Combating Fall Turnover
By Andrew Ragas The lake is dirty and discolored, with remnants of weeds and detritus floating across the surface. Water clarity is mysteriously pea green and soupy as if an algae bloom broke out. Take a whiff of what’s in front of you, and you might smell a stench that’s stinky sulfuric in scent that not even Odor Eaters could mask it. You launch the rig, unknowing of what’s set to happen. The lake is undergoing a process, so severe that it will affect your psyche. You will observe fish are disinterested and disengaged from feeding, that they’d rather seek cover and protection from this short period of cyclical, biologic change happening throughout the water column. Consequently for many anglers, turnover has become the most difficult, dreadful period of year to bass fish. It’s also become a common, overused excuse for an unproductive day of fishing. While the event will surely dictate our strategies for lake selection and fishing techniques, it won’t impact our fishing negatively, or take our heads out from the game, unless we allow it to.
Turnover in Layman’s Terms
Generally taking place any time from mid September through mid October in my