Fall Bass and Water Temperature

by Kevin Patton

The transition from summer to fall brings about many changes in a lake that affect the bass who live there and the forage they feed upon.

Traditionally, I like to visit Newton Lake during the last two weeks of October for reasons that include the wildlife and beautiful scenery.

The chief reason is that water temperatures have usually dropped into the mid-60's. This signals a change in the feeding activity of bass.

Newton, being a power plant lake, is unique in several respects. Water temperatures stay warmer than a typical lake, where the fall transition and lowering of water temperatures are more likely to take place during September.

Another feature unique to Newton Lake is the presence of threadfin shad as a forage base. These bite-sized baitfish cannot survive the cold Illinois winters without the heated water in a power plant lake. When water temperatures near 40 degrees, they begin to die off and thus are not found in most Illinois waters.

At Newton, when the water temperatures dip into the 60's, the threadfin begin to move toward the creeks and backs of coves and the bass follow to feed up for the winter.

Anglers can then put down the worm rods, deep crankbaits, and Carolina rigs in favor of spinnerbaits, shallow crankbaits, swim baits, and topwater lures.

When I headed to Newton on October 21 my hopes were high for some fast, shallow-water action.

I didn't hit the boat ramp until 11:30, where the water temperature was a surprisingly warm 80 degrees.

The day was a sunny with a clear blue sky. It was 55 degrees with a northeast wind of 10-15 mph. Just my luck, another post-front day.

I headed to the cold arm of the lake, seeking cooler water temperatures and hoping to find some shad in shallow water.

The water in the biggest cove on the east side of the cold arm was cooler, but still 73 degrees. I fished my typical shallow water producers, such as Nichols spinnerbaits in colors #1 and #47, silver-foil colored Bagley's Bassin Shad, silver 3/4-ounce Rattletrap, shallow-diving, white Bandit crankbait, and assorted topwater baits.

I worked these fast-moving lures, despite the lack of shad in great numbers. The spinnerbait produced one small bass, but the other lures drew a blank.

When the back of the cove didn't produce, I worked toward the mouth of the cove, fishing pockets and secondary points. As I got closer to deeper water, I mixed in a Carolina-rigged black and blue lizard but came up empty.

By the time I reached the main lake the wind had picked up and I headed farther north up the cold arm. The water was 74-75 degrees in most areas.

At mid lake I stopped at a windblown pocket and picked up several bass up to 15 inches by using a seven-inch, blue fleck, Berkley Gulp Turtleback worm, rigged Texas-style with no weight.

I fished one area of rip rap, where several small bass bit a pearl Tiki Stick rigged wacky-style with a weedless hook. I was picking up fish, but only when I stayed near the main lake pockets and points.

At 4 p.m. I headed to the dock with only small bass to show for the day, but with hope that tomorrow I would find the right area that would be full of larger fish.

Day two was mostly sunny again with 15-25 mph easterly winds that would make fishing a challenge in many areas. The water at the ramp was still 80 degrees.

I fished some areas of rip rap up the hot arm and caught nothing. Not finding any shad in the back of a large cove on the west side of the lake nor getting any strikes, I decided to try some of my favorite main lake areas.

About this time I was wishing that I had called to a local bait shop or the power plant and asked about the water temperatures prior to the trip.

Fishing definitely picked up when I slowed down to fish a Texas-rigged blue fleck Gulp worm with a 1/4-ounce black weight.

Tapering main lake points with brush were the best producing areas, giving me 16 and 17-inch fish, as well as a dozen smaller ones.

Most of the bass were caught in six to 10 feet of water, but I had to keep moving as it seemed one point would be good for only one to three fish.

I had tried spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and swim baits in shallow water with no success. It looked like this was going to be a worm fishing trip whether I liked it or not.

With a rainy weather system moving into the area, I had to decide what arm of the lake to fish during the final day.

Day three started mostly sunny and the wind was still howling from the SSE. The water temperature at the ramp was now down to 73 degrees.

Weather forecasts called for the day to get darker and for rain to blanket the whole area.

I headed to the far north end of the cold arm to see if there were any water temperatures in the 60's.

Indeed, it was 69 degrees in the last cove up the cold arm, but I could not get any bites on either the fast-moving baits or the Gulp worm.

I changed coves and caught more small bass, including one feisty 14-incher that bit a 1/16-ounce jig thrown at a tree that looked good for crappies.

With skies darkening and rain threatening, I hop scotched down the lake from one main lake point to another. Just as the day before, I picked up one or two bass per point or downed tree on the Gulp worm.

Also like yesterday, 12 to 14-inch fish were plentiful, but I couldn't locate and catch the lunkers. At 2:00 it poured rain and the day and trip were done.

In retrospect, perhaps I should have given up on the shallow water bite earlier and resorted to more traditional summer patterns due to the high water temperatures.

Fishing deeper with heavy jigs, Carolina rigs, deep crankbaits, or slow-rolling heavy spinnerbaits may have coaxed some bass into biting before their move to shallow water.

There are no rules set in concrete and no magical water temperatures for catching fish.

Fishing success is due to a combination of factors that no one thoroughly understands. However, there are behavior patterns that repeat and sooner or later, bass will feed up during the fall.

The prime shallow water bite this year will be during November due to our warm fall and maybe because of more power generation at the plant.

They can't stay deep forever, especially when their dinner is being served by the bucket-load in shallow water.

For now, I'll watch the World Series and some football, wait a couple weeks for water temperatures to drop, and head back for another chance at some of those Newton Lake lunkers.

Note: Keep in mind that Newton Lake will be closed to all fishing during the two shotgun deer seasons. The cold arm of the lake will also be closed to fishing entirely for waterfowl hunting, starting Thanksgiving Day. The hot arm will remain open to fishermen.