What's Working Now...

[Matt Johnson]

I made it out this morning for a couple hours. Just couldn't resist the cool temps and comfortable weather!

I started off working a piece of deep structure in about 13-15 feet. It was an isolated grass hump that was pinned between deep and shallow water. I pitched a jig-worm over it for about 45 minutes and managed to land a few smaller fish in the 12-15 inch range. The big ones didn't seem to be holding on that particular piece of structure so I slid up towards a set of docks that were next to deeper water.

By this time is was about 10:30am and the sun was out and casting a very nice shady spot around the pontoons and larger docks. I worked a wacky-rigged Christmas Tree Comida both along side and under the docks. Caught 6 fish off the docks between 10:30-11:30am, all over 16 inches with the biggest just ticking that 21-inch mark...

The larger fish were definitely holding under the docks today and they were aggressive. All of my hits under the docks where within a couple seconds (if even that) of the bait hitting the water. Some of the fish hit immediately and tore out drag like a pike!

Looks like this nice weather is going to last through tomorrow as well for the Metro Area. I'm going to try another lake tomorrow in hopes of patterning a few larger deep water bass...

[Mr. Pike1]

Matt, your following my favorite tech of fishing "The Shady Side of Town".

I got out early as well and hammered the largies on the docks with Senkos. I will be on the Mississippi all day Sunday chasing smallies.

One of these days we are going to have to meet up on one of the metro lakes and chase bass or pannies. I like to do the 6-11 am runs close to home when I am not cabin bound

[Matt Johnson]

Pike,

The shade has proven to be worth it's weight in gold lately for holding large fish. The larger the area, the better.

Took my bro out fishing for a couple hours right after sunrise today. We didn't land a lot of fish, but we got a few nice ones. We skipped docks with wacky-rigged Comidas pretty much the entire time. I managed to land one my largest fish of the season... a hair over 22-inches...

It struck about 10 yards back under a dock and it was a miracle that I got it out. I knew it was a good fish but I didn't think it was that big. My brother and I about crapped when we saw it surface and flop (too big to jump ). A very heavy and thick fish too.

Depth didn't seem to matter a whole lot today. We caught fish in a foot of water all the way to 5-6 feet under the docks. The big one came in about 2-3 feet of water off a dock that was surrounded by weeds...

[Mr. Pike1]

Nice fish. I find myself usually with about 15 poles in the boat but I spend 90% of the time fishing with a senko or tube and I am always drawn to the docks and hitting the shady side, the underneath, or working the posts..

[BASSproJOE]

hey pike you should also try pitch-skipping jigs and texas rigged worms under docks, i find the smaller fish tend to stay away from them and you are more likely to get a bigger bite

[Mr. Pike1]

BassJoe, I have tossed said bait and it does work. Unfortunatly the call of the senko and tube is so strong around docks I just can't resist the urge to toss them

[BASSproJOE]

yea the senko is too good to not try.

[fisherman-andy]

There is a bobbering technique I use when trying to locate & catch active & non active fish. I have found it to be more effective than more traditional lures & baits such as rapalas, spinners, live bait etc. This technique works best in a river system but will work in lakes also.

Works best for: White Bass, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth bass, Crappies.

What you do is put on a large weighted bobber and then add a small to medium size jig head or red hook with bait of choice. Do not add a weighted sinker. Cast out and just jerk the bobber like you would a muskie stick bait or jerk bait with pauses in between after a few jerks. Make sure to check your fishing line frequently for wear & tear as this technique stresses the line alot.

Works great on the St. Croix and Missisippi & Lake Pepin. It sorta simulates the sound bait fish being feed upon by gulls or schools of fish. You can see this happening alot on the river. The splashing attracts many top water fish feeders.

[markkstanley]

That's an old salt water trick. Very deadly and should be used more on freshwater. You can buy poppin corks (think of a Pop'R without hooks) from some of the salt water catalogs.

[iFishMN.YT]

Matt J...I was just reading the post you made back on the 19th about the bigger bass being shallow(docks)and not deep. I have been fishing(bass) a lake with a friend consistently for a few months now, and we had the best bass fishing we have ever had from the 19th to the 23rd. We caught a bunch of very nice sized bass(biggest 6lbs) 4 days in a row in about the same spot, very shallow. Now fishing has changed some and we cant find too many big fish shallow anymore. What do you think caused this 3-4 days of big fish? Was it the cool down and cloud cover? I remeber the 19th at least was cloudy but not all of the days were. I am trying to learn patterns of behavior for these fish and thought maybe you have some tips. Any idea where to fish now for the bigguns? I am hoping with the better weather today I can find some shallow, as that is my prefered method of fishing. Thanks for any reply and good luck.

[Matt Johnson]

Chad,

Were you fishing weedy areas? Docks? Or just open spaces? Are these areas covered in shade for the most part? And are there any cricks coming into the area you were fishing?

If it's not a common occurance for those fish to be found in those shallow areas, then it sounds like you stumbled across a feeding movement more than anything. I don't think a certain characteristic pertaining to the lake caused those fish to move/locate there, unless those fish were there all along and you just didn't stumble across them.

However, it could be a situational spot where given the right conditions, the bass move in for comfort. Some shallow water bites will last a week or so and sometimes occur for no reason. Something as simple as a school of bass finding a place to dwell where there's food.

My guess is that your shallow water spot was holding fish for longer than just 4 days, and now they've moved out.

I would check the nearby weed edge, both shallow and deep. Run some topwater baits along the inside weed edge in the morning and see if a few fish decide to come out and play. Then pound the deeper edges with jig-worms or a jig'n'pig. Could also run a crankbait if you can keep it weed-free.

My guess is that those same fish are holding somewhere nearby...

[iFishMN.YT]

Thanks for the reply, the area we were catching them was an open area rather large that was between the inside weed edge and shore, I would guess the big fish that we were catching just moved in from the weeds or from the deeper water that is just outside the weeds, no shade but the bite was coming right at sunset, almost dark sometimes. Now that area is almost dead it seems, we have tried several times with different baits with little success, only a few 1-3lbers. We are trying to find where the bigger fish have moved to, we tried the weeds just out from our spot, and the outside weed edge and other than 1 GIANT bass that came shooting out of the water at my buzzbait, we havent had too much luck there either. We will continue trying other areas and other baits and hopefully find them. It was a very fun week and yes they could have been there before we found them but they are not there anymore. That really is the best part of fishing, the challenge of finding spots like this even when they only last a few days or a week. The fish were stacked in there, almost all big, we even had a double which both fish went over 4lbs, looked like male and female, maybe mates if fish do that? Anyways it was a blast and I know eventually I will get into them again, it is a fairly new lake for me, first year fishing it, so I have alot of time to figure out what the bigger fish are doing in this lake. Like I said I mainly like to fish shallow water, I do not have much experience fishing deeper and I feel that could be the reason I cant find them right now. I will try the weeds and weedline out from this spot more and see if they are there, I would agree with you they have to be somewhere near this area still.

Anybody know what the water temp is now after that cold blast?

Thanks again for the reply.

[Matt Johnson]

Chad,

Sounds to me like they're just moving up shallow to feed as the sun drops. They have advantage over their prey in those low-light conditions and like you mentioned it's not uncommon to catch bass at night either. Although I still prefer some light when targeting those fish.

During the day, those fish are probably holding in the nearby weeds where they'll take advantage of unlucky prey who happen to wander in. They are also there for comfort and will slide out when they feel the time is right (and when they're very hungry ).

I would guess that you could pick up a few more fish during the day while fishing the weedy/slop areas just out deeper from where your shallow water bite occurs. You might even have to move all that far. Those fish might only be making 25 yards moves in order to feed at sunset...

[markkstanley]

Water temps are in the mid 60s

[iFishMN.YT]

Well...What's Working Now? Nothing I use apparently.

If you only had these 3 choices...which would you throw this time of year for Bass?

Plastics, BuzzBait, or Spinnerbait?

How about for Pike what are you all using this time of year?

Thanks!

[Spork]

I've always had good luck with spinnerbaits for pike.

Hoping to get out for the last time the weekend of Oct 14th. I remember last time I was able to hit the pike pretty good last fall.

[Ole the Guide]

Fishing Chad,

Tomorrow I'm heading out. I have three presentations I'm going to use. A crankbait rod, a Senko worm rod and a flippin' tube with a 3/8 oz. weight (Deitz's famous W.O.B.D. setup). I've been having much more luck with the flippin' tube than the Jig and Pig this fall. It's more weedless and I can flip it into places my J+P would get hung up in. On my crank rod I'll change it up once in awhile by putting a spinnerbait on as they always seem to catch fish.

I'm also going to throw a 10" worm at some point. That worked for me last year around this time.

Good luck,

Ole

[iFishMN.YT]

Thanks for the replies...I got out last night and fished spinnerbait most of the day with nothing, tried a worm for a while with just 1 small fish, then tried buzzbait for last little bit at sunset and got a 4lb bass on my called "last cast" right as it was getting dark.

The water on the lake I am fishing has gotten very very clear compared to spring and summer, I have been having a harder time finding fish with this clearer water, I can see bottom easily in spots that were producing earlier this year and now are not. I dont have much experience with clear water...how does this usually affect the fish? Will they stay out of shallow water when its sunny if the water is clear? I just couldnt find fish anywhere yesterday until that "last cast" when it was almost dark.

I am going to have to try more crankbaits a little deeper next time and try to find the fish out there somewhere.

Good Luck All.

[Ole the Guide]

Chad,

If you're throwing plastics in clear water use flourocarbon line and long casts. The fish are still holding to structure in the afternoon. That's where I'm finding them. Try docks, pads, bullrushes, wood, etc..

Later on when the water temps get to the low 60's-high 50's they'll start aggressively cruizing the shallows going on their feeding fenzy. That's when the crankbaits and spinnerbaits really start working! They're working now but they really go nuts very soon!

I love Oct.- early November Bassin'..

Ole

[iFishMN.YT]

Thanks for the tips Ole.

What color worms do you all like to use this time of year in clear water?

[Ole the Guide]

Just caught a 5 lb.er today on a 10 inch pumpkin powerbait worm!

It was fun!

Ole

[iFishMN.YT]

Skunked yesterday...I thought for sure the fish would be biting, but I guess I was wrong. Tried buzzbait, spinnerbait, powerbait, bucktail, and a couple rapalas. Anyone else have any luck lately?

[Maximum12]

Been slow for me. Out Saturday on Fish Lake near my house & caught a single 17" bass (but fat!) for my three-hour effort. That on a super-slow worm presentation. Nothing in our outside the pads, on the weedline, breaks, or flats. I'm waiting patiently for the mythical fall bite to fire up!

[Big Jeff]

I am heading to Red Cedar Lake in Wis. on the last weekend of Oct. It is mainly a eye and smally lake. I am thinking of useing slip bobbers, jigs and some rapalas any pointers? Very green on the fall fishing.

[G_man]

Post this in the WI forum for Red Cedar Lake. But I usually go there for the WI opener. There are several creek inlets on the east side of the lake. People troll and cast jigs to the shallows and bring them back. Someone in the front can cast and someone in back can troll cranks or even a slip bobber. Work around the island with the camp/lodge on it as well. 2/3's of the way down on the west side there is some good fishing as well with a really nice riprap area by the inlet to that small town that I can't remember the name of.

[Wookiee]

I was fishing in the west metro last night for walleyes. I caught about 20 in 2 1/2 hours after work. The feedbags were on and it was so much fun. The biggest was 20" and the smallest was 14". I used 2" and 3" power minnows and grubs but I am sure ringworms or any other sort of plastic would have worked too. The best part of the night though was when a 12 year old kid biked up to me and I helped with the bait and he caught about a 24" himself we released her safely back to the water. That kids eyes were humongous. Anyways a great day near the water and yes they were all from SHORE!

[Wookiee]

I was fishing in the west metro last night for walleyes. I caught about 20 in 2 1/2 hours after work. The feedbags were on and it was so much fun. The biggest was 20" and the smallest was 14". I used 2" and 3" power minnows and grubs but I am sure ringworms or any other sort of plastic would have worked too. The best part of the night though was when a 12 year old kid biked up to me and I helped with the bait and he caught about a 24" himself we released her safely back to the water. That kids eyes were humongous. Anyways a great day near the water and yes they were all from SHORE! If I was thinking I should have taken a picture of the kid holding the fish with my camera phone. Thank you Corey Bechtold for telling me about the power minnows.

[Matt Johnson]

So, any recent ice fishing reports? Anyone catching anything?

[MedicineMan]

I went out on yesterday for a couple hours after class. Caught a few Pike and about a dozen nice Sunnies.

[Kyle Sandberg]

What were you using? Going out thus.