Do smallmouth go shallower in early Fall in the Northeast?

[creekchub]

TTT

[Jdwelding]

I've caught a bunch throwing a spinnerbait on bluff walls where there is maybe a 6 foot grass line parallel with the wall.

[Aric11]

Early Fall I see them come up shallow yes but it’s normally temperature / weather driven. Get a good week of falling water temps then the first nice day or two pulls them up shallow. I agree with the part about fish moving deeper though. The main thing to remember is look for bait. This time of year they are following the bait more than anything. If you see bait shallow fish can be caught. Otherwise go out deep and graph for them.

[TownesZ21]

Lake by lake, two lakes within 50 miles can be completely different

[bschwoep]

Lake by lake, two lakes within 50 miles can be completely different

Yes. It can also vary by location in the same lake depending on what the bait is doing. With as warm as the water is this year by mid-October the fish will probably still be in summer patterns instead of their usual fall patterns. The past 3 years it seems like the fall bite doesn't get going good until almost November.

[Fish Boy]

There is never a time that they are not shallow unless of course there is zero oxygen or water. I prefer to fish deep once the water hits that 42ish mark but still go shallow a fair amount as in like 1 to 5 foot mid day. But even come ice fishing when you drop the camera down you'll see brownies cruising very very shallow. But it all depends on the body of water as well.

[DrewFlu33]

Lake by lake, two lakes within 50 miles can be completely different

This holds true in Minnesota, but in many cases they can be lakes across the road from each other!


Again only offering what I know from MN, there seem to be two things that drive it (past obvious things like current dictating where they'll set up). Their primary, secondary, and tertiary concerns seem to be to follow the bait as has been mentioned above. If the bait is shallow, they'll be shallow. If the bait is deep, they're out deep. After that, I've noticed that water clarity seems to matter a lot. In clear water, it seems they'll only be up shallow in low-light conditions and will be deep during the day. In murky water, they're much more apt to be shallow. But the water clarity will never supercede following the bait (though it may dictate where the bait hangs out).

[ColdSVT]

I know up here if I can find shallow rocks the smallies will be there until Oct and sometimes november

[GZ ONE]

Yes they do. Great spinnerbait action when the water temps get in the 50's.

Tandem willow #3's painted / flake ?

[pa.X19]

Yes very shallow sometimes and then you wished you had fished the whole week like that

[g352nv]

Yes very shallow sometimes and then you wished you had fished the whole week like that

I always check shallow first.

[pa.X19]

I always check shallow first.

I've learned that after that trip and still made the same mistake again

[krindgen]

Have had some stellar days on Oneida the month of October fishing shallow, windy shoals with a lipless crank and spinnerbait. I can also say at that same time I have seen huge bags come out of deep creeks when that shoal bite was on.