The Baron

@ol'crickety Such beautiful scenery! Fall is a tormenting time for me - I love the cooler days and the colours, but I dread what comes next. ❄️ 🥶 Sadly, I’m likely not far behind you on packing things up. I’m hoping to push a little later in the month before winterizing the boat and sealing it up until spring.😢 Every fishing day left for me in 2023 will be a blessing, sadly this weekend is forecast to be cold and very rainy. 😖

I typically only keep the odd pike out of colder water (let’s call that sub-60 degrees or so, but ones caught through the ice are best) as I find the meat firmer then. I also feel better keeping a pike than a bass, as I’d always like to catch more bass and less pike where I fish. I’ll only keep ones between about 4-8#. I fillet them like any other fish, y-bones and all, and take the skin off. I then season with a generous dusting of Old Bay and some garlic powder. Bake on a cookie sheet and then flake the meat away from the bones and use it for fish tacos. My wife and I both like that a lot. And honestly, with the cost of groceries these days I’m starting to wonder why I catch and release so much “free” food - especially with my wife always saying we need to eat more fish. lol

Windy, rainy, cool… but I hadn’t fished in over a week and just had to try for a few hours this afternoon. Water temps now 55-56F. All my bites came up shallow and close to the bank on a black and blue buzzbait. First a 3.15# lmb, then about a 6-7# pike that came home for dinner. Had another good pike miss me short, then I lost a really good lmb just when I was getting ready to leave - a great buzzbait blowup and she pulled drag right away. Got her to the boat but she must have hit short and been skin hooked because she came off pretty easy - looking like at least 4#.

Awesome - he makes that look so easy. I bought a few flutter spoons of various sizes, after watching some of Chris’ YouTube videos. I still hope to figure that technique out and land even one fish that way.??

I don’t use FC for topwater, I use Suffix Advance Hyper which is a copoly/monofilament. Apparently less stretch that “standard” mono, which I cannot confirm or refute. But it does float and I’ve been very happy with it.

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Jury duty or you're a lawyer, I hope? lol @LrgmouthShad There's a weedbed on one of the lakes I fish, that's about 200ft. x 100ft. in area and rises up to 8ft. deep from about 25ft. of water on the deep side. A couple of times we've fished it and caught 6-10 fish (mostly pike, but always a couple largemouth) then had the bite stop. I've gone back to it 1-2 hours later and had times where we catch 2-4 more fish right off the bat. Not sure if that means the bite turned back on again, or if the weedbed had new fish. If new fish, I'm not sure why if all the ones we caught were released immediately. Unless maybe the caught fish don't go back into the weedbed (to feed?) but settle somewhere else/maybe a bit deeper, to recover.?

Well, that’s the end of my week long local fishing vacation and I could not have picked a better week, weather wise.? No big ones today, but my son and I teamed up for a decent average using mostly a buzzbait and chatterbaits. I did pick up a bonus fish on a jig (I don’t fish a jig much - gotta work on that). The scenery was fantastic and dare I say, it was a bit too warm in the blazing sun. haha Back to reality tomorrow. ?

I've been using the cover water technique, mostly going down the bank with moving baits (chatterbaits, paddletail swimbaits and a Choppo, mostly) and slowing down around shallow (+/- 8ft. or less) flats. For smallmouth, bites are very scattered and I think I'm just coming across/lucking into roaming fish. For largemouth, I'm starting to pickup more fish off hard structure now - trees, rocks and docks. I'm not run into any groups or any of these fabled schools of feeding fish, but the quality of fish I'm catching is excellent, so I'm excited to get back at it today.

What attributes earned FC Sniper top spot for you? I’ve only tried a few different fluorocarbon lines as a main line and have struggled to like it. This year I tried Spro Gouken and am liking the 14# enough that I’ll definitely respool the same for next year. It’s reasonably manageable, with good knot strength and I’m getting good hooksets. I also tried the 16# but I had an oopsie (my fault) and blew up my spool before I really got a chance to get familiar with the heavier version, but I’ll likely just stick with the 14#. I’m been using Suffix Advance Hyper Copoly 10# and 12# for treble hooked baits (topwater, jerk baits and cranks) and like it a lot. Very user friendly and performs very well for me on a baitcaster.

@GreenPig Yeah, that’s gotta hurt. ? @ol'crickety @gimruis I hear you about winter. Fall is such a wonderful time here in SE Ontario, but I know it can’t last. We’re supposed to be unseasonably warm here for a couple weeks. By early November, it will be time to winterized and store the boat. ? I had a lazy morning today, only fished a couple of hours because I have to pick my daughter up early from school. Wasn’t going to go but thought I’m crazy not to and can use the time to explore one of the lakes I’m focusing on. I went to the far end where I’ve never been before, so was like being on a whole new lake. Only a handful of bites but the first was a 4.43# that gave me a good tussle keeping her out of the tree she was hiding in. I’m catching so many good fish on the underspin paddletail setup, I’m actually worried I may be getting addicted to one presentation. For now, I’m just telling myself I’m still building confidence in it. lol

Loons and that big bass topwater slosh, for sure. But I also love when you set that big 5/0 into a really good fish and the braided line/rod kinda creak when it doesn't move right away like a smaller fish does.

@Dwight Hottle That’s a beauty! I’m loving my week off. Other that more wind than I’d like, the weather continues to be fantastic. I’m determined to make the most of these days - I can sleep in January. lol I went out and shot a limit of geese with a long time friend this morning, then came home to fill my belly and get right back out there. Went to a small lake that I can just sneak my little bass tracker 165 into via a creek. The water is very clear, but a green tinge. Not a lot of bites, but a nice mixed bag including a few right around 3#, some dinks and a couple small pike. Most on a chatterbait, one nice largie on a paddletail on a swim jig head.

Tons of great advice in here, that I totally agree with. Fish size, in cover or open water, hook types (trebles or single) and size, line type... all factors. but @Buzzbaiter's opening sentence describes the difference between largemouth vs. smallmouth for me - lmb are more likely caught on heavier gear anyway, but they can usually be netted or lipped fairly quickly. Smallmouth, especially the 3-4# fish, need a lot more time. All those crazy jumps and hard digging runs are best managed a little further away from the boat.

This has become one of my top confidence baits this year! The 3/0 3/16oz. version with a willowleaf blade, with a 4" XZone Swammer ( a bit less kick) or 3.75" Strike King Rage Swimmer (lots of kick). Both are more durable than Keitechs (one short snap by a pike and a Keitech is ruined, but I caught a dozen small pike and a few bass on the same XZone Sunday).

You went fishing with your daughter and got some exciting bites. The first half alone makes it a great evening. ?

@ol’crickety - sounds like you should bring the big guns on Friday. ???? I took this week off - a last minute decision to use up my last week of vacation and enjoy a great looking fall forecast. I got some little stuff out of the way this morning, then got out to another local lake this afternoon for a few hours. I’ve only fished the lake a couple of times, but like what I see and have decided it’s worth investing some time in. I caught several pike and only a few bass, but the one hard fighting 3#er that was hiding under a floating dock made my day. I’ve really come to love chatterbait fishing. From having almost zero luck on it before this season, it’s now vaulted into being one of my top choices.

Had a good day today with a longtime friend. The paddle tail on an Owner Flashy Swimmer continues to put fish in the boat for me, with several including my new PB 5.35# boated today. My friend is a St. Lawrence River smallmouth/walleye fisherman and his 3.55# is his personal best largemouth.? Tell me my buddy doesn’t look like Brandon Palaniuk!

Depends on the time of year, water depth and what the fish are in the mood for. Also depends on whether it's chunk rock or flat rock. But, football jigs, Dark Sleepers, tubes, shaky heads, Neds, crankbaits and dropshot are all on the list of possibilities for me. Of course jerkbaits and treble hooked topwater lures are always on the menu when I'm not fishing over thick weeds.

I don’t know where the saying originated, but it’s something like “Wind from the west, fish bite the best. Wind from the east, fish bite the least. Wind from the north, do not go forth. Wind from the south blows the bait into their mouth.”

I’ve always had to pay attention to the wind speed (canoe/small bass boat fisherman) but I’m starting to also note the wind direction. Not just so I can focus on the downwind side of the lake and think about wind currents, but I’m starting to wonder if the old fable about wind from the east, wind from the north etc. is true. I had a good day of fishing last week, with the wind having been from the south for a couple of days. Yesterday we went out with high hopes for Lake Ontario because winds were light and we could safely get out to some nice rock shoals. But, winds were from the east overnight and switching to northeast and the fishing was very poor. I know that just before a rain (i.e. low pressure) can be very good, and cold fronts are bad - I’ve experienced that myself this season and started to make mental note of it. So, how much stock do you put in wind direction, barometric pressure or other weather factors? Are there conditions that you’ll play hooky to get out fishing? Or conditions you’ll just not bother fishing? With family commitments and other duties I’m trying to figure out if I can save my fishing energy, or at least invitations to guests, for days when the fishing “should” be good, and avoid the days where things are likely to be very slow. Just like knowing where to find the fish, I’d like to learn a bit more about “when” to go get them.

After frying the voltage regulator on my motor last weekend, I replaced it with a $30 piece of Chinesium from Amazon and used the money I saved to buy a new cranking battery (battery was 5yo and tested ok for cranking, but low reserve). Seems all good now. I snuck out to “test” the new bits one day last week. Had a decent outing with about 8 lmb and a few small pike. I’m really loving the paddle tail swimbait/underspin combo and the fish were hammering it that day. My son and I went out on Lake Ontario today, looking for some big smallmouth. I bought some Dark Sleepers I thought would work great, but couldn’t find any fish in the rocky flat I had in mind. I ended up catching one just off the sea wall of a marina in 25ft. of water on a dropshot. Not at all the day I was hoping for. I’m really starting to believe the old saying about wind from the east fish bite the least, wind from the north don’t venture forth… etc. Winds were E and changed to NE today and the fishing was very poor - must be the weekend. ☹️?. I did grab a photo of my hardcore fishing buddy though, during a lull in the non-existent action. lol

No need for a deeper spool when bass fishing, so I'd say get the 3000 (or a 2500XH - I really like that faster retrieve). Fluoro just isn't worth paying so much for the headaches it causes on spinning gear, IMHO. Plus, the sensitivity of braid is great for feeling bites and the low stretch will help you set those single hooks. For worms and jigs, I'd assume you'll be fishing around some cover so I'd say spool up with 20# braid and use a 10-12# fluoro leader. Teach yourself the FG knot - lots of videos out there to help, and it's worth the trouble.

Update - all good news. The motor started right away this cool morning, and ran like a top. I ran WOT for 5-7 minutes a few times. Idled a bit, and low throttle a bit. Started immediately every time. Popped the cover at home and the new Chinese voltage regulator looks good. Put the batter charger on the new cranking battery and battery was still reading 100% and 14.4v so no signs of trouble there. Thank you all for the help!

@Way2slow - thank you for the reminder. Pretty sure I found the fuse along that system of wires, and it is indeed a 20amp.?