by Bob Jensen
The locusts were very loud in the back yard last night. Air temperatures and humidity made it uncomfortable to be outside. Summer was in full force. But a look at the calendar reminded me that fall fishing is not far off. Fishing has been good for many people in many places the past few weeks and history suggests fishing is about to get better. Late summer and fall can provide some outstanding fishing action. Following are some of the things that we need to do if we want to experience that outstanding fishing action.
This is a time of plenty for predator fish. There is lots of food in the water. The baitfish that were born this spring are now at a size where the larger predator fish can utilize them as food. In many bodies of water, the gamefish don’t have to look very hard for a meal. Food is all around them.
Some anglers subscribe to the “Match the Hatch” theory. “Match the Hatch” suggests that we use a bait that looks like something that gamefish like to eat and lives in the same water as those gamefish. Pretend you’re fishing for walleyes on a lake that has lots of perch, and many of those perch are 3 to 4 inches long. That’s perfect walleye food. The walleyes see and eat those perch regularly. Maybe it’s like people. We see and eat hamburgers regularly, so when we’re offered the choice between a hamburger and a slice of pizza, many times we go for the pizza. I don’t know if that’s the way it is in the fish world, but I do know that I’ve seen lots of times when a bait that looked nothing like a perch out-produced a bait that looked like a perch on a lake that had a strong perch population. If the fish aren’t responding to a bait that looks natural, try something that looks completely unnatural to the fish.
Fish are willing to take a fast moving bait when the water is warm. By moving your bait faster, you’re covering more water and showing your bait to more fish. Try working a weedline with a crankbait. At this time of year lots of bass, northern pike and walleyes will eagerly eat a crankbait. Depending on the depth of the deep weedline, a Strike King Pro Model 4 or 5 has been a very productive crankbait at this time of year. Again, sometimes a natural appearing bait will be good, other times a bait that looks like something the fish have never seen will be better. Let the fish show you what they want.
If you’re catchin’em good on the crankbait in a particular area and the action slows or stops, slow down and work the area thoroughly with a jig rigged with plastic. You’ll probably catch a few more. When the bite slows on the jig/plastic, start covering different water with the crankbait. By the time you’re ready to call it a day, you’ve probably caught a good number of fish in a variety of species.
Weather patterns have certainly changed in the past few years. Summers have been hotter and longer, and all of the seasons have been more extreme. One thing that hasn’t changed is that late summer and fall fishing can be very, very good. Get on the water and discover that very, very good fishing in the next few weeks. PHOTO CAPTION: As summer winds down, fishing action can pick up.
