2nd Annual Fall Frenzy - Oct 3rd, 4th and 5th

[rodmaker]

Good point Dave.

If you can check out the areas you want to fish while it's still light out. You can then come up with your trolling pattern by keying in "dummy" weighpoints on your gps. to keep you away from those "hungry prop" eating rocks.

[rodmaker]

Jeff,

You havce mail

[Team Otter]

A good rule of thumb for me, as it relates to water temperature and presentations for trolling at night is:

1. 60 - 65 F, #5 and #7 Shad Raps, #10 HJ's, #7 Salmo Minnows @ 1.8 - 2.2 mph.

2. 55 - 60 F, #5 and #7 Shad Raps, #10 and #12 HJ's, #9 Salmo Minnows @ 1.5 - 1.8 mph.

3. 50 - 55 F, #12 HJ's or #9 Salmo Minnows @ 1.0 - 1.5 mph.

4. <50 F, #12 and #14 HJ's @ <1.0 mph.

[rodmaker]

Awesome Post !!!.

A ton of info there. A question I'm sure others will have is when do you use Shad raps VS Salmo's.

I always start with a shad rap, if nothing I change.

[SCONASOTAN]

TO - do you use the floating or sinking Salmo Minnows? have you noticeda difference is useing either? Do they have better action than the Rapala Minnow Rap?

thanks

[Team Otter]

I use the floating style Minnows because it seems as though I have a little better depth control versus the sinking style. Minnow Raps are a decent option too.

[Team Otter]

I forgot to mention that #4 and #5 Salmo Hornets are also a nice option for smaller presentations.

RM, to specifically answer your question, I lean towards Shad Raps or Hornets when fishing rocks or sand/gravel but focus more on the stick-style baits when fishing cover.

[Team Otter]

The only hard evidence I have on the theory and/or strategy above is that many of my decisions about what to use revolve around food size. And, in most cases, larger forage hang in cover while smaller forage scatter and roam over sand and gravel flats.

[John Mickish]

You guys are starting to make it sound like if this isn't your home water your in trouble. Any fish in "safe" water or am I going to have to use my buddies boat?

[Borch]

No the guys that will be there can give you the updated water levels. Lots of good and safe water to be had. The piece that we had success on last get togther topped out at 3' with most in the 4-6 ft range on top.

[John Mickish]

That's good to hear because I'm not so crazy about fishing in skinny water, especially if its rocky.

[PerchJerker]

That's good to hear because I'm not so crazy about fishing in skinny water, especially if its rocky.

I agree 100%. It gets even worse when there's waves bouncing you 2 feet up and 2 feet down. The only point I was trying to make is to not rely 100% on the map chips if fishing shallow, rocky water, because they are missing spots that you will hit if you're not paying attention to your depthfinder and your previous plot trails.

[rodmaker]

Dave,

Rocks and fiberglass boats are not a good combination. Even with the previous boat (aluminum) I had a hard time getting myself trolling in 3-4 ft of water.

I still like the idea of getting out there a few hours before dark and finding an area and put in "dummy weigh points" to keep yourself from those "hungry rocks".

[hanson]

If you get pretty familiar with a reef, its really no big deal. Some of the rocky shorelines however can be quite interesting with lots of points, humps, and contours that cut back on you as well. There was one area I was trolling last fall following that 5-6' depth range and all of a sudden the depth came up to 3' then 2' and I couldn't steer my way out of it. The contour pretty much reversed itself aways and I had to backtrack to find my way out of that inside bend. Just a little spooky bouncing around in 2-3' of water over rocks in the waves. My GPS has these areas marked out now with waypoints and obviously my memory remembers a bit about them as well but there is no map chip that will show you stuff like this. Gotta find it on your own.

[Team Otter]

Lots of fish in skinny water with no rocks nearby too.

[PerchJerker]

Lots of fish in skinny water with no rocks nearby too.

Couldn't agree more. The only time I fish rocky areas that I don't already know is when it's too rough (or crowded) to fish the other spots.

[markkstanley]

Wussies!! Rocks be da%%ed full speed ahead! Course Perchjerker has a very nice Reata and I run a very well banged up Crestliner. It's buoys on the river I fear.

[PerchJerker]

Wussies!! Rocks be da%%ed full speed ahead! Course Perchjerker has a very nice Reata and I run a very well banged up Crestliner. It's buoys on the river I fear.

The guy that owned Mark's Crestliner before Mark is a good friend of mine. His favorite saying about the shallow rocks on Mille Lacs was "my Crestliner ain't scared"

For the record the bottom of my boat is in perfect condition .... my skegs and props, not so much

[rodmaker]

Dave,

Samae with my the bottom of my YarCraft and prop also. I would like to keep it that way. Going to do alot of scouting before it gets dark.

[polarsusd81]

For the record the bottom of my boat is in perfect condition .... my skegs and props, not so much

I thought Skegs were supposed to be polished aluminum.

For the record, Lil Red's 15 horse Mariner has no skeg.

[dfv87]

We locked in our reservations! Looking forward to rippin raps for some eyes!

[Patti]

Originally Posted By: Patti

Ok....reservation made. It was nice talking to you Paul.

Looking forward to meeting you.

As recommended I won't be bringing my 14 ft. boat so I will be looking for an open seat.

I do have references from FM'ers...the Annandale GTG and the Womens GTG at Lake Osakis.

I had the pleasure of meeting Patti last week to look at her "new" boat. I see she's looking for a seat...any one of you would be very happy to have her with. Great girl and will provide some laughs for sure. She'd make any cranky ol fart grin a little.

Wow...it's been so long I forgot about these threads. Thanks Steve, it was great meeting you too. I think, at least for this year, I'm going to take your advice and leave the ol' Crestliner as is.

I'm really hoping to learn alot on this trip...as we get closer, I'll be going thru the threads and putting together a tacklebox shopping list (my kind of shopping). At that point I may have a few questions. Hopefully I won't get too annoying...

[Paul Waldowski]

Just an update for everyone. I currently only have room for 4 more people so if you are waffling back and forth you better decide soon.

[markkstanley]

Paul, you get my email? Just need a spot to crash Friday.

[Paul Waldowski]

Got it. I just can't reply using my FM mailbox.

[hanson]

Just an update for everyone. I currently only have room for 4 more people so if you are waffling back and forth you better decide soon.

Wow... that filled up quick. Should be a great time as always.

[dfv87]

How did the Sept Full Moon go? Water Temps etc? Looking to run up Friday night for a quick up and home same night.

[PerchJerker]

How did the Sept Full Moon go? Water Temps etc?

I posted this in another thread but will repeat it here. I had planned to go to Mille Lacs last Saturday but wrenched my back pretty good on Thursday so I decided to stay home and take it easy. The guys that went got fish between 14" and 27" but it wasn't a very fast bite - 2 fish in the boat per hour with 4 lines in the water. All their fish were scattered. Water temp was 64 degrees.

[dfv87]

Thanks PJ!

Looking forward to Frenzy Weekend!

Between 2 girls in Basketball and Work, time to get out is a premium! I have the shakes something terrible. Can't wait!

[PerchJerker]

time to get out is a premium!

I hear ya. One of my kid's birthday is this weekend and the other kid is playing football. And my wife has a couple things going on this fall too. I was just looking at how much time I'd have to fish and hunt this fall and didn't come up with all that much ...... every year I tell myself that I'll have more time next year but it usually goes the other way