Weekend of 9/11 and 9/12 - Tough bite or just me?

[GooBack]

imatating baitfishes??

is this something new??

[blakjack23]

Hey blackjack - what were you throwing? Baitfish imitations or something else?

Jigs and weightless worms were the key with all the fish Sunday. Fishing shallow cover, 4' of water or less, on the non-windy side of the lake. Saturday when we had more of a mix of pike/bass we were throwing mostly spinners and cranks from 2-10' of water. I caught a few on jigs that day too though in 10-12'. My biggest Saturday, 18.5", came on a buzzbait. But the 20" my buddy got was on a spinnerbait.

[blakjack23]

imatating baitfishes??

is this something new??

No. Spinnerbaits, swimbaits, jerkbaits, cranks, etc., all imitate baitfish.

"match the hatch".

[74mph]

A weightless worm imitates a baitfish too in my oppinion. It seems crazy but if you look a a baitfish from the top or bottom it just looks like a line and most of them are as thin as a worm. The only difference is the baitfish is suspending and not swimming along.

[74mph]

I did fish some jigs on sunday. Alot of football jig fishing and not a thing. Some swimjig fishing and nothing going there either. Granted it was a different lake and you were quite a ways away from where I was.

Blackjack - What kind of shallow cover, weeds, pads, rushes, rocks?

[RK]

It seems like the fish were caught mostly on bait fish imitations like spinner baits, cranks, and maybe even swim jigs. I have a theory that around this time of year when the water gets cold and the weeds start dying back in the shallow bays that the baitfish move out to the deeper parts of the lake and somewhat more off structure than what they do in the summer.

I think that's in large part true.

At least in early fall - pre-turnover - I think there's a pretty pronounced movement onto mid-depth weed flats as shallow growth dies back and water temps drop. Weed die-off isn't uniform (some types die off earlier while other stay green, and it varies from spot to spot) and a flat can have clumps of growth here and there that hold baitfish. There's a lot more stability water-temp wise on middle flats vs. shallow water, and a lot of foraging opportunities too. I think that deep weed edge fish also move up onto the flats as well, so it's not just shallow fish sliding out. Lots of species make similar movements in fall. It happens for sure with muskies, and with walleyes, crappies., etc. to some extent too.

I think part of the reason why spinnerbaits, swim jigs, and cranks work so well this time of year is they're just the most efficient way to get a bait in front of a fish on a flat. They're horizontal, relatively fast-moving, and can run over weed tops and along edges pretty effectively. Part of why I like spinnerbaits and rattle baits this time of year is I can count them down to wherever they need to be, they have flash, sound and vibration to call fish in from a distance, and you can cast them a mile to cover water.

I did catch fish on jigs this weekend, but only in pretty precise spots where there were thick weed clumps on inside turns, etc. It's not that they don't bite that stuff, it's just that with fish spread out over a flat, getting at them with a jig (other than a swim jig) isn't terribly efficient.

I think the smallie thing I experienced this weekend is a good example of fish spreading onto flats. On that lake, the smallies are usually in pretty specific spots - to the point where you say to yourself "time to catch a brown one" when you get to them. This past weekend, they were all over the place... Spread out on the flats and cruising...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[st.crioxfishin]

The bite was tough this weekend, but I still managed to do ok. I caught all of my fish in less than 3ft of water in pads, cattails or off docks all on jigs and beavers. On friday, before that mini front moved through that evening, the bite was best for me.

[MegaHawk]

NTW did u fish that francis tourney sat morning?

[NTW]

yeah I did. I'll send you an email...just got my hotmail unlocked.