In reservoirs, three locations transcend the particulars of early, mid-, and late fall—roadbeds, creeks, and rivers. We’ll look at these first.

Roadbeds

Throughout the fall after turnover, largemouths feed along deep roadbeds across their range, in reservoirs from New York to Texas. The mixing or oxygenation of surface and deep water creates an underwater free-for-all, allowing prey and predators access to all depths.

Largemouths group to attack baitfish at turns, intersections, dips, rises, bridges, stone walls, and culverts on submerged roadways. In these drowned landscapes, ranging from 10 to more than 30 feet deep, you’ll find one of the most consistent fall patterns that lasts till lakes hit their annual lows.

Creeks

Roadbeds aren’t the only submerged structure that attracts bass. Also look for creek arms, because those also attract preyfish and bass.

Cooling water in fall pulls baitfish and bass from the mouths of tributaries and into the lower end of creek arms. In summer, these are warm and stagnant, their resident bass sluggish and few in number. The fish are easy to spot, come fall: Compared to the pale green, chunky lake fish, the creek fish are skinny and dark.

In midfall, submerged weeds in creeks start to thin, except for the deeper clumps of coontail and hydrilla, which attract groups of bass. Once water temperature falls below about 50°F, shad and bass leave the shallow ends of creek arms again and drop back toward the main reservoir.

During the Coldwater Period, creek-arm fish overwinter in the lower ends of large creeks that have little current.

Rivers

Largemouth bass typically avoid substantial current. They use it three seasons of the year if they need to, but come midfall and with the slowing of their metabolism, they seek out locations that shelter them from it. Tracking studies on several major rivers, including the Hudson and the Mississippi, demonstrate largemouths’ preference for deep, protected locations with adequate oxygen. Unfortunately for them, such sites are few and far between. On Pool 12 of the Mississippi, for example—a 15-mile section partitioned by locks and dams—only three prime largemouth wintering locations have been found. On the Hudson, in the 100-mile tidal stretch below Troy, NY, only five winter refuges have been identified.

Typically, bass seek out the upper ends of deep sloughs, protected sections of tributaries, and manmade harbors. In colder climates, they migrate to these locales before weather gets rough—mid-September, in some cases. Elsewhere, they take shelter in side channels or backwaters until water temperatures fall into the low-50°F range, at which point they head into their wintering areas.

For largemouths in natural lakes and impoundments, the variables propelling movement are more complex. These can be divided into early, mid-, and late fall factors.