Even as the water temperatures begin to drop in the fall, Dave Csanda proves that there are still plenty of opportunities to catch largemouths if you know where to look for them.

When largemouth bass, pike and panfish spawn in spring, they generally do it in shallow back bays. But, once they’re done spawning, there’s not enough food or space for them to live there the rest of the year, so heavily concentrated in those limited areas. So, what do they do? They drain back out to adjacent areas in the main lake and go on their merry way for the rest of the year.

Let’s say you have a mega lode of walleyes concentrated below a dam area for spring spawning. Once they’re finished, it’s just like with the bass and panfish mentioned earlier. They can’t all stay there, or they’ll starve. So, they drain back down the river and split up in different spots.

The previous two cases didn’t involve changes in water level, but water temperature would provide a pretty good indicator of when the draining process, also referred to as a seasonal transition, was taking place.

This draining principle occurs throughout the year as conditions change within lakes, rivers and reservoirs, again indicated by water temperature. And sometimes even caused by changing water temperature.

Fall bass fishing in natural lakes involves a form of this draining process. It is chiefly caused by falling water temperatures and diminishing hours of daylight, which begins sending signals to bass that winter is on the horizon, and they’d better start feeding heavily while the getting is still good. These falling temps and fading daylight hours also begin sending urgent signals to weed growth, as in many of the weeds begin to die off, with many more to rapidly follow.

The process begins with the shallowest weeds, which begin to turn brown and die fairly early. Water temps might be in the 60s. A week or two later, slightly deeper weed growth on the mid-depth flats begins doing the same; you see bubbles of hydrogen sulfide emerging on the surface from dying weed beds. And you notice the weed tops looking unhealthy, folding over, turning from green to brown. Water temps might range from 55 to 50.

After a few more weeks or a month, as water temps dip below 50, you notice that pretty much all of the shallow weed growth has mostly died. But some careful searching reveals pockets of deeper coontail or cabbage weeds rimming the deeper basin of the lake, where the mass of deep water sort of insulates the surrounding area somewhat, keeping it a little warmer, at least temporarily.

Throughout this entire process, bass start vacating areas where weeds begin to turn brown, decay and die. Beginning with a few fish and then picking up momentum like a snowball rolling downhill, they begin draining away from the shallows, moving progressively deeper throughout fall, until they finally all line up along the perimeter of the deep basin, clinging to the last vestiges of good, healthy, green weed growth.

Basically, they all drained out of the weed beds, out to a few choice spots where the bass from hundreds or thousands of acres are now packed into a few acres of prime green real estate. All those bass from the lily pads, reed beds, docks, bogs, shoreline cover, shallow weeds, mid-depth weeds—they’ve all changed their residency to become deep weed line fish.

While points along the deep weed line are often good, its often the steep inside turns or corners at the bases of points, where they meet the main weed bed, that collect huge groups of bass. You find these key spots along the deep weed edge by moving along them with your trolling motor, casting ahead of the boat, and feeling and interpreting the weed growth—its presence or absence, the types and depths of weeds, and the health of their condition.

Early in the fall transition (drain) process, you throw large tandem-bladed spinnerbaits or shallow-running crankbaits across the receding weed tops. Horizontal lures that cover water to locate and trigger active bass. Toward the end of the process, you fish jig & craw combos or Senko-style worms to sink down to the level of fish that are less likely to rise to the surface, but that are still eager to pounce on something that looks big and tasty. Vertical lures that dip down to their level and look too good to resist.

If you enjoy fall fishing, you’ll find lots of helpful information in the fall issues of MidWest Outdoors, available by subscribing on our website.