The key to finding fall fish is to remember that they are wanting to gorge as fast and easily as they can. In most systems, the target fodder is minnows. Minnows being cold blooded fishes themselves are doing exactly the same thing as the sport species you are targeting.... gorging on forage. Minnows will be feeding on the small crustaceans, freshwater shrimps, plankton, water bugs etc. The minnows food will be hanging out in the weeds. Guess where your target species are going to be? You guessed it! In the weeds right behind the minnows. The weed flats........ those large areas of weed masses that grow on fairly flat, contour-free bottoms will be a strike bonanza for fall anglers. During stable weather periods, these weed flats will be alive with critters. Hoards of minnows will be rolling through them picking and popping the food they seek. The dense pockets of weeds also serve to somewhat protect them, hide them from the marauders that are lurking behind.
In the Bahamas of Canada, SW Ontario's Lake St Clair sees this natural phenomenon near the end of September, early October. It will surely be a different time frame in your area but I guarantee, the response will be the same at some point. This fall weed flat set up is the most amazing situation I have ever encountered! Every species of fish in the Lake are present on the flats, chasing and gorging and thrashing at each other. Every part of the food chain will be represented from the tiniest of crustacea to the largest of fish such as the water wolf himself.... Mr Musky.
There is one thing that will screw up the flats faster than you can imagine. A strong blow from whatever direction on the compass that heads into the direction of deeper water. My favourite flat is on a north shore. If a north wind blows hard for a day towards the deeper lake waters beyond, it will kill the flat, kill the fishing action on that flat. What happens is a forced lake turnover on that flat. The winds blow the warmer surface water out into the lake and the flat is replaced with cooler lake waters that come in to equalize the loss. The forage minnows, gamefish, etc, all resent the presence of cooler waters. They will seek the warmest waters in the lake even if it is unavailable at the time. Regardless, everything will leave the flat! I have seen it change in one day. On a Monday your catching so many fish you consider applying for a commercial licence, on Tuesday yer feeding the family bologna sandwiches. It can be THAT dramatic!
Initially when this happens, anglers can find some fish holding just off the weedflat in deeper water or off the structured drop off a few hundred yards. The fish will be scattered making memories of yesterday as haunting as the good old days at Gravenhurst Fire College. If the weather system doesn't stable out, the fish will not return and will scatter into the lake. Your glory days of fall fishing has ended. The fish will temporarily return if the weather changes back to stable and mild quickly after the blow.
