Fishing Report Library Northern Minnesota Fred's Bait Deer River September and October 2006

    Well folks, here's the last update I'll be posting for a week or maybe two. Starting Sunday I'll be going into hunting mode for a week or so and when I get that out of my system, I'll get started with some ice fishing articles and forecasts for the upcoming season. I wouldn't be surprised to be talking about freeze up within the next few weeks.

    The water temperatures continue to fall and even though we're looking at surface temps now ranging from 41 to 46 degrees, fish can still be caught and there are a handful of hearty anglers chasing them. We've spent the past few days Walleye fishing and there's really no change from the updates I've already posted below. We are still catching fish, but be prepared for some light bites and lots of half hearted "pick ups" where the fish lose interest and drop your bait.

    I've been struggling with a way to teach folks how to play see-saw with the fish until they finally inch their way up the minnow and get into hooking range. My best advice is to use the lightest jig you can get away with to help prevent the fish from "dropping" the bait. If you keep a bit of up-pressure on the fish as they nibble, these lighter jigs will tend to hover within their strike range longer and if they drop the bait, you'll have a better chance of teasing them back on to it again. Stinger hooks are okay, but I feel that we get less bites and more snags when we're using them so even if you get a higher percentage of hook ups, the end result is the same number of fish caught. I prefer to teach the "patience in hook setting method". Your other option would be to fish the live bait rigs that allow you to feed out line giving the fish more time to finish their meal before you pounce on them. This is working better on some lakes than others though and you'll have to experiment to see if its right for your conditions.

    Last weekend we fished two distinctly different patterns, both successful in their own way. On Saturday we fished deeper water using live bait rigs tipped with creek Chubs and large rainbow Chubs in the five to seven inch range. This was an annual "big fish" trip where we didn’t plan or expect to catch the eater size fish. Targeting fish in the 22 to 35 foot depth ranges is the best way to single out these small schools of larger fish. We had sparse action during the mid day, but toward evening and up to dark there was a consistent run of nice fish, with the largest coming in at 28 inches.

    On Sunday, we fished for "eaters" using jig and minnow combinations in shallower water of 8 to 12 feet.  We found that it was a lot easier to get a bite, than to set the hook. The Walleye were fairly willing to pick up the minnow, but we had to nurse them on to the jig before we could get a hook set. I tried to get Walleyes interested in Night Crawlers but except for a couple of half hearted pick ups, this particular approach fell flat this time.

    One sure remedy for fishing the "post turnover" period is to head for your favorite river. Fish in rivers live by a different set of rules than their lake cousins and sometimes when lake fishing is sluggish, you can count on the river fish to be a bit more aggressive. Since river water is constantly churning, changing or "turning over", fish are never influenced by a single, sudden change as they are in lakes. Instead their location is influenced by the food supply, water level and temperature.

    We wanted to finish off the season (my guiding season) with a bang so we headed for the Rainy River. Smallmouth and Walleye fishing continues to be good upstream from Pelland and as luck would have it, the fish were cooperative. My customer had hoped to catch a Sturgeon and as a bonus, he hooked into a nice Sturgeon. Walleyes for a fish fry came intermittently while we fished the Smallmouth Bass on the rocky edge of deeper water holes. Fish location varied form time to time, but we caught most of the fish in 8 to 10 feet of water adjacent to a deeper hole.

    The weather finally started settling down on Saturday and by Sunday (10-15) The atmosphere around the Deer River area is finally back to normal for this time of year. As expected, the cold snap that blew through last week dramatically reduced surface water temperatures and we found temps as low as 41 degrees in Little Cutfoot Sioux on Sunday morning it was 48 degrees over the deepest portion of big Cutfoot Sioux. The warmest water we found was a balmy 51 on a much deeper Lake on Saturday.

    There is no doubt that we’ll be fishing "post turnover" conditions from here on out. The good news is that now that its over, fishing will stabilize and settle back into a fairly predictable pattern for the next couple of weeks or until freeze up (whichever comes first).

    Walleye fishing for us this weekend was a far cry from the wide-open action of a week ago, but it was good enough to get limits for my for my customers after we worked at it for most of the day. As expected, the best action of the day came from about 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM and again from 3:30 PM until sunset with the "evening run" starting a little earlier than I expected it to. Maybe the mid day sun helped trigger a late afternoon bite, maybe it was the evening run starting early.

    This weekend we fished two distinctly different patterns, both successful in their own way. On Saturday we fished deeper water using live bait rigs tipped with creek Chubs and large rainbow Chubs in the five to seven inch range. This was an annual "big fish" trip where we didn’t plan or expect to catch the eater size fish. Targeting fish in the 22 to 35 foot depth ranges is the best way to single out these small schools of larger fish. We had sparse action during the mid day, but toward evening and up to dark there was a consistent run of nice fish, with the largest coming in at 28 inches.

    On Sunday, we fished for "eaters" using jig and minnow combinations in shallower water of 8 to 12 feet.  We found that it was a lot easier to get a bite, than to set the hook. The Walleye were fairly willing to pick up the minnow, but we had to nurse them on to the jig before we could get a hook set. I tried to get Walleyes interested in Night Crawlers but except for a couple of half hearted pick ups, this particular approach fell flat this time.

    One sure remedy for fishing the "post turnover" period is to head for your favorite river. Fish in rivers live by a different set of rules than their lake cousins and sometimes when lake fishing is sluggish, you can count on the river fish to be a bit more aggressive. Since river water is constantly churning, changing or "turning over", fish are never influenced by a single, sudden change as they are in lakes. Instead their location is influenced by the food supply, water level and temperature.

    On Monday we wanted to try something different so we headed for the Rainy River. we had hoped to catch several Sturgeon and some Smallmouth Bass. After a couple of hours without much Sturgeon action we switched over to Smallmouth fishing and as luck would have it, they were fairly cooperative. As a bonus, we happened into a nice Sturgeon and enough Walleyes for a fish fry while we fished the Smallmouth. As always, we release all of the Bass.

    Our best presentation was a 1/4 ounce jig head tipped with minnows. I preferred the larger Rainbow Chubs, but others like the Shiners better. Either way, the jig and minnow combination was a winner and you can experiment with minnows to see which you like best.

    Fish locations varied, we caught several on the deep edge of a hole that dropped into 20 feet, others on the adjacent flat in 8 to 10 feet and still others on a sharp ledge dropping into deep water directly adjacent to the shoreline. The Walleyes showed a strong preference for the shallower water on the downstream edge of the hole. In fact all of the "keeper" Walleyes came from that flat in 7 to 10 feet.

    You could just feel it coming. It was one of those periods where the fish were just biting too well. Walleyes, Perch, Bluegills and Pike were on a "hot bite" for a week. The action, especially over the weekend had kept steady in spite of high winds, cold water temperatures and heavy fishing pressure. What were those fish up to last weekend? Now we can see that they were feeding heavily in preparation for this major league cold front to move through.

    With Northwest winds up to 30 MPH, snow and air temperatures in the high 20-degree range, there was just no way we could fish yesterday and  we’ve already decided to sit it out again today (10/13/06). If there were a few area lakes that hadn’t already "turned over", They certainly have by now. With conditions changing this rapidly, I won’t make you read a long report about how the fishing was last week, that's past history now. Instead, I’ll give it a day or two and as soon as I can get back on the water to finish some of my remaining trips, I’ll get a more informative report posted.

    In the meantime, if you’re planning a trip for this weekend, it sounds like we’ll be getting a little moderation, albeit still well below normal temperatures for this time of year. Water temperatures as of Tuesday 10/10/06 were already down to about 53 to 54 degrees (depending on the lake) and I start getting concerned about the turnover at 55 degrees or thereabouts. I’m expecting to be fishing post turnover conditions from here on out.

    Fishing after the turnover usually means that I’ll be looking for Walleyes on a wider variety of spots and expecting to get fewer of them from each location. I’ll be expecting to fish the "evening bite" and if the Walleyes are predicable as I think, I’ll be planning on fishing much slower than I have been. More slow trolling and anchoring, less drifting. Another good game plan now will be to turn to the rivers for some better action. In fact, it’s possible that the early cold snap will trigger a move into river holes earlier than usual.

    Colder water temps should also trigger movements of the fall spawning whitefish and Northern Cisco (Tulibee). When these fish move toward the shoreline to spawn, greedy feeders like large Pike and Musky show up to take advantage of the opportunity. The next couple of weeks will be prime time for trophy hunters casting in the shallows. Crankbaits, jerkbaits and soft plastics like the Sluggo will put some fish in the boat.

    The window of opportunity opens and closes quickly when the weather turns cold and surface temperatures fall into the low fifties. The past week has been a fast transition starting with surface temperatures in what I’d call "prime Walleye fishing range" of 56 to 60 degrees and ending with temperatures in the 53 to 57 degree range. Not the end of the fall bite, but a step closer to the last phase of fall fishing and the time for cold water Walleye anglers to start playing by a new set of rules.

    Some of the Walleyes that have been most active on weed edges and shallow shoreline breaks are moving into only the premium weed areas. Breaklines where green weed growth is still present continues to hold decent numbers of fish. But baitfish and Walleyes alike are evacuating the dying, brown or "soft" weeds. On lakes where there are good shallow rock areas adjacent to weedy flats, you’ll find Walleyes using the rocks on breezy days and off into the deeper edges of the weeds on clam days. These multiple cover spots are good this time of year because the fish don’t have to move far for food or cover. It’s worth taking a look at these areas every time you go out.

    Daily movements of baitfish are important now too. Minnows that ordinarily hide out most days on shallow, sandy weed flats will make a quick move into the super shallow water on warm, sunny days. Calm bays and protected areas with direct sunshine will attract Shiners, young Perch and other baitfish. These movements of baitfish will influence Walleye location on a day by day basis. So even if you know an area that’s been holding good numbers of fish, you’ll need to fine tune your depth a few times every day. For the rest of the fall season, use this rule of thumb. Stay close to the food supply and you’ll find some fish.

    Another key to the colder water Walleye bite is to begin fishing early and late in the day. Fish that have been active during the day during the past several weeks are showing a preference for morning and evening. The exception would be breezy days when the Walleye will still move up onto the shallow rocks and green weedline areas I mentioned before. As the water continues to chill and lakes enter the post turnover period, the prime time evening, night and early morning periods will get more and more important.

    Walleye presentations are still somewhat varied, but in our area the jig and minnow combinations are all you really need right now. There are still folks fishing with live bait rigs tipped with night crawlers or light jigs tipped with crawlers too. I’ve used this approach this week to cut down on "snip off" problems from small Pike. The crawlers are overlooked by most of the Pike and even if it’s not the perfect bait for Walleye right now, we get enough of them to keep it interesting. Evening and night fishing with crankbaits is an option as well. Shallow runners like the #4 Hornet by Salmo, The Husky Jerk or #5 Shad Raps trolled in 5 to 8 feet of water will produce plenty of "night biters", especially during this full moon period.

    Panfishing has occupied a lot of my mid day fishing time this week and I’d say that it’s getting easier to locate schools in open water every day. On Wednesday, we were able to locate several schools of Crappie and Bluegills all within a few hundred feet of each other. This is a big improvement over a week ago when there were still lots of fish nearer to the weedline and tougher to pick up on the Lowrance. Crappies have been most active earlier in the morning and each day we’ve found that almost all of our Crappie catches have come within the first couple of hours in the morning. After that, the Bluegills keep the action going for a couple more hours until about lunchtime. Mid day fishing is slower, but some fish continue to bite. The action picks up again a few hours before sunset and the peak is an hour or so before dark.

    The presentation doesn’t change much for me. A 1/16 ounce jig tipped with a minnow for Crappie or tipped with a worm for the ‘gills. We tend to keep this approach really simple, but it has been proven over time and keeps working. Why change a good thing?

    Perch action has slowed somewhat from its peak a week ago, but there are still plenty of nice Jumbos and even some "magnums" in the shallow weeds and on shallow rocks. A wind makes the Perch fishing better, but unlike the Walleye. Those shallow Perch spots do produce at least some action even on the calm days. If anything, the size may be smaller on calm days with a higher percentage of larger fish caught during those windy times. You will catch some good Perch while you drift or back troll for Walleye. But if you really want to get into them, hover or slow drift with your jig held vertically and directly below the boat. Even in the shallows, the Perch catch is much better when we just drop the jig over the side and let the fish do the work. When the average size gets too small, let the boat drift off into a new area until you get back into the better ones.

Have you been waiting for the fishing reports to tell you that fishing has peaked before you venture out? Okay, the fishing is at or near its peak and it’s time to venture out. There I said it. I know that there are still a lot of folks out there who’d disagree about the fishing being at its peak right now, but those particular anglers just haven’t keyed in (so far) on the one detail that makes or breaks a fishing trip in the fall. Just like the realtor always says, location, location, location… If you can see fish on your electronics, you can find a way to catch them right now. It may take a day or two before you get the timing right, but if they’re there, they’re going to feed sometime every day. The battle (mentally) is to look for fish and try to avoid the trap of heading for "the old favorite spots" just because they were good in the past. Most folks I know that are struggling right now are fishing old favorites instead of looking for elements that favor finding fish in the present conditions.

    Surface water temperatures are below 60 degrees virtually everywhere in the Grand Rapids/Deer River area and most of the shallow water lakes are hovering at 56 to 58 degrees. We’ve already had a couple of frosty nights and some of the shallowest weed growth has begun to die. Deeper weed patches are still holding their own though and small schools of fish are on the move, showing up on the deep weedline edges. Some open water, shoreline related breaklines are also beginning to attract fish, particularly where there are good schools of baitfish present. Windy conditions nearly every day this week have made rocks and gravel in shallow water good locations as well.

    Walleye fishing for me this week has been all about the deep weedline. I can venture out onto the clean lip areas a little bit, but not far. With weed patches getting thinner and shallow weed turning brown, the schools of fish located in the deeper, Green weed areas are staying longer. Once we find fish, we’re able to make three or four passes drifting or back trolling on the same school of fish. Jig and minnow combinations, rigs with night crawlers or rigs with leeches fished near the weed edges in shallow water are performing better now than most of the trolling approaches we’d used last week. There are few, if any Spot Tail Shiners available in our area, but we’ve had good success with above average size Fatheads. I usually really like the Rainbow Chubs too, but this week a nice Fathead in the 3-inch range has been better for jigging. During this fall period, I try to avoid small fatheads and tend to favor larger minnows. Even some of the Creek Chubs, Redtails and other odds and ends that show up at the bait shop will work well if they’re in the right size range. That’s the key, size is important!

    Northern Pike have been plenty active during these colder, gloomier days. During the past week, the average size has really improved. There are still an awful lot of small ones, but the odds of picking up a few fish in the 30 to 35 inch range are steadily improving.

    Perch fishing continues in the shallow water and we’ve had some fairly good action in water depths of 3 to 6 feet. When I find shallow areas with rock or gravel, there are Perch there. Jig and minnow has been the best approach. We’ve had to move frequently to stay in the larger fish, so don’t get too hung up on any one location. Just cover some water, fish some weeds and shallow rocks and you’ll start finding schools of active fish scattered along the shoreline. In most cases we’ve found enough Perch to satisfy us while we’ve been searching for Walleyes.

    Bluegills and Crappies are somewhat active, with more schools of fish showing up in deeper, open water. For us, the morning bite has been much better than the afternoon. Bluegills are still more active than Crappies, but every day the Crappies are becoming more prevalent. Even when we fish with the jig and worm for sunfish, some Crappies get mixed into the bag. If you’re lucky enough to know about a brush pile, crib or other debris that holds Crappies, you will certainly find some fish on those locations now.

    Wow, we’ve had about five days in a row with some fairly rugged winds to deal with. It’s definitely been a time to bundle up. In fact, I even had to start wearing pants this week. Nature has a way of correcting errant weather patterns and all of these cold, windy days have really dropped the water temperatures. Last week we were looking at temperatures in the high sixties and even a few low seventies, today they are in the low sixties and even a few in the high fifty degree range. These water temperatures are perfect for triggering the fall bite in the Northern Minnesota area. Ideally, weather will stabilize again and we’ll get a nice extension of our fall fishing season. Either way, the next couple of weeks are going to be the best bet for folks who want to make one last trip to the lake.

    During the past three or four days Walleyes have begun showing a preference for more traditional "bottom oriented" presentations. The suspended fish that we’d been following for several weeks have either found more suitable feeding arrangements near the bottom or have adjusted to the colder water temperatures by temporarily switching into bottom feeding mode. Either way, it’s changed our approach to fishing them. Jig and minnow combinations, rigs with night crawlers or rigs with leeches fished near the weed edges in shallow water are performing better now than most of the trolling approaches we’d used last week. There are few if any Spot Tail Shiners available in our area, but we’ve had good success with above average size Rainbows and Fatheads. During this fall period, I try to avoid small fatheads and tend to favor larger minnows. Even some of the Creek Chubs, Redtails and other odds and ends that show up at the bait shop will work well if they’re in the right size range. That’s the key, size is important!

    According to DNR experts, the reason Walleye and Pike were suspending was to take advantage of huge young of the year Tulibee populations. So I’m expecting to see the return of the crankbait bite as soon as the weather stabilizes and the baitfish start to re-establish their positions on the weedy flats. Stay tuned for more information as that unfolds.

    Northern Pike have been plenty active during these colder, gloomier days. I’d say it has been prime time for Pike action and there have been times when we’ve caught 20, 30 maybe more in an hour, albeit most of them in the smaller size range. I expect to see some larger ones lurking on the weedlines soon as the influence of colder water will begin triggering a movement of the fall spawning Tulibee (Northern Cisco) and Whitefish toward the shallows.

    Perch fishing continues in the shallow water and we’ve had some fairly good action in water depths of 3 to 6 feet. When I find shallow areas with rock or gravel, there are Perch there. Jig and minnow has been the best approach. We’ve had to move frequently to stay in the larger fish, so don’t get too hung up on any one location. Just cover some water, fish some weeds and shallow rocks and you’ll start finding schools of active fish scattered along the shoreline. In most cases we’ve found enough Perch to satisfy us while we’ve been searching for Walleyes.