Mid-Fall Multi-Species "Special"

[Team Otter]

Nope, not a "blue light" special...

I had a guide trip today and what a day for that. Cloudy, variable winds, mild temperatures and hungry fish! With the exception of a northern and a bass, I saw just about every other species this area has to offer come aboard. We had a blast today and by day's end, the livewell had quite a load in it for multiple fish fries for a happy husband and wife.

I kept the presentation simple today but that's where it ended. Adjustments to the simple presentation, I think, made a big difference. We used jigs and minnows and plastic in 12 - 16' of water but what did matter was speed, location, how the jig was presented and color. Big list, I know. Let me explain. The sharper drop-offs with no cover, top or bottom, were loaded with white bass and sheephead; fun to catch but that's about it. The larger flats adjacent to deep water had quite a few perch on them but it took a lot of sorting and bait, so we switched to plastic and kept 10. The sharper drops with cover at the bottom of the break was really where it was at. We located a very short (i.e. ~30 yards) stretch of cover in 15' of water that was still green. If you pitched the jig in shallow and worked it out, crappies and perch. If you pitched the jig out deep and worked it back to the boat, crappies. If you stayed vertical and held the boat in 12' of water, 'eyes. ~4:45 pm we made 1 last move before heading in ~5:30 pm and we got into a pretty nice school of fish that were big-time active. ~6 'eyes between 13 - 15" came to the boat and the crappies almost became a nuisance. All in all, we kept 10 perch, 10 crappies and 6 'eyes for the day. What would have happened if we would have stayed until sun-down? The dominant colors were charteuse, red, orange and green. White, pink, black, blue and purple never got touched.

As much as I'd like to "fish it hard" down here in the coming weeks, it's not going to happen. Next week I'll be on Gull and then the following week I'll be on Mille Lacs. Barring additional guide trips to the North Country, the soonest I'll be back on the water down here is early November. So, get after 'em. The fish have definitely "turned the corner" and the feed bag is beginning.