Fishing Report

[Duke]

I was out on Koontz Lake last night for just 90 minutes last night and got a few small ones on a tube outside edge of weedbeds next to the dropoff. I wasn't really getting a good pattern. I initially was in 47degree water but eventually found 50 degree water and thats where I caught my fish. This lake has dark water and gets sprayed pretty heavily so finding weeds is kind of difficult even in the summer. Nevertheless, with water now hovering below 50 degrees, what is everyone doing on the water? I tried jerkbaits, rattle traps, spinnerbait, tube, senkos, and jigs. I had a hit on rattle trap, and a jig, but the rest of my fish came on tube. Thus, I repeat my question: with water now hovering below 50 degrees, what is everyone doing on the water?

I do believe that temperatures will get better in November; I'm remaining optimistic at least. I'm certain a warm front will come to us in November and the fish will get real active then  .

Duke

[McCarter]

Suspending jerkbaits are killers this time of year.  Lucky Craft Pointer 100s are my go to bait once the water gets below 55 degrees.  If you wont spend the money on a LC, pick up a couple Bomber Long As.  The Timmy Horton series are sweeeeeeet, and they have some nice colors.

I try to fish the LC on 10 lb mono, but due to a few stolen baits thanks to toothy critters, i have been tossing them on 12-17 lb, depending on how often i am getting pike bites.  Those saw toothed beasts will ruin your day $16 at a time.

Work them slow and be thorough.  Dont rip the bait through the water, just give it a few jerks on semi slack line and then let it pause for a bit.  Sometimes, on kent lake anyway, they wont take it unless it sits for a minute or longer.  Other times, they will smash it just as it pauses.  Play around with your presentation until you find what they want. 

Typically, we find fish holding on the edge of drops.  They are usually suspended along the channel edge, concentrated near the bends, or wherever there are weeds close by.  That spot you fished last night sounds ideal.  Give it some time and work it good.  Start out farther from the drop and try fishing deeper water first.  the fish might be suspending out off the drop and moving back up to it when they feed.  Watch for followers too.  If you are getting followers but no strikes, cast back out and deadstick the bait once its down. 

Check out any areas you suspect fish will hold this time of year.  Main lake points are good, as are hump.  You may not knock them sideways the first couple of times out, but eventually they will be on this pattern very good and once they are on it, they are usually on it for a long time.

Good luck, ghost minnow, god bless.

PB himself

[Skip Johnson]

yep your right, the water will be warming in november!!!

In australia.....

[Duke]

PoorBoy, I really appreciate your suggestion. Let me ask you, when you pause your jerkbait in this weather, how long is that pause? 5 sec? 2 sec? 10 sec? How often do you end up waiting a whole minute? (Sounds like I need another dose of patience  ).

Thank you again!

Duke

[McCarter]

It depends on the fish.  But usually i start out with short pauses, maybe 5 seconds and go from there.  The weather is what really got me into pausing for a long time.  I am a hyperactive kinda guy to begin with.  So for me to purposly let a lure sit for more than a couple seconds would be a miracle.  But when it is freezing cold out, and you havent had any bites yet, the hands find there way into pockets shortly after a cast.  Once they are warmed up, they sneak back out to work the bait.  Thats basically what happened when i figured out to let it sit for a while.  It was in the spring time in 2003.  I was out when the air temps were below freezing and my hands went numb after about 10 minutes.  So i just stuck them in my pockets.  after a while, my line went tight and i had a fish.  I repeated this the rest of the day.  I was basically deadsticking it.  Sometimes fish would take it after 15 seconds, sometimes they would take it after 40 seconds or longer.  That worked well for me until the water temps got near 50 degrees, then they wouldnt touch it.  But i found that the same tactic worked in the fall and we used it all through November and into december, catching as many as 40 fish each a day while the air temps were at or below freezing and water temps were in the low 40s to high 30s.  I have pictures somewhere of a day when me and my friend tony were out there in a blizzard slaying them on jerkbaits. 

Keep at it.  and play around with your presentation.  You will find them.

PB himself