Ideal Fall patterns and a question-long winded

[wallywallace]

all the cold comming threw is i believe pushing my NC lake to fall patterns. I have been fishng coves that run a few miles before breaking off in to big area, almost like smaller lakes, at the end of these smaller lakes there are OLD stone dams( no gates just concrete dams) these damns push fresh water from above smaller ponds. I got on google earth, i notice above this stone dams there is the above mentioned ponds, well what filters the ponds is creeks. so would you consider the creeks filtering into the ponds then streaming down the damn to the back of coves a main source of freshwater to the lake. I went out fishing, In my lake we have 3 coves just like the above, I fished all 3 of these coves sunday evening, Most of the time the top of the water looked funny, like there was current right under it, then it would disaperar move to another spot. Bass were jumping fully out of the air, i mean we could see there bright red gills, it is how far they jumped. Does that mean shad were in the ball( fall paterns). I have always read about it, but this is my first time seeing it. - IF any of above confuses you let me know...

second question is, are bass more spooked than gills. My trolling motor is chit, doesnt work, so i am cutting the engine off and coasting to these places and literally fishing the moment. even with all the above bass are jumping all around us, i couldnt catch a single one, did they know were there? I am thinking that the reason the bass wasnt hitting, the heard our motor comming in. I was using weightless fluke, on topwater with sink and jerk pause, topwater spook, lipless chrome crank, white spinneerbait and gill colored swimjig, nothing.