Fall pattern in August...what gives?

[locolocal]

So here goes my theory for the bizarre bite, or lack thereof, that is currently occurring on our lakes.

Surface temps on some Twin Cities lakes are as low as 68 degrees. I suspect deep fish (12+ feet) are experiencing even colder water and appear to have become more sluggish. Some of the fish that move from deep to shallow to feed, are in fact staying up tight. I think the water temps in the shallows are actually what the deeper parts of the lake should be, if the surface temps were in their normal ranges of 75-80. Did that makes sense? We don't usually see such temps in the shallows until mid-late September.

Hence the "fall pattern in August" theory. If our current weather patterns keep up, we may never see that deep water summer bite.

Grab your jigs or plastics and head for the docks boys and girls!

Just my $.02.

[riverrat56]

Ya most of the fish are in there fall patterns, bass are up shallow and the walleyes are in 5 ft of water on the lakes i fish, sounds like fall patterns to me, o well i like fall fishing better especially when i get a bonus fall fishing time.

[Bill-E-Bazz]

Yesterday I was out and managed to boat a few bass. Most of the bass were on the docks, had one out a little deeper but missed it. You would think that they were out a little deeper with everybody working the outside weed edge. So I started on the docks as I always do, and like always They produced. Ebass you need to get to this lake with me sometime and help me find the bigger ones dangit!!!

[Dan Wood]

This is prime time for hogs... 70 deg. water is the LM's preferred temp. This time of year I like to upsize baits as the majority of the forage is larger in size and bass are looking for big easy meals. We hammered some really nice bass the other day on Big Magic Stiks. Typically I use the 4.5" Magic Stiks, but upsize from now through fall and do well on bigger bass. Charlie Case is coming out with a new bait that should be fantastic in the fall, I expect to have some by next week to try out - "Big Mama" I think is the new name... 11" floating paddle tail worm.. that should be an awesome fall bait!

http://tjtackle.com/BigStik.htm

As for fish in shallow, from pre-spawn until late fall there will be fish in shallow in this climate. Not all fish will be shallow, but there are fish that stay shallow all year long until the weeds begin to die off in late fall (cover and/or water clarity permitting).

[EBass]

Bill, I found 5 small ones on Tonka with Lucas Sunday evening doing the same as you.

Just got to get out there and spend mucho hours figuring them out since we're only getting out once or twice a week. I'm fishing with Tonka Boy tomorrow though. Hopefully I can get out on Thursday to. The weekend - maybe. I'm on call this whole week to. That SUX!

[Wayne Ek]

We have had a strong summer pattern in the Alex area for the past two weeks. Deep water fish on deep cabbage lines. Today I was on Miltona and the water temp. was 64 the chain had temps at 61 and 63 this past week. The crank bait bite is starting on deeper breaks, but the big bite is still a few weeks off, when they start to move back up onto the flats the crank bite is unbelievable in our area.

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Wayne
Agape Fishing Guides
www.agapefishingguides.com

[IaFisherman]

Agape,
Could you explain the flats/crank bite a little more? Like the best water temp to fish this pattern, depth and type of flat, style of crank bait, etc? I just want to learn new ways to fish instead of sticking with my confidence baits, which of course are not always the best choice all of the time.
I'm not lookin for all your secrets, just some general guidelines for this pattern.

Thanks

[ChrisR71]

I have found the fish to be very active. They were this past weekend. I went to White Bear for 4 hours on Saturday and my brother caught a 14 pound muskie. We caught a lot of small northerns and bass. Then on Sunday I went to my favorite lake and caught 18 bass, 5 northerns, a walleye, and an ugly dogfish. The bass were pounding a slow moving crank bait in 4-6 feet on water. So, you are correct in saying that a lot of nice fish are shallow. My best bass was 20".

The next 2 months are the best bass fishing times for me. There are less people on the lakes and the fish become easier to catch. Last year, my biggest bass came on October 20th. I think we have a lot of good fishing left!