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Muskie Fishing -> General Discussion -> Slow going this Fall
 
Message Subject: Slow going this Fall
14ledo81
Posted 10/20/2014 8:18 AM (#735728)
Subject: Slow going this Fall





Posts: 4269


Location: Ashland WI
I am looking for a little advice on Fall fishing. Not on live bait, but artificial tactics.

This is the first time in my life that I have fished this late. I went out on Friday and Saturday to a couple of numbers lakes, and only moved 2 small fish. This was considerably less than the action I had been getting on them in the summer/late summer.

I primarily fished a double-bladed bucktail. I tried fishing it slow as I could to keep it up out of the weeds and still keep the blades turning. We (I fished with a partner both days) also tried top-water, crankbaits, jerkbaits. We even tried a little trolling. Basically I had been told by some others to continue what I had been doing in the summer, just slow it down. That is what we tried to do.

At one point we were moving around some floating bogs, and casting near them, and some weed clumps that we could see sticking up. When we neared one, a fish took off. I did not see the fish, but it must have been near the surface because I saw the swirl and then a wake. I know we had casted multiple times to this weed clump.

Anyway, I had always heard fall was the best time to muskie fish. As of now, I am kind of down on fall fishing.

Does anybody have any tips or advice on lures, depths, structure type to target?
Trophyseeker50
Posted 10/20/2014 9:32 AM (#735742 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall





Posts: 791


Location: WI
I know there are people that have some success with summer tactics in fall. My method is to fish deep drop offs with gliders and ripping cranks like grandmas or 9" shallow raiders. I find erratic mixed with pauses works the best. This has worked for me for many years and my biggest fish always come in fall. Move slow covering every inch. This is not a time for running and gunning.
14ledo81
Posted 10/20/2014 9:43 AM (#735745 - in reply to #735742)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall





Posts: 4269


Location: Ashland WI
Trophyseeker50 - 10/20/2014 9:32 AM

I know there are people that have some success with summer tactics in fall. My method is to fish deep drop offs with gliders and ripping cranks like grandmas or 9" shallow raiders. I find erratic mixed with pauses works the best. This has worked for me for many years and my biggest fish always come in fall. Move slow covering every inch. This is not a time for running and gunning.


Thanks.

This is not something I tried. I will keep that in mind next time I go.
Moltisanti
Posted 10/20/2014 1:48 PM (#735793 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall




Posts: 639


Location: Hudson, WI
Throw pounders off of the primary break.
Matt DeVos
Posted 10/20/2014 2:34 PM (#735802 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall




Posts: 571


In general, as water temps are cooling and getting colder, stop-go baits become more effective. Accentuated pauses between jerks on gliders, big twitching cranks and dive/rise jerks can be deadly any time of the year, but especially in mid-to-late fall.

Trolling-wise in the fall, slowing down a bit and also making bottom contact can be pretty important in terms of triggering strikes.
Kirby Budrow
Posted 10/20/2014 2:45 PM (#735804 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall





Posts: 2255


Location: Chisholm, MN
You had 2 slow days. Keep at it and eventually you will get action. Could be turnover, bad weather, etc, that turned the fish off and not necessarily something you are doing wrong. Fall is notorious for putting out less fish, but bigger fish.
14ledo81
Posted 10/20/2014 4:28 PM (#735817 - in reply to #735804)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall





Posts: 4269


Location: Ashland WI
Thanks for all the input guys. I suppose part of it for me is having confidence in a new tactic/technique. I can cast all day, if I have confidence in what I am doing, even if the action is slow. No confidence, and I am looking to make a change.



Kirby Budrow - 10/20/2014 2:45 PM

Fall is notorious for putting out less fish, but bigger fish.


Now this is something new to me. I was thinking Fall action = hot and heavy, but the fish are bigger!!!! Not really, but kind of.
jimjimjim
Posted 10/21/2014 8:40 AM (#735910 - in reply to #735817)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall




Posts: 365


----- 9" weighted Suicks ------- jimjimjim
Brad P
Posted 10/21/2014 9:16 AM (#735915 - in reply to #735910)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall




Posts: 833


The first thing I would do is evaluate the WHERE of how you are targeting the fish. Fall, especially turnover, represent a time of major transition in a system. The environment goes through a lot of changes this time of the year. Thus the Muskies and the rest of the food change also go through changes.

I think a good rule of fall is to fish the primary break and even secondary break as it get's really cold. Your lake may have some quirks, but these deep breaks are probably a good place to start. Look for remaining weeds and above all, FOOD on your electronics. The fish will tend to be tight to the weed edge if it is present. I find that Muskies tend to relate to the Bottom A LOT more this time of the year. (but not always!) Which means getting DEEP, ie Rubber, weighted D&R, or trolling cranks The relative depth of the breaks in your lake will determine what is viable. From there it is just a matter of putting in your time to determine productive locations. Good Luck and Good Hunting!


mnmusky
Posted 10/21/2014 9:24 AM (#735920 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall




Hit the windblown side of the lake later in the day. Seems 1 degree can make a difference.
14ledo81
Posted 10/21/2014 3:36 PM (#735967 - in reply to #735915)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall





Posts: 4269


Location: Ashland WI
Brad P - 10/21/2014 9:16 AM

The first thing I would do is evaluate the WHERE of how you are targeting the fish. Fall, especially turnover, represent a time of major transition in a system. The environment goes through a lot of changes this time of the year. Thus the Muskies and the rest of the food change also go through changes.

I think a good rule of fall is to fish the primary break and even secondary break as it get's really cold. Your lake may have some quirks, but these deep breaks are probably a good place to start. Look for remaining weeds and above all, FOOD on your electronics. The fish will tend to be tight to the weed edge if it is present. I find that Muskies tend to relate to the Bottom A LOT more this time of the year. (but not always!) Which means getting DEEP, ie Rubber, weighted D&R, or trolling cranks The relative depth of the breaks in your lake will determine what is viable. From there it is just a matter of putting in your time to determine productive locations. Good Luck and Good Hunting!



We did stay primarily shallow. We were mostly casting in and over weeds in 3-7 FOW. There were times when the boat was in 10 - 12 FOW, but we were still casting shallower typically.

We definitely did not target the bottom at all. Maybe a little when we did some trolling, but we did not troll for very long to say we even gave it much of a chance.

I will have to try it next time out. Again, it is tough for me because I have never fished that way before, so it is hard to have confidence. I have always been mostly a run and gun guy, burning bucktails over the weeds most of the time.
14ledo81
Posted 10/27/2014 9:10 AM (#737004 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: RE: Slow going this Fall





Posts: 4269


Location: Ashland WI
I went out again Saturday. I broke my fall lull, but not how I was expecting.

It was very windy. So windy that I could not even position the boat properly to make any sort of presentation. I had my 12 year old son with me, and we tried anchoring off of a weedy point, and tried multiple different lures from here. I was actually thinking about going home, but decided to move to an area of the lake where we could get out of the wind.

We moved and casted along the weedline for a bit. There was about an hour left of daylight, and I decided to troll for a bit. I do not know much about trolling but we thought it was worth a try anyway. I put a shallow-raider on my sons rod, and he was out the shallow side of the boat. I put a deeper crank on mine (not even sure of model), and threw it out of the deeper side. We let out line as much as we thought, and started moving. Not even five minutes in, my rod started jumping. Not thinking it would be a fish, I left the boat in gear and stood up. It felt heavy, and I though it was possibly weeded up. I could move it and reel the slack, so I thought to leave the boat moving and bring the lure in to clean it off. A few seconds went by, and the line started jumping. I realized it was a fish! I put the boat in neutral and told my son to reel up and grab the net. The fish felt decent, but not huge. I was thinking a muskie in the 30''-35'' range. I kept bringing the fish in while my son was fumbling with the net. He finally got the net untangled, but was struggling locking the handle in. Meanwhile, I am not even looking at the fish, I am just watching my son struggle with the net. I finally handed him the rod, and was starting to get the net ready. My son says "Dad, is that a walleye?". I am thinking, no way, it is way to big to be a walleye. I look over with the net in hand, and see a big spiky fin sticking out of the water. Was able to scoop it up easily. I was literally in shock that we had caught this size of walleye. The lake is only about 250 acres.

So I did not get any muskie, but this was a nice fish either way. Easily the biggest walleye I had caught. I did think the belly did not look very big for how long the fish was.



Edited by 14ledo81 10/27/2014 9:13 AM



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jaultman
Posted 10/27/2014 12:27 PM (#737061 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall




Posts: 1828


Beautiful walleye. How long?
WiscoMusky
Posted 10/27/2014 1:25 PM (#737093 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: RE: Slow going this Fall




Posts: 397


Location: Wisconsin
I fished vilas county friday afternoon. Ended up with a 36 and a 40 on weighted suicks. We threw a lot of different stuff, but the fish wanted the slow suick. We fished between 6-15FOW and focused on throwing the lure a few feet into thick weeds and working them out. The fish seemed to be holding tight to thick weeds.
14ledo81
Posted 10/27/2014 1:35 PM (#737099 - in reply to #737061)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall





Posts: 4269


Location: Ashland WI
jaultman - 10/27/2014 12:27 PM

Beautiful walleye. How long?


I realize it does not look it (maybe cuz its skinny?), but it was 30''.
jaultman
Posted 10/27/2014 1:53 PM (#737103 - in reply to #737099)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall




Posts: 1828


Totally believable. I don't think it's skinny, either.
MOJOcandy101
Posted 10/27/2014 2:52 PM (#737115 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall





Posts: 705


Location: Alex or Alek?
I fished the Park Rapids area this weekend. threw a lot of weighted suicks/bucktails/10" jakes. Between the two of us in the boat we had 9 fish up to the boat, all high 30" lower 40" fish.

All 9 fish where on either DCG or double 8's.

I had one strike at the boat but it missed the bait. we mainly fished in 16-20 FOW while casting into 2-3.
Musky952
Posted 10/28/2014 12:58 PM (#737370 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall




Posts: 400


Location: Metro
^ Fish are definitely starting to put the feed bag on.

Cant wait to get out again this fall.
ToddM
Posted 10/28/2014 4:08 PM (#737395 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall





Posts: 20173


Location: oswego, il
Baits worked erratic with pauses as stated above. Fall can be lime spring really good and really bad. One thing to remember feeding windows can be really short. Sometimes you can fish all day for a 15 minute or less WI Dow of activity and then hope you are on the right spot when that happens.
Musky952
Posted 10/29/2014 11:34 AM (#737542 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall




Posts: 400


Location: Metro
I would agree with ToddM.

This past weekend we saw 3 fish in a matter of 10min then it returned to about a fish an hour for the rest of the day.
vegas492
Posted 10/31/2014 9:12 AM (#737858 - in reply to #735728)
Subject: Re: Slow going this Fall




Posts: 1023


Fall is fickle. Short feeding windows, but man, when they are open it is amazing fishing.

Bait wise, lots of good suggestions on here. Look at using gliders in the fall. Slowly. That 9 inch weighted Suick is a great fall bait. Look at picking some Tube baits. Big Grandma's or Jakes's.

Get those things in the water and work them slowly. Hang some suckers over the boat and hopefully you can draw fish into them.

Or just camp out on a spot and soak suckers.

One of my most memorable falls trips happened 2 years ago. I got out by myself. Told my wife I wasn't coming in until I caught a few fish. Har, har, har.... Was on the water by 8:30. Fished unti 2:00. With suckers. No fish. Started to panic and second guess myself. I was going to leave my spot, then calmed down and stuck it out. Caught a 35 incher at 3:30. Released that fish. Clicker went off immediately, caught a 34 inch fish. Released that one. My last line out went off, caught a 37 inch fish. Now I was out of suckers and the sun was starting to go down. 3 fish in about a half hour. After sitting there all day and getting nothing.

Fall is just crazy sometimes.
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