Autumn’s cooling water temperatures trigger a movement that sees largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and walleyes relating to steeper-breaking areas. On both still and flowing waters, anglers that key in on dropoffs will more consistently enjoy late-fall success.

When falling water temperatures reach the 50-degree mark, I find that walleyes in free-flowing waters begin concentrating in lengthy, slow-moving pools that have a sharp-dropping shoreline. When such holes are located on a river bend, and they often are, the steep shoreline is usually found on the outside bend.

Expect to find concentrations of walleyes along banks areas that have at least a 45-degree drop to them. The presence of rock ledges and boulders, which deflect current and provide ambush points for walleyes, adds to the likelihood walleyes will be using the spot. A long hole can stretch for hundreds of yards, holding scattered pockets of fish here and there along the way.

Jig-type presentations work well when pitched along a rocky river shoreline as the boat slowly drifts along. I like both tube jigs and bucktail jigs. In the case of bucktails, I tip them with either a soft-bait minnow imitation or the real thing. Quarter ounce and 3/16-ounce jigs work best in most situations.

Both walleyes and bass use submerged creek and river channels. This is especially true during the late fall. Though fish location will vary from lake to lake, the most productive areas tend to be ones where the tops of the channel edges lie in 12 to 20-some feet of water.

Keep in mind that many Pennsylvania reservoirs experience significant drawdowns by late fall; channels that were in 40 feet of water during summer may be half that by November.

Just as certain shoreline characteristics tend to concentrate fish, the same can be said of submerged creek channels. Features such as sharp bends, merging secondary channels, stumps, bridge abutments, brushpiles, and cribs increase the odds that walleyes and bass will be stacking up there. And since fish do tend to concentrate in specific areas, it takes a fair amount of patience to pick channels apart looking for the sweet spot.

Lake maps provide a fair location of channels. Used in concert with a sonar unit, one can quickly paint an accurate picture of underwater channels. Global Positioning System units that accept electronic mapping programs can lead you to choose channel areas, though the accuracy and detail of such maps varies from lake to lake, as well as from program to program.

Rip-rap — where rock is used to stabilize bank sections, dams and causeways — tend to be productive during the fall.

Rip-rapped dam faces are sometimes off-limits to anglers. But on the ones that are open, the rocky, fast-dropping shoreline is attractive to gamefish. Such spots provide access to deep water. The rocks gather algae, which in turn attracts minnow life, and consequently bass and walleyes. During sunny weather, the rocks gather heat. Submerged vegetation is sometimes found in concert with areas of riprap, which is likely to provide that spot-on-a-spot where gamefish will be found.

Riprap lends itself to a variety of presentations. Diving crankbaits are effective on bass. Bounce the crankbait along the rocky shelf, expecting most hits to occur when the bait breaks free of the bottom. Drop-shot rigs are another good option, especially along smoother riprap. Keep the weight as light as possible to avoid dropping it in between the rocks. In areas of submerged weeds, use a skirted jig/crawfish trailer combo or Texas-rigged worm to ply the edges and open pockets within the cover.

Finally, sections of steep-dropping shoreline — often where the river/creek channel swings in tight to the bank — also become attractive to gamefish during the fall.

Cover options are many. Dropoff shoreline areas feature laydowns, where the eroding banks allow trees to fall into the water. Rockslides are common for the same reason. Stumps are often part of the picture, too.

In the unstable, changing weather of fall, gamefish can move vertically in the water column as their activity level changes.

A skirted jig worked throughout the limbs of laydowns is an effective way of pulling bass out of the wood. Watch how the limbs and branches lie; work the bait along the same “grain” to minimize snags. Jigs hopped along rocky shelves, spots crayfish call home, will also be intercepted by bass.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.