Fishing Reports Archive Summer 2007 Fred's Live Bait and Tackle Deer River Minnesota

Fishing Report! Jeff Sundin 10-16-07

    These days, the weather might still be throwing a few curve balls our way, but we're being rewarded for our struggle with some quality fall fishing. This week, the turnover occurred on several area lakes and forced me to do some "moving around" to compensate. While the fishing action has been far from wide open, we have had what I'd call steady action on most days. Some days are better than others, but we are catching our fish.

    Water temperatures are now stabilized again, this time they've settled in at about 51 to 52 degrees and the fish have "scattered" but they continue to feed fairly well. We've located and caught some fish in the shallows, especially where good "green" weeds still exist or on rocks when there's a breeze. We've also found a good number of fish moving deeper on to the lakes secondary drop off areas in 20 to 30 feet of water. We spent some time looking for larger fish on Cutfoot Sioux last Saturday and I was surprised by the apparently good schools of 14 to 16 inch fish located in the 20 to 26 foot range. My expectation was that we'd find some larger fish down deep, but it turned out to be the opposite. More slot fish, especially 18 to 21 inch fish are located shallow and more "keepers" 14 to 17 inch fish are deeper, at least for the moment.

    On Tuesday we wound up on the Rainy River mainly because the rain was predicted to be lighter there than at home, lucky for us we had taken that decision because we found above average Smallmouth Bass and Walleye fishing near Pelland and we enjoyed half a day without any rain falling. Fish location was not quite what we had anticipated as higher water and current levels forced the fish into more "classic river locations" in shallow water along the numerous current breaks. The deeper holes had a few fish in them, but 8 to 10 foot flats with an adjacent current break like a point or protruding rock pile were the clear ticket for the best action.

    Typical fall presentations have applied on both the river and lakes. Jig and minnow still accounts for the lions share of what we're catching, but we've had some really good experiences on the lakes using live bait rigs with 6 to 8 inch minnows. Creek Chub, Redtails, Suckers...they all work. The real key seems to be size more than type of minnow. On the river, we actually had better action (including the Walleye) using a 1/4 ounce jig head tipped with plastic baits instead of minnows. The better performers were 4 inch Berkley Power Bait Twisters in White or Chartreuse, Walleye Assassin 4 inch tails in Clear/Chartreuse Glitter and the 4 inch Jiggin' Shad in Black/Pearl.

    Today (Wednesday) I'll be trying my hand at some mixed Walleye and Crappie fishing and I hope to polish up the report tomorrow with one last update before I get ready to wind down for the season and try to bag a duck. Good luck out there, Jeff

Fishing Report! Jeff Sundin 10-5-07

    Rainy, but warm fall weather has made fishing fairly easy this week. We've had some wind, but as luck would have it, there's been plenty of Walleye action on the smaller lakes and we've been able to avoid big waves by staying off the the "big lakes". During the later part of this week our water temperatures have actually risen a degree or two. Hovering now around 59 degrees, the fall bite should continue for the next several days at least.
   

Walleye action tends to peak at these high 50 degree temperatures, but the other shoe drops when the surface temps fall below 54 or thereabouts. After that, we experience a temporary slow down, so I'd suggest giving it one last shot if you can make it out this week.

    Walleye location continues to center around the shallower water now whether it's the 6 to 8 foot weedlines on Lake Winnie or 20 to 22 foot weedlines of Pokegama, the principal is the same. Baitfish that lived happily in the shallow weeds all summer long begin pushing out toward the deeper weed edges. Hungry Walleyes (and other fish) find the points and pockets in the weed edge and feed heavily before the winter sets in.

    Crappies action regained some momentum this week, but we've been seeing lots of smaller than average fish. There must have been a massive hatch a few seasons back because several area lakes have large populations of 5 to 8 inch Crappies right now. If we stick to it, we are managing to get enough keepers (9 to 11 inch) to satisfy folks, so it's worth doing, but I'd say the best approach if to fish with Waxies or cut worms to bolster the odds of catching Bluegills which have been mixed in with the deeper Crappies and have often been better size fish than the Crappies.

    Largemouth Bass fishing continues to be good, I just wish I had the opportunity to do more of it right now. There are still enough green weeds to hold the fish and they are on their fall feeding plan too so we're catching them by accident every time we toss a jig into the better weed beds. They're location appears to be dependant only on having good, green cover with deeper water nearby, so the inside corners, steeper drop-off areas and points are all gathering places. When you find one, you'll find more right now, so if you catch one, stop the boat and continue to work the area.

    We've had some above average Pike action this week as well, but we've had to root 'em out of the weedlines to catch them. Casting or trolling has been okay at times, but smaller fish tend to be the ones hitting the faster moving baits. For larger fish, try a jig with a larger than normal minnow. I'd say about 6 inches is perfect and we're rigging a 17 pound fluorocarbon leader. Tie leader directly to the jig, tie a loop on the end of the leader and attach it to your line using a snap swivel. This is really simple, but effective and it protects against 90 percent of your bite off's.

Fishing Report! Jeff Sundin 9-26-07

    We've had every kind of weather nature can throw at us this week. It's been cold, hot, calm, windy, stormy and gorgeous all during the same week. It's incredible to me that the fish are even trying to bite, but evidently in the fall, the urge to feed before winter sets in is more important than weather conditions. The really good news is that surface water temperatures have stabilized, in some cases even risen from 59 degrees to about 61 degrees depending on where you check them. The most noticeable signs of the colder water have been the huge schools of bait fish now found out in the outer edges of deep weedlines and even in the deeper adjacent open water areas. There have been some days that were brutal to fish, but we've been able to consistently bag at least some Walleye every day. Limits of fish? Not necessarily, because I've been fishing mostly on "slot limit" lakes where we've been releasing roughly 50 percent of our catch. But we have been able to bring in a dozen or so "keepers" on most trips this week.
    Walleye seemed to have switched their feeding preference to minnows, but night crawlers and Leeches (if you have them) are still producing fish. My rule of thumb is to fish jig and minnow on sunnier, breezy days and use night crawlers on the calmer, more overcast days.

    Walleye location has shifted a bit toward the shallower water now and I've spent more time in the 6 to 10 foot range than I did last week. Weeds are not as important as they had been because there are huge schools of baitfish on the outer edges of bars and points adjacent to deeper water. If you cover enough water, you will find some fish.

    Crappies action regained some momentum this week, but we've been seeing lots of smaller than average fish. There must have been a massive hatch a few seasons back because several area lakes have large populations of 5 to 8 inch Crappies right now. If we stick to it, we are managing to get enough keepers (9 to 11 inch) to satisfy folks, so it's worth doing, but I'd say the best approach if to fish with Waxies or cut worms to bolster the odds of catching Bluegills which have been mixed in with the deeper Crappies and have often been better size fish than the Crappies.

    One really fun experience we've had this week was Largemouth Bass fishing. Typically we catch fish using spinnerbaits this time of year but for now, the Bass are using fairly heavy cover so when we find them, we have to "root them out" using either the Texas rigged plastic worms or jumping over the heavy cover with surface baits like a slop frog. There are still enough green weeds to hold the fish and they are on their fall feeding plan too. They're location appears to be dependant only on having good, green cover with deeper water nearby. It's a great break when you get tired of fighting the wind and rain.

Fishing Report! Jeff Sundin 9-19-07

    The cold weather of the past week gave way to warm, humid and unstable air. So I've switched from mittens and a mad bomber hat back to the summer lightweight rain suit.

    Even though the air temperature has risen, surface water temperatures are hanging in at 57 to 59 degrees depending on where you check them. The most noticeable signs of the colder water have been the huge schools of bait fish now found out in the outer edges of deep weedlines and even in the deeper adjacent open water areas. While there are some encouraging signs of a "Fall Walleye Movement" starting up, it's not universal and some places are definitely better than others.
    After I reported last week that the Walleye seemed to have switched their feeding preference to minnows, we had a reversal this past Monday where we started out catching fish early on jigs & minnows, only to discover that by day's end, night crawlers were again the preferred food. At the time, I attributed that to the typical fall cycle where calmer, grey days seem to call for abandoning the jig/minnow in favor of the live bait rigs. My guess is that once the gloomy skies break up and we get a breeze, jig and minnow fishing will be the rule of thumb again. A note about the minnows, We've been carrying some shiners and they're working, but not nearly as well as the larger (4 to 6 inch) creek chubs. Even the Perch are taking these larger minnows over the smaller shiners. If you want to give the larger minnows a spin, you can use them on a jig, but be prepared to feed line allowing the fish some time to get the bait fully into their mouth before setting the hook.

    Walleye location has been varied, some fish are hanging out in deeper water now. We've seen lots of them in 18 to 26 feet, but the deeper they go, the less aggressive they've been. I had some success this week watching these deep fish during the day and then returning to the shallower adjacent structures toward evening. When the fish moved up higher on the structures (12 to 14 feet), the bite was on. I guess that with the cooler water temperatures, we'll see more movement toward the better evening bites. Usually, that doesn't start this early, but it looks like it will be driven more by the water temperature than by the time of year.

    Crappies had been wide open for the past few weeks, but the action slowed a bit this week. It's easy to find the fish, they're out in the open water now and we can easily get on top of a school of fish, but they've just gotten a lot more finicky. We haven't tried the "evening bite", but it wouldn't surprise me to discover that they too are starting to show a preference for that "evening run" like the Walleye.

    Perch fishing has been frustrating this fall with scattered small groups of fish showing up randomly. The ones we are catching appear to located mainly in heavier weed cover and are apparently well fed because they are extremely picky and hard to hook. Hopefully, I'll have some better news on the Perch as this week allows me more time to look for them.

    Northern Pike have been located in deep water. Our best Pike action has been found in water 30 feet or deeper and our presentation has been large minnows fished with live bait rigs. You can add a spinner blade to the rig if you want to, but a simple 4 to 6 foot Snell tied on heavy mono or fluorocarbon line, a 4/0 hook and a 3/4 ounce egg sinker will do the trick. We have discovered that no minnow is too large. In fact the better Pike are completely ignoring smaller minnows. Don't be afraid of 10 to 12 inch Suckers, even bigger if you can find them.

Fishing Report! Jeff Sundin 9-3-07

    Labor Day weekend has come and gone marking the end of our summer fishing season. It's unusual to have nice weather for the entire Labor Day holiday, but that's what we had this year. Sunny skies and warm temperatures had the fisherman out in force especially on Cutfoot Sioux and Lake Winnie where I spent the majority of my time this weekend and most of the past week.

    Late summer fishing patterns persisted and water temperatures were slowly rising all week long. We started the week with 67 to 68 degree surface temperatures and ended Sunday with 71 to 72 surface water. Mixed bag fishing has been awesome with Walleyes, Bluegills and Crappies all available during the same fishing day. In fact, I think this has been one of the better late summer periods (on Lake Winnie and Cutfoot) we've had in several years.

    For Walleye, I've been hearing a lot of folks talking about fishing with jig and minnows and to a lesser extent crankbaits. But for me, night crawlers have been the clear winner for producing the best Walleye fishing all week long. Drifting or back-trolling the weedlines in 8 feet of water have produced most of the fish, but we have found a few nice schools located on shoreline related bars and points in 12 to 18 feet as well. Most days we've had our best action during the mornings and so we fish walleyes until lunch time and then shift to panfish for the afternoon. On the windy days though, Walleye action continues all day long.

    The windy days have also been best for folks trolling the crankbaits and the side benefit for them has been a nice Northern Pike bite mixed in with the Walleyes. The jury is out about which crankbaits are best this summer. Salmo's #4 and #5 hornets, #5 Shad Raps, #7 Rattlin' Raps and the 1 ounce size Rattlin' Spot are all producing their share of fish on the shallow weedlines. Fish are more closely related to the bottom this season, so it's important to keep experimenting with lures, speed and distance behind the boat until you hit the magic combination. Remember, it may change every day, so don't get locked into a groove. If what you did yesterday isn't working, coach yourself into  a new pattern and you will find some active fish eventually.

    For Pike, we've had some action casting Musky size spinnerbaits, jerk baits and trolling larger Sucker minnows or Creek Chubs. With all of the sunny weather, fishing for pike has been hit and miss. They've been active during early morning and on cloudy days. On cloudy days they remain active during most of the early part of the day, but even then the action drops off during mid day. If you really want to zero in on larger pike, get out there early and fish the first few hours of daylight and then switch to something else during mid day.

    Crappies continue to be active and we've had excellent results searching for schools of fish in open water near the shoreline. You won't need to go real deep yet, but they are starting to shift away slightly from the tight inside turns. More fish are showing up in open, meandering water in depths of 16 to 24 feet. The pattern is simple, move along slowly watching your graph for a school of fish. Stop when you find them and vertical jig with an 1/8 ounce or 1/16 ounce jig tipped with a small minnow or piece of cut night crawler. I think it's important to try that cut night crawler as I have been catching an above average number of fish on that piece of worm and it gives the Bluegills something to think about too. Many times the schools are mixed with Crappies suspended 5 to 8 feet above the bottom and Sunfish hugging closer to the bottom.

    Sunfish are still mainly related to the weedlines, but this week I've noticed more pressure on them and they are starting to move away from some of the popular spots. I see more fish showing up in the deeper water (16 to 20 feet) outside of the weedlines and I'm expecting to see that trend continue.

    From here on through to the freeze up we're looking at emerging fall fishing patterns and a return to cool water. As we start to see colder temperatures at night the weedline fishing will continue to improve, so don't put away your fishing gear just yet, there's a lot more good fishing still to come.