Lets dust off the secret word..........

[RumRiverRat]

Secret word for Thursday through Sunday

Blood Moon

Write it down, have it in the picture, fish on a bump board.

Best 5 fish total cumulative inches wins.

Prize will be a sample package of The best of what Northstar Custom Baits has to offer.

[bassfshin24]

Great idea RRR! Now let's hope I can find a babysitter so I can get out.

[M1dwestF1sh]

Like the idea. Tonight was the only day I'll probably get out and I had one fish on to the boat that got off. Only had 3 hours and with the temps out I was just running around trying to put a pattern together. I could only manage the one but it'll be cool to see what comes in. Should be some big fish.

[smalliehunter]

I'm in! went out today and got 3 for a little over 60 inches. Gonna try and finish my limit off on small mouths tomorrow.

Next week need to do weight. Its way to hard to get a fish to stay still long enough by my self to take pictures. I did it today but felt I was harming the fish..

I work all weekend so tomorrow is my last chance..

[LegattoAD]

I'm in. Headed out tomorrow and Saturday.

[RuddyDuck]

I'm in! went out today and got 3 for a little over 60 inches. Gonna try and finish my limit off on small mouths tomorrow.

I work all weekend so tomorrow is my last chance..

Nice start, but I'm probably out already then! Hester, go disconnect his trolling motor batteries quick this morning, so the rest of us have a chance!

[Hester]

Might be to late Ruddy.

Here is my biggest from yesterday.

[smalliehunter]

I couldn't get 5. tried chasing smallies this morning, which turned out to be a mistake. I got a little over 76".

21 1/2

20 1/2

18

16

[bassfshin24]

Only one worth measuring today. Hoping I can get a few of these tomorrow to keep up with smallie hunter

20.25

[RumRiverRat]

Will get pictures uploaded later.

I am at 94 and 7/8ths if I did the math right.

[RumRiverRat]

[Hester]

Well here are my best 5.

Pics are not that good. Not easy to take pics and hold fish up at same time. I know I lost a 1/4 to 1/2 inch on all of them because I could not pinch the tails on them all.

I don't think I have enough to beat Rat but it would of been close if I had the new ruler I picked up today.

[RuddyDuck]

Nice Smallies Hester! Nice largies everyone else!

I only got one bass 19in yesterday. I figured I better get it in so I am still qualified for the Angler of the year award!

[Craigums]

What water temps you guys seeing? Better fishing in the morning or afternoon?

[RuddyDuck]

I had 53 degrees on one lake Sat evening and 51 degrees on a different lake Sun morning. I think the lake on Sat was turning over, it was very thick with green stuff in it on the windy shore and a lot of scum in the calm areas. That's my excuse I'm sticking to for not catching any thing there!

[Craigums]

::Scratches head:: I was on a small river around 10AM-Noon on Saturday and was seeing 44-45 for surface temps. Needless to say I got skunked. I wasn't sure if I just hit it to early in the day or if river's are notorious for cooling much faster.

[RumRiverRat]

52 to 54

Fished the last 3 hours of daylight Thursday and Friday.

Fished 10 to 3 give or take an hour on Saturday and Sunday.

The half hour either side of Moonset on Saturday was prime time.

[bassfshin24]

I had 55-57 on Saturday afternoon

[LegattoAD]

Yeah, Craigums. I hit a small river that was real cold too, but on Friday. 46 was the warmest I found in a really small backwater with nothing but pike that I nearly got stuck in.

Went to Tonka on Saturday morning and had a few small guys but couldn't put anything together for quality. Tried shallow, deep, sunny, shady, and in between. Just couldn't find them. Water temp was ~51 in the morning and 55ish in the evening.

Might try again on Sunday though.

[Juan Grande]

I'm going to get roasted for this, but I think mid to late fall fishing is overrated. Yes you can catch big girls, but the patterns are so inconsistent. The fish school up tighter and unless you find one of those schools (and they're biting), fishing is tough. Case in point, RRR fished a spot he and I share on Thursday evening and did pretty well (20+) fish. He and I fished the same spot 24 hours later with the same baits and got zero fish. We're confident the fish were still there, just not biting.

I know remaining green weeds are the key, but if you can't locate those on your lake then what do you turn to next?

With fall fishing, it's like you have to go out day after day to increase your chances at one of those "jackpot!" days to help offset the multiple tough outings leading up to that.

[bonebaby0]

I'm going to get roasted for this

Why ... you are telling the truth. If you are going to enjoy fall bass fishing you must have realistic expectations. I agree Juan, most days simply put are tough! It can get really frustrating when nothing is working and it is 40 degree with 20 mph winds. I fish a lot in the fall and I would say for every 4 bad outings (less than 3 fish and or no size) I get rewarded with one that produces a solid 20 Ib bag. I have had the exact same experience on my most frequented lake in the fall where you will catch 20 Ibs off one spot and then the next 3 outings never catch a fish on that spot. I also believe the fish are there but just won't go. Timing in the fall is everything and the only remedy I have found is to get out as much as possible. I was having a rough outing a couple of nights ago and was fortunate to land a 22" 6.3 Ib giant to save the night. Only caught 5 fish but all were over 18"s. You never know unless you go. Still some good fishing to be had! Good luck everyone.

[bassfshin24]

I think what keeps me going back out in the fall is that every time I get a bite I think its going to be a giant. I had a tough day of fishing on Saturday and what made it worse was in the first 20 minutes I lost an absolute giant that hit at the boat. But it definitely gets me going to get back out there again before it's too late.

[RumRiverRat]

Crazy to beat your head against the wall on a lake a couple days in a row fishing spots that are proven producers , then go out and fish those same spots and get rewarded with 18 to 20 inch fish.

For me Saturday was one of those fall days that we all hope to have fishing. I fished the same lake and spots on Sunday and caught 1 fish while my partner caught 5.

[kt]

Inconsistency is the nature of the beast when it comes to fall fishing. Saturday AM my brother and i put 25.5 lbs of fish in the boat for our big 5. We had 3 over 5 and 8 others between 4 and 5, with probably 10-15 others in the 3.5-4 lb range. We left that lake at noon went to another lake nearby that is known for big fish and couldn't catch anything but 1-2 lbers. Sunday am we went out with the same wind at the same time on the same lake as saturday am fishing the same areas and only caught one fish. We then hit some areas on that lake that weren't producing well on saturday and found em more active, enough so to get 10 fish in the 3-4.5 lb range. As someone mentioned before, i think the key to fall fishing is to go in without any expectations and let the fish tell you what to do. Be willing to move around, be willing to check spots multiple times during the day, and be willing to bail on a lake quickly if it doesn't feel right.

[RumRiverRat]

The thing about fishing in the fall is every time you set the hook it could be a giant fish.