By Mike Frisch
Late summer is a time of transition on the lakes. Fall sports have started practice, school is about to start, and hunting seasons are just around the corner. Those activities and others usually mean less traffic on the lakes and less fishing pressure.
The next couple months, however, offer some of the finest fishing of the entire year. The fish often go on the bite in a big way as fall arrives and progresses. Good numbers of fish are often caught and some of the season’s biggest specimens find their way into landing nets during this time.
Walleye anglers have lots of options during fall ranging from chasing shallow fish to those holding in very deep water. Forward facing sonar presentations where anglers “see” fish on sonar and cast baits to them work during this time. Traditional methods like jigs and live bait rigs tipped with minnows produce walleyes too.
Bass anglers can find a variety of top fishing options in fall as well. Big, skirted bass jigs and Texas-rigged plastics produce fish but moving baits like vibrating swim jigs and squarebill crankbaits catch fish too. In fact, some of my best fall catches for big bass have been on KVD Elite 4.0 and 8.0 squarebills.
Crappie anglers can also have dynamite fishing in the next several weeks. Crappies start to school in their wintering basins and are susceptible to a variety of presentations.
Regardless your favorite fish species, the next several weeks will be some of the year’s best to be on the water!
PHOTO – Mike Frisch loves fall fishing as big fish like this walleye go “on the chew!”
