Late Late Fall...water temp below 40

[newnew]

Hi- new at this; totally hooked so to speak. Been casting over the last weed beds in 8-14 ft with success. Does there come a time when it is so late in the year that the skis are all much deeper chasing tullibee or whatever? If so, is it then "trolling only"? Or can I just keep casting towards shore from off the break until it bounces?

[newnew]

ok, musta been a dumb question. Next...

[10,000 Casts]

Not a dumb question, It really depends on the Lake since not all lakes have Tulibee and not all lakes are 90 feet with thermoclines and some lakes still have green weeds and in some lakes, the weeds died a month and a half ago.

In the deeper lakes, the fish could be just about anywhere right now as far as I know. They could be suspended over deep water, they could be up on rocks, off the drop offs and they could still be in weeds.. A few days ago, I was marking huge fish laying on the bottom in 19 fow of the shoreline break and the small fish I caught was in 6fow. I also know that big fish like reefs and humps this time of year on some lakes chasing baitfish or digesting baitfish that they ate over deeper water. Both are catchable if you are there at the right time.

But overall, I would concentrate on rocks, reefs, and steep dropoffs unless you have been catching fish other ways, then stick with it!

Big rubber, big blades, big cranks, big jerk baits and suckers!

[mainbutter]

In short, yes. I know particular instances where we know that muskies were 25-40 feet down in 80 FOW. However, there were still muskies in traditional reef-rock pile locations.

Trolling isn't the only option, but it sure is a good one. Jigging for deep muskies in the fall is a technique I want to attempt one of these years. Practically nobody does it, and I think with a bit of ingenuity, I could make a killer homemade musky lure that jigs deep.

[MikeEiden]

Because the water is fairly uniform (O2,temps, etc) that time of the year the fish can be anywhere from top to bottom. It just depends on what forage those particular fish are following. Fish that are focused on ciscos can be on top of rock reefs, where the ciscos spawn towards dark, on the breaks, or over open water chasing. Perch and panfish will school outside the weed edges and slightly out over open water also. These could be the fish you have been contacting. Suckers also make their own movements and have a "following". Not all fish are doing the same things so each technique will work for you.

I will troll if there is a large amount of structure to cover and I want to cover area and contact as many fish as possible. I look for bait fish on my electronics to give me a starting point on what depths to run my lures.

If I cast breaks I do like you mentioned with bumping bottom occassionally during the retrieve. I like doing this over weeds as I don't get hung up like in rocks but where trolling these areas will result in fouled lures to often.

Good luck....

[Tim_Anderson]

The biggest limiting factor for me is temperature. Even though trolling can be more effective at times, I would SO MUCH rather cast! Something about moving and being active... being able to actually see the fish follow, and hopefully read their attitude enough to convert them into biters. I like the hand to hand combat that happens on boatside strikes. I'd rather catch one that way than drag five in that bit out behind the boat. You miss some of the visual aspect while trolling. With rods in rod holders, you often miss the strike. Fish is half played out and ripped up by the time you get the rod in your hands.

I've trained myself to withstand the cold, layer up, and keep my hands and feet in the game. I bring lots of pairs of gloves because they get wet, and I go through hand and foot warmers by the case. I bring a generator in my boat, and we cook hot coffee, hot chocolate, soup, meat, pizza and the like all day. Clients and friends love it.

No offense to you trollers out there. I often admire those of you who are good at it, and wish I were better at it myself. But I kinda have to do things the Barta way I guess... it's just the way I prefer it.

I'll always remember something I heard or read that Richard Pearson said. The gist of it was that you go through all kinds of phases in your lifetime of musky fishing, but there comes a time when you want to catch them on what you want to catch them on. For me, that would be casting a few select lures... big blades, twitch baits, or perhaps a creature or two.

Last week I was out for a couple of days. First day, we were able to do some casting in the middle of the day. Saw some huge fish, and lost a giant. Heartbreaker. Everything we saw looked like a stuffed sausage. The kinda thing that keeps you coming back!

Second day, it really never got above freezing, but instead got colder throughout the day. I know from experience that these are the days when things freeze up, and you start breaking worm gears and rod eyelets. Can't get the Terrova deployed cause it's frozen. Engines won't pee because you never warm them up and keep them going. Stuff over heats and alarms go off. Ugh!

Time to troll, and do some slow drifts with suckers over areas that you know hold fish.

Incidentally, the fish that we moved recently were mostly in the 10-20 foot area. Some were near weeds, which were a bit green here and there believe it or not. Others were near steep drop offs. Still others were on big deep flats that extended out into deeper open water.

If you could find bait balls, there were definitely fish nearby, but the bait was sometimes hard to keep track of. Going back and forth over it seemed to make it scatter, as did trolling through it. That, and the bait was definitely staging off the breaklines. Around dark, it would move up shallow, both in the water column, and up toward shallow water.

Lots of days below freezing now. If I was a big troller I might get out one more time. But the boat is cleaned up and ready to put away. Time to do a little more bird and deer hunting.

Best of luck to you iron men that are still at it!

[Tim_Anderson]

Just proofread what I posted.

Richard Pearson?

Haha... have no idea where that came from? Most of us know him as Richard Pearson... guide, writer, speaker, lure designer, etc. Always remembered and liked that quote...

[Tim_Anderson]

Ok, so I did type it right the first AND second time. Big Brother is over riding me I think, but be it known that I tried to clarify...

I'm a little slow, but now I get it, so let the thread continue.

[hanson]

Some things you just can't say around here Tim. LOL!