turnover questions

[danj]

How long does a turnover change the fishing for?

Do the fish go back to the same pattern as before the turnover?

[Matt Johnson]

The turnover period can vary depending on the body of water. Usually it'll last a solid week at least, sometimes longer depending on weather conditions and how fast the water drops and then stabilizes. It can really put the fish into a funk though.

As far as fish location after the period is over, that can sometimes be a mystery all in itself. I've found fish in some really awkward places after the turnover, and typically they don't relocate back to the same areas as they just were prior to the turnover, but don't hold me to that, because afterall those pesky things never seem to do what they're supposed to

In your lakes Dan, I've found them really shallow all the way through November, where they're gorging on baitfish and feeding heavily at night after dark. You know that coach Kragh and I have landed some nice walleyes in 1-3 feet of water throughout the month of November, and usually the bite doesn't start until like 9pm.

I would also look towards neck-down areas, because those areas will horde in the forage and you can expect the fish to follow. Those areas will also hold fish into the early ice period too.

The craziness will subside and you'll be back on fish soon

[madison man]

when did the lake in this area turn over? was thinking of hitting madison tonight any ideas for depth to hit or presentation to use after the turn over?

[danj]

Madison guy, the lake turned over recently. A day or two ago. Fishing was slow yesterday.

[Team Otter]

Matt pretty much covered the basics. One thing I would add though is increasing your presentation size can help dramatically. Larger plastic presentation and big stick baits are typically "go-to" turnover choices.

[danj]

Why larger baits?

Matt suggested fishing at night after the turnover. I've never had success after sunset. Why would night be better?

Many Thanks. And I know how you and Coach Kragh did those nights. It was good.

[Matt Johnson]

Walleyes will put on the feed bags and take advantage of the low-light conditions. Find areas where the baitfish school up and it'll be a hot area for night-time walleye... however, I'm not saying that the morning, day, and sunset bite won't be on either, but I've always enjoyed tagging large walleyes after the sun goes down in the fall...

Larger profiled baits will work well, just like Jamison mentioned. I usually throw larger shallow running crankbaits or 3-4 inch flukes or Power Minnows...

[Team Otter]

Larger profile baits go hand in hand with cold water fall 'eyes, especially in the evening. These fish are looking to eat and often times want something that doesn't take a lot of effort to see and attack. Also, a slower retrieval speed often times triggers more bites even if it does wear on your patience a little.

[eyepatrol]

Helpful info there! This fall is a fall of firsts for me. (wow, say that 10 times fast with a few in ya!)

I'm going to give night fishing a try tonight. Gotta help with the kids until they're in bed, then I'm headed out, so it'll be 10:00pm before I get a line wet. Fall night fishing...yet another first for me.

[Team Otter]

Good luck. Should be a nice night for it.

I'm taking the weekend off for a work party and then a trip to Milwaukee with my wife and daughter to visit some friends. I'll return on Tuesday afternoon and then it's time to head for Mille Lacs!

[eyepatrol]

Well I went out Friday night. Fished from 10:30pm to 2:00a.m. on Madison. Tried a few different spots with no luck. Missed one hit and caught an 8" crappie and that was it. I tried shad raps, stick baits, shad plastics and twisters both casting and trolling. There was one area adjacent to a steep drop where I marked quite a number of fish suspended between 15' - 20' down in 30+ feet of water adjacent to where I had caught the one crappie. Nice little arcs on the locator and I believe they may have been crappies, but I was finished for the night and didn't stick around to try them out.

I did mark some nice fish (good sized arcs) in 5' - 7' of water that I tried hard to catch, but no such luck. They were in the same area we hit at the fall get-together.

I think next time I'll hit the evening bite from 1hr before to 1 or 2 hours after sunset. Fishing the hours I did is a bit tiring, and I don't think I'll try that again unless I'm on Mille Lacs or something.

On a final note, my crank baits really picked up a lot of bottom junk that, when brought in to take off, really had a muddy, almost musty smell to it. Wonder if this is what happens when a lake turns over? Water surface temp was between 41 and 42 degrees.

[Team Otter]

Thanks for the report Eric. For future reference, the better night fishing in this area is on Tetonka and Sakatah. I'm not saying Madison doesn't produce but the fish out there really seem to change moods after the sun sets. The times I have done well on Madison after sundown has been with slip bobbers.

[danj]

Basscatcher, great report. I wonder if the turnover effect is still mixing it up a little. The water had lots of stuff floating around last night.

[eyepatrol]

There certainly was a lot of debris in shallow on Friday night. I got caught up in it a lot with only one or two cranks of the reel.

I thought about doing some slip bobbering with the minnows I still have from a month ago (cold weather sure does keep them alive long!), but I wasn't set up well for fishing that way.

I'm hoping to get one more open water outing yet this season (Saturday), but after that I'm winterizing the boat, packing the gear away and waiting for ice. Madison is a fun lake to fish, but Washington has been gnawing on my mind a bit.

One last note about fishing Friday night....I keep the sensitivity on my locator up around 75 - 80% and I had a continuous black line scroll across the screen at 3.5' deep. Anyone have some insight as to what this might have been? Thermocline maybe where the cold surface water turned to warmer water?

[Muddog]

Danj what do you fish for most of the time?

I was out last weekend and boy have the Northers moved into the shallows! With turnover in the past, I think the Walleye will be in the deeper water with shallows nearby. All the spots that should have had Walleyes were full of Northern and I don't think the Walleye like having them around.

With all the wind last weekend I would say the lake water is well mixed at this time but with the Northern in the shallows in the numbers that I found them last weekend, look for Walleyes to have moved to quick deep water from the shallows. They will move back in when they have the advantage (low light).

[danj]

Muddog, I fish for Walleyes most of the time. I know there are some Northerns in Madison but I haven't seen too many this year.