Fall Fishing By Gary Howey
Here we go again, we’re heading into the fall, where has our summer gone?
It’s that time of the year, the time our kids are heading back to school. As the temperatures decrease, water temperatures will start to cool and fishing will pick up.
With all of these things happening: you can bet it won’t be long before the good fall fishing season is here.
With the water temperatures declining, all species of fish will really start to feed heavily.
When fishing in the fall, it’s a good idea to use larger live bait.
During the fall, fish are on a mission, trying to fatten up before the freeze up. Chubs and larger minnows seem to attract the larger fish, out producing the smaller baits.
In the rivers, you’ll find the walleye, sauger and smallmouth moving shallow to clean up any remaining baitfish or the crawfish that have survived the summer.
In our lakes, bluegills, crappies, largemouth bass and pike will move into and along the edge of the weeds, picking off insects and of course each other.
Lake walleyes will now be found spread out over the mud flats or cruising the weeds looking for a late season snacks.
This is the time of the year that you should look for the greenest vegetation you can find.
There are several reasons that fish will move into these green weed beds. One is because their food source, baitfish will have moved there, another is because this is where they’ll find the coolest temperatures because of the shade and the oxygen being given off by the vegetation.
As anyone who has fished thee weedy areas can tell you, theses areas can be a nightmare as weeds can eat tackle as fast as you tie it on.
If you’re after bass you’ll probably be probing these weedy areas with some sort of weedless rig such as a Texas rig or some sort of jig and pig combination.
Fall bass can also be taken by slow rolling spinner bait into pockets in the weed beds or by running buzz baits over the top of the weeds.
With the drop in water temperatures, fish, which are cold blooded, will slow down, so you’ll need to do the same, slowing down the way you’re fishing and going with smaller baits.
Those anglers fishing for panfish should work the pockets and along the edge of the weeds with small tube jigs or a light livebait jigs.
To draw panfish out of the thicker cover they’re using this time of the year, try a Slip bobbers, split shot and small hooks tipped with minnows or pieces of night crawlers cast along the weed edge will draw the fish out of the cover.
This is the time off the year that walleye anglers will be changing from night crawlers back to minnows. You’ll want to experiment a little bit with your baits, as all walleyes don’t change from worms to minnows at the same time or on a certain date.
Walleye anglers will have good luck using jigs to work along the edge of the weeds and on the breaks along mud flats.
If you’re going to be pike fishing you’ll be working the weeds and there are a couple of baits that are excellent pike producers this time of the year.
Spinnerbaits ran over the top or along the edge of the weeds is a great fall bait for Pike.
You’ll want to hold your rod high and speed crank the bait over the top of the weeds. When you come across a hole or pocket in the weeds, let your spinnerbait drop or helicopter down into the pocket and then hold your rod tip high, while cranking it back onto the top of the weeds.
The pause and slow drop of the spinnerbait will often tempt bass that are buried in or along the edge of these pockets.
The bottom loving catfish will be moving from their summer haunts, deeper holes and head into areas where there’s less current. Cat fishermen will need to look for the fish in these holes, working their prepared (stink bait) and live bait rigs in the pockets with less current or in the slack water found behind the dead falls and snags.
No matter what species of fish you’ll be looking for, don’t over look the slack water pockets just off the current by the dam, as these areas will be visited through out the day by fish cruising the area searching for a meal.
Don’t make the mistake that many anglers do during the fall and put the rod and reel away and think only hunting.
Fall fishing produces some of the largest fish of the year with all species trying to fatten up prior to the cold hard winter.