This summer flew by, can you believe we are entering the fall season and the kids headed back to school already? With the end of summer, the fish are now in their fall behavior patterns and boy, are they hungry. Talking with many of our bait shop and outfitting guests, the success rates have been outstanding across all species.
Starting with walleye, minnows are the name of the game in live bait. A larger rainbow or shiner are best now that they have transitioned from the smaller chubs. Just today I spoke with a guest who came in for more Rapala Crush City Mooch Minnows. Fishing the white Iron Chain over the last week, he couldn’t keep the smallmouth and the walleye off his line using the perch pattern Mooch Minnow on a jig with a slow, steady retrieve. Most everyone is reporting walleye held up in 8-10 feet of water and doing especially well if you can find any kind of current at that depth.
Small mouth bass are in that same depth and structure with the walleye. They too are loving minnow presentations and obviously soft plastics like we just talked about. In addition, they will eagerly hit tube jigs walked or bounced off the bottom on a steady retrieve, or any other soft plastic presentation you prefer. Largemouth bass are just a bit shallower,5-8feetofwater.They are still actively hitting top water crank baits, minnows, and soft plastic presentations.
Northern pike are up shallow as well, 7-10 feet. The larger the minnow the better under a slip bobber. Large, fashy spoons, Rapala’s, Mepps Spinners or large tube jig work great! Look for those weedy bays and work the edge of the weed line with the crank baits. Cast out into the weeds with a large minnow under a slip bobber and set it to suspend right in the weeds.
Crappies are quite aggressive right now too. Beetle Spins, Thumper Jigs or simply a crappie minnow are the best choice. About 8-10 feet of water in high vegetation.
As fall progresses look for more of the same fishing patterns. As the water continues to cool, look for the lake trout to come up into the shallows before the close of trout season at the end of September.
