Tips for fall sm bass

[Luis Dominguez]

So fall has started (obviously) and there's a lake I've been fishing at since the start of summer. It's connected to the Columbia River by a pipeline and I'm assuming fish come in and out through there, I was wondering if the fish will stay inside of the lake now that the water is getting colder and they will just go deeper, or if they will mostly end up going out onto the river where there are more places to stay at during the cold weather? Am I wasting my time in the lake when I should be hitting the other side where the river is? Smallmouth btw

 

[igquick]

I know where you are talking about, and they should follow the carp. You see any there? I've never been there during the fall, but in the summer I always catch them near the same areas of the carp

 

[Fishwhisperer44]

The vast majority of the smallmouth on the river will stay in the river & follow the food in the fall. Those ponds get too cold to sustain much of the forage base.

 

[tbrinks]

The vast majority of the smallmouth on the river will stay in the river & follow the food in the fall. Those ponds get too cold to sustain much of the forage base.

Exactly. Find the food and you will find the fish.

 

[IKfish]

Choose the one on a flat that’s near deeper water with wood on or near the break. River bait like a flat surface under them but, like almost everything else that swims, they also like cover.
Here is a smallie caught on my new rig last week.

 

[tbrinks]

Typical river current breaks and like IKfish says, flats near deeper water. Here are some good areas. This screenshot might be close to the backwater you are talking about if its the same place I'm thinking of.