by Greg Clusiau, video and pics by CrappieKeith
Fall is officially here and fishing is good. The only problem is that it won’t last as long as I would like it to.
This favorite time of the year, for most sportsmen, has the fish fattening up and on the bite. It also has many avid fishers out in the woods, small game hunting, which frees up a lot more room on the lakes.
Last weekend, Crappie Keith Nelson drove up and joined me on a couple of my regular fall hotspots. One was for walleyes and the other was for crappies.
The walleye fishing was started off early in the morning by trolling lead core and crank-baits. Fishing the 30-35’ depths is easily achieved when using a lead core line, which has a thin lead wire running through the middle of it. This allows the line to sink at a rate of 5’ for every 10 yards of line let out and it doesn’t matter what pound test lead core you are using, as they all have the same “sink rate.” Add a leader, tie on a snap, and pick out the crank-bait of choice and you’re in business. It’s that simple.
The lead core line is “color coded”, changing colors every 10 yards. This makes letting out the proper amount of line an easy thing to do and it’s even easier if you have it spooled up on a line-counter reel. Then you can really fine-tune your presentation. Using five colors of lead core on my reels allows me to get down 25’. Add a #7 crank-bait and you’ll be nicking the bottom in 30’ or deeper. This is where a line-counter reel comes in handy. Once the preferred amount of line to let out is determined, where your lure touches bottom every once in a while, you can easily return to that exact location, time and time again.
Keith and I fished this way for the first half of the day and caught plenty of fish. After that, it was time to relocate to one of my fall crappie hotspots. Heading further north, it was a chance to relax a bit, resting our arms, and enjoy the beautiful fall colors, which are in “full bloom.” Photo-buffs should take advantage of it soon, as they are currently at their peak. It’s absolutely gorgeous out there.
The crappies were also predictably found in deep water. Slowly scouring the lake basin, we motored about until a school of fish was found in 30’. This school, however, was on the smaller side and the fish were a tad fussy. Moving to a different area of the lake had us finding a large, hungry school of crappies. From then on, it was “game on.” This has to be one of my favorite ways to fish. It’s just so much fun.
A big factor in doing well, vertically jigging, on deep-water crappies is keeping the boat on top of the fish. If it’s windy, an anchor is a must. If calm, you can use an electric motor to stay with the fish or toss a marker out and keep making slow drifts through “the pack.”
We encountered light winds, which were just enough to keep us on task with the electric bow-mount MinnKota. Later in the day, the wind pretty much laid down and fishing became even easier.
Best baits were small jigs in 1/32 to 1/16 oz. tipped with plastics or hair. No live bait was used all day long for walleyes or the crappies. That’s always a nice way to go and once you have it all figured out, you’ll realize how deadly artificial baits really are.
Yes, folks. It’s all happening NOW. Get out there, fish deep, and join in on the fun.
Note – for a short (8 minute) video on our lead core walleye fishing, go to my fishing blog at “Life & Times in the Great Outdoors” or to Crappie Keith’s web-site, “CKOutdoors”.