Leaving in a few hour for Namakan!! Chasing smallies and grabbing a walleye or 2, should be fun
Leaving in a few hour for Namakan!! Chasing smallies and grabbing a walleye or 2, should be fun
^^^ Bring the long johns!
BTW, we are in the post-swoon phase of fall. Temps are droppin and fish are snappin. Love this time of year!
Packed!
snow up by Cross Lake this morning!
It was tough!! The park is stunning this time of the year and that was enough for me!!!
I'm so desperate for decent weather that I'm even looking at 14 day forecasts which are about as useful as a poop-flavored lollipop.
I finally gave up and pulled the boat in yesterday I think it was the 5 to 8" of snow predicted today/tomorrow the clinched it.
Down here in So. MN. Cannot get bit no matter what I throw. Jigs, worms, chatterbait, spinnerbait, crankbait, swim jig. The few small fish I catch seem to be near the weed edge. Haven't found a 2# bass for a couple of weeks! 48 degree water. Do I need to start pounding the banks?
Caught them well on the flats near the break this week. Water temp was 49 degrees.
You might try pitching a jig, tube, or creature to the tallest and thickest remaining green weeds you can find. I've hopped around to 5 different lakes in the last week, efforts greatly hampered by wind I might add, and experienced everything from a decent deep weedline finesse bite (deep WL was 10') to an absolute zero on Waconia yesterday after my son and I beat the water to a froth for 5 hours. All of the lakes have shared two things: ultra-clear water and water temps of 46-47. The most interesting "pattern" was a few fish we found in shallow weed clumps in maybe 2-3' of water. Caught 4 including a nice 19 1/2" LM and thought we had really found something. Figured they were enjoying a little warmer water in the shallows. Spent an hour and a half fishing the rest of the entire north shore (wind-protected) of the same lake with similar shallow weed cover without another bite.
Are you guys seeing lakes turning over or already turned? I haven't been out for several weeks with some craziness going on at work, but it sounds like the temp ranges where you'd expect that to happen. That could explain a lot of the difficulties, aside from the fact that the bass can just be dicks this time of year!
2011 Skeeter ZX225
225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
Console: HDS 16 Carbon
Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360
I would say that we're well beyond turnover. I believe it occurs when surface temps drop into the 50s. All 5 of the lakes I hit had identical 46-47 degree temps which surprised me a bit as 4 were in the Fergus area and one in the TC area - Waconia. All had very clear water and during turnover the water usually gets a bit cloudy with bits of suspended rotting veg and detritus coming up from the depths.
I believe turn over at surface temps as high as 58* if it's windy for a couple day and where I'm at it sure was. Otherwise I'm pretty sure if they will turn over it's by 50*
Mercury 250 proxs 2B115089
While I haven't been out bass fishing in a while, in the past i've always done best by fishing shallow cover very slow this time of year. I fish a lot of dirty lakes, that turn gin clear after turnover...and you have to really use stealth. Watch the angle of the sun and your shadow, and try to make as long of a cast possible. They seem to me to always be extra boat shy this time of year, but taking extra precautions will get you bit a lot more.
On a side noten the sandcarp have really been taking a beating the last few weeks!
^^^ Good advice Ron