It's coming!

[CrappieJohn]

Yesterday I took a ride with the binoculars at run rise and did a bit of a deer survey. While the deer were my intended visual targets, it was what the trees were doing that really caught my eye.

Granted, last summer's heat and dry took it's toll on the trees and crops, but I was seeing areas where the leaves were already turning color.

In normal years, the onset of the color change usually signals the beginning of fall fishing for me. Seeing the walnut and butternuts dropping leaves will get me hopping for fall crappies, but even then I know that the best will not begin until the maples are hot. Any fishing before then is merely a tune-up for what is to come.

My favorite lake is one prone to assualt by skiers and jetheads so I will not even fish it until after labor day. And then the trips are more for locating fish than worrying about numbers of fish. Location will be everything for a while early in the fall season.

I know that the pannies can get hot out there right now.... I also know that the action has been hit or miss. The last time I was on the water it was cozying up to 83 degrees on the surface and would probably hazard a guess that the temp was high to the bottom of the lake. With some cooling the lake will again begin to show some structured activity and make the fishing a bit more predictable.

Tomorrow might be a good day to go to the lake and check out the foliage there along with the water temps. The dry times probably had less effect on the immediate lake area and will be a better judge to the season at hand. The fall fishing has so much to offer and is generally much more relaxed than that rush of people in the spring....with hunting and prepping for ice there is so much more to do. Just getting back on the water for this final "hurrah" season gets me itchy. For some people, this is the end of the fishing season. For me it is the beginning. I will fish hard now until next summer's heat and then take my sabatical. I have been getting all of my tackle in order for the fall melee, and then the winter open water tackle sits at ready along with the ice tackle. I am set!

When the walnuts begin to fall, we have four weeks until the leaves do. The walnuts in the neighbors yard have been dropping for two weeks now. Two weeks after the walnut/butternut leaf drop happens the maples will color up and drop. This is the signal.....that it is coming.

[delmuts]

easy tom easy !! yes it is coming, but don't work yourself in a frenzy ! i too look forward to the great fall fishing that is coming!

[Guest]

There is not enough time in a week to fish,hunt deer and then pheasant hunt,we need a longer week.I can fish and hunt 5 days a week and still not get it all done.

[BDR]

Ya sure know your nut's Tom.