the puzzle and whack a bunch of quality largemouth.  We landed at least 20 bigheads out of a magical cove including a couple five pounders.  Our best five bass weighed between 20-21 pounds.  Putting together the fall largemouth puzzle has made this fall one to remember.