sully420 Posted October 15, 2018 Posted October 15, 2018 I pull my batteries and store them in my basement and rotate them on a portable charger on maintenance mode. I store my boat in my garage I like to sit in it and drink beer and hide from my wife. 2 2 Quote
punch Posted October 16, 2018 Posted October 16, 2018 Man I haven't had time to make a post lately! Work's been busy.  I'm not putting away the skeeter yet! We're camping with our RV at Baker this weekend and I'm going to bring the boat with so I can hit Independence a few times. Final trip with the camper, hopefully not the final weekend with the boat. I havn't been out fishing for largemouth in like a month.. but I'm just going to slap on a spinnerbait & chatterbait and beat the bank. Probably drag around a jig up shallow too. Who knows. 1 Quote
Jmhalvo Posted October 16, 2018 Posted October 16, 2018 5 hours ago, punch said: Man I haven't had time to make a post lately! Work's been busy.  I'm not putting away the skeeter yet! We're camping with our RV at Baker this weekend and I'm going to bring the boat with so I can hit Independence a few times. Final trip with the camper, hopefully not the final weekend with the boat. I havn't been out fishing for largemouth in like a month.. but I'm just going to slap on a spinnerbait & chatterbait and beat the bank. Probably drag around a jig up shallow too. Who knows. It will be interesting to see if you get any good size fish. In 2016 the dnr electrofishing was not good for size, just numbers Quote
JackKlassen Posted October 17, 2018 Posted October 17, 2018 2 hours ago, Jmhalvo said: It will be interesting to see if you get any good size fish. In 2016 the dnr electrofishing was not good for size, just numbers I fished it in July and experienced just that. Caught probably 50 fish but only a dozen or so were over 2 lbs. Quote
shimmy Posted October 17, 2018 Posted October 17, 2018 Got out from the 29th to the 6th of October for my fall trip. Was 7.5 days of fishing. Water temps were 50 - 54 all week. It was the week when it was overcast and rainy EVERY day. One advantage to that was the consistency. Went out with my brother-in-law. Fished the Otter Tail County area again. We had good 5 fish limits the whole week. Since we enjoy keeping track of numbers, our lowest limit was 23 lb 14 oz, most limits were in the 24 lb and 25+ lb limit. Highest limit came on a day when we figured something out that was just weird. Limit came in at 28 lbs 6 oz. Was an incredible day. We had 9 bass over 5 pounds with a 6+ being the biggest. Pretty crazy. The first few days I made the mistake of fishing memories. Don't get me wrong, I think memories are a great default to have and work more times than not, but this clearly did not work. Prior to the 28+ lb day, we had nearly written off the lake since we were catching so few and rarely had a nice one (something in the upper 5 pound range). We had fished deep and shallow to no success. Our shallow fishing on the reeds yielded very few fish. We had skipped over the barren looking areas since, there was nothing there, but dirt. After failing to catch a good fish, we decided to junk fish and just fish slow and intentional on every spot. Low and behold, the barren areas were the ONLY places on the lake with fish biting. It was pretty crazy. My guess is that the crawfish were more loaded in that area? Perhaps there was more gravel and it was warmer? Combination of both? All i know is the years prior, the fish were not here and only in the reeds or weeds deep and shallow.  The bass were not biting anything suspended or moving, only baits sitting on the bottom. Jig or Brushhog were equal with producing size and numbers. Tried a lot of baits, but nothing seemed to do well. My buddy is great with the brushhog and it seemed to pick up fish i could not catch. We rotated positiions in the boat, but it didn't seem to matter. The brushhog and jig (one in the front, one in the back) went together like peanut butter and jelly. Great duo to fish on the boat. Slow rolled swimbaits worked, but it had to go really really slow, like painfully slow. Anything moving too fast picked up the snakes. Altogether, we caught a couple 6+ pounders on the trip and over 20 5 pounders. I was lucky enough to catch 47 bass bewteen 4.0 lb - 4.15 lbs and my buddy caught just as much. We caught very few small fish in all the lakes we fished. Terms of pattern, aside from the barren spots on the one lake, all other lakes had no pattern. Just junk fishing. I feel like this is unfortunately the case for many smaller bass lakes with no shad. Just junk fish. We had found very few schools throughout the trip. Biggest walley came in at 6 lbs 11 oz (caught unintentionally and was my first fish of the trip). Here are a few fish from the trip. I don't post pictures of my buddy due to his request. Probably better that way since his big fish can make my fish look smaller. We never ventured to the metro area though. All lakes were under 400 acres and public. Saw very few boat pressure and mostly dealt with hunters shooting around us on all of the points. We caught 90% of our fish on the main lake sides and practically nothing in the coves. Here are some pics.   Short - roughly 18-19 inches? But over 5 and a half pounds  Some of the fish on the 28+ lb day   My biggest of the trip, good long arm picture...  Another short and dense high 5    9 Quote
OperationEagle Posted October 17, 2018 Posted October 17, 2018 Great write up shimmy. Always enjoy seeing your results. I’ve yet to hit otter county.  You need to work for their Tourism Bureau. 1 Quote
punch Posted October 17, 2018 Posted October 17, 2018 13 hours ago, JackKlassen said: I fished it in July and experienced just that. Caught probably 50 fish but only a dozen or so were over 2 lbs. I've been fishing Independence for a few years now (we like camping at Baker) and I've caught some nice fish on that lake! There's the occasional +3lber. The last time I was out there this summer I hooked into TWO muskys fishing shallow around docks. I actually landed one of them haha. Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted October 17, 2018 Author Super User Posted October 17, 2018 2 hours ago, punch said: I've been fishing Independence for a few years now (we like camping at Baker) and I've caught some nice fish on that lake! There's the occasional +3lber. The last time I was out there this summer I hooked into TWO muskys fishing shallow around docks. I actually landed one of them haha. A friend of mine lives on Indy and is an avid fisherman... he too says bass fishing is pretty average there, but the last few months were better... so you never know, could exceed your expectations, but best to keep them low Quote
ThatOneBigKid Posted October 17, 2018 Posted October 17, 2018 Shimmy, what a week! Nice report. Very interesting with the bald spots being the heavy producing areas. I'll have to keep that in the back of my head in the future for fall fishing. 1 Quote
punch Posted October 19, 2018 Posted October 19, 2018 So I got out for a few hours last night on Independence. I went to one of my favorite points that has rock piles in 10-20' and saw NO fish on the sonar. I dragged around a football jig & ned rig and not a nibble. Water temp was 49. I then tossed a jig around a dock and caught two.. then I ran the rest of the docks down that bank and not a bite. There is still a lot of grass, although it's dying and turning very dark. So I went to the grass line and tossed a swim jig, jig, & chatterbait.. nothing. Then I remembered when the waters this cold sometimes fish can get RIGHT up on the bank. The wind was blowing a bit so i went to one of the windy banks and started tossing the chatterbait around in like 2-3' and just ripping it through the dying grass.. and BAM started catching a ton of fish down one stretch of the windy bank. I think I caught 7 or 8 fish, all 1-2lbers. When I go back out this weekend I'm going to try this pattern again but with a spinnerbait.  I spent the rest of the time before sunset taking my 6yo son around to a few docks and letting him blast sunfish with his hair jig & powerbait. He loves fishing docks for panfish. 1 Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Super User Posted October 19, 2018 Was near Alexandria today, apparently the magic formula is 43° water temps and 43 mile an hour gusts. I about got seasick but the fishing was on fire.  Throwing Mop jigs and Megadaddy trailers again, was a good day despite the big blow... 1 Quote
Super User gim Posted October 19, 2018 Super User Posted October 19, 2018 On ‎10‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 2:22 PM, sully420 said: I pull my batteries and store them in my basement and rotate them on a portable charger on maintenance mode. I store my boat in my garage I like to sit in it and drink beer and hide from my wife. LOL sure beats ice fishing Quote
Jmhalvo Posted October 20, 2018 Posted October 20, 2018 13 hours ago, FryDog62 said: Was near Alexandria today, apparently the magic formula is 43° water temps and 43 mile an hour gusts. I about got seasick but the fishing was on fire.  Throwing Mop jigs and Megadaddy trailers again, was a good day despite the big blow... With active fall gators, do you ever use a leader? Or would that affect the action too much? I hate losing baits to Le Homme Dieu gators Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted October 20, 2018 Author Super User Posted October 20, 2018 3 hours ago, Jmhalvo said: With active fall gators, do you ever use a leader? Or would that affect the action too much? I hate losing baits to Le Homme Dieu gators I do for crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits.  Wayzata Bait sells some 2 1/2 inch crank bait leaders that work great.  Most bite-offs happen about an inch above the knot so it prevents about 90% of the break offs - without spoiling the action of the lure like the typical 8-10 inch leader does.  Jigs I don’t use a leader, usually use 12 or 15 lb Yozuri Hybrid leader tied to braid.  It isn’t perfect but helps against bite-offs from the little Scud-missiles.  I did lose one yesterday I had on for about 5 seconds and could tell it was a very heavy fish, turned his head and just like that was gone.  Quote
punch Posted October 20, 2018 Posted October 20, 2018 22 hours ago, FryDog62 said: Was near Alexandria today, apparently the magic formula is 43° water temps and 43 mile an hour gusts. I about got seasick but the fishing was on fire.  Throwing Mop jigs and Megadaddy trailers again, was a good day despite the big blow... Just dragging them on hard bottom? I've been working a mop/football jig lately with no success. I kinda Chuck it out and just drag it in like a Carolina rig. Mop jigs are definitely not in my wheelhouse but I'm trying to figure them out. Quote
shimmy Posted October 20, 2018 Posted October 20, 2018 3 minutes ago, punch said: Just dragging them on hard bottom? I've been working a mop/football jig lately with no success. I kinda Chuck it out and just drag it in like a Carolina rig. Mop jigs are definitely not in my wheelhouse but I'm trying to figure them out. Anyone notice any size differences with fish with big mop jigs with big trailers (mega daddy) in Minnesota? More high 5s and 6s from it? The times i have tried to upsize all of my jigs did not seem to produce anything different for me, other than when fishing visibility issues. Then again, I have never really tried that long. When I am feeling crazy, I may add a brushhog to my Jig, but that is rare and have not done it enough to feel like it made a difference. Anyone have other experience with using giant jigs and trailers? Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted October 21, 2018 Author Super User Posted October 21, 2018 On 10/20/2018 at 4:54 PM, punch said: Just dragging them on hard bottom? I've been working a mop/football jig lately with no success. I kinda Chuck it out and just drag it in like a Carolina rig. Mop jigs are definitely not in my wheelhouse but I'm trying to figure them out. There’s really 2 jig patterns I use in the late Fall, and Mop Jigs are one.  Everything revolves around one thing - finding the remaining green weeds (coontail) in or adjacent to deeper water.  Maybe 8-15 fow.  If there is taller, thicker weeds I fish more vertically and pitch a relatively light 3/8 oz Mop Jig with the big floppy Megadaddy trailer.  It’s a slower descent down onto the weeds, bouncing off cover and eventually working it’s way towards the bottom.  The big skirt really flares doing this.  As it starts to slow, I pop it a few times and make sure it’s not hung up, and lift and drop it back towards the boat.   As the weeds die out or are more sparse, I switch to a different jig pattern and fish more horizontally.  I cast a 3/4 oz All-Terrain Grassmaster jig with a Pit Boss trailer.  A jig is pretty much a jig, but I find this one to maneuver thru the grass as well or better than any jig I’ve used (reviews on TW are solid too). Cast out medium/long distance, let it settle down just long enough to hit the tops of the weeds and retrieve horizontally, slow as possible without getting hung up, with a few lift/drops or pops along the way.  Pit Boss still flaps very well when retrieved really slowly.  I prefer a jig when the water temps get below 50 degrees.  You can work it slower than squarebills and spinnerbaits and get down in the remaining junk in front of slower moving fish that save their energy for something larger they can easily reach without too much effort.  No matter what... it’s worth driving around to find the remaining green weeds in/adjacent to deep water.  That’s probably 10% or less of the water now.  On 10/20/2018 at 5:02 PM, shimmy said: Anyone notice any size differences with fish with big mop jigs with big trailers (mega daddy) in Minnesota? More high 5s and 6s from it? The times i have tried to upsize all of my jigs did not seem to produce anything different for me, other than when fishing visibility issues. Then again, I have never really tried that long. When I am feeling crazy, I may add a brushhog to my Jig, but that is rare and have not done it enough to feel like it made a difference. Anyone have other experience with using giant jigs and trailers? I think the old saying is if you want to catch ‘em big, you gotta use a jig...  Might be true, but with a large Mop Jig or similar I rarely catch anything smaller than 15-16 inches.  Probably catch less fish overall, but fine with me if I eliminate the dinks and get a few extra 18-21+ inch fish mixed in. 3 1 Quote
punch Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 Weather this week is looking good... might make a mid-week Mille Lacs run. Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted October 23, 2018 Author Super User Posted October 23, 2018 4 hours ago, punch said: Weather this week is looking good... might make a mid-week Mille Lacs run. Full moon in a couple days Quote
punch Posted October 23, 2018 Posted October 23, 2018 2 hours ago, FryDog62 said: Full moon in a couple days What does that mean exactly? I'm not smart on the whole moon phase thing. Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted October 23, 2018 Author Super User Posted October 23, 2018 11 hours ago, punch said: What does that mean exactly? I'm not smart on the whole moon phase thing. Usually means the fish get more active, all species but especially muskies in the Fall.  You find a lot of Muskie heads calling in with Strep during the full moon phase... Quote
geneoh Posted October 23, 2018 Posted October 23, 2018 Got out Monday for a few hours in the afternoon. Caught like 10 all on a rockpile with a crankbait and a jig. Couldn't get them anywhere else. The wind was fierce. WT 46. Biggest was 3.5lbs. Quote
Super User gim Posted October 23, 2018 Super User Posted October 23, 2018 20 hours ago, FryDog62 said: Usually means the fish get more active, all species but especially muskies in the Fall. Â You find a lot of Muskie heads calling in with Strep during the full moon phase... And I think that the October full moon phase is the brightest moon phase of the entire year too. Quote
Super User FryDog62 Posted October 24, 2018 Author Super User Posted October 24, 2018 44 minutes ago, gimruis said: And I think that the October full moon phase is the brightest moon phase of the entire year too. Now that I mention it, my throat is starting to feel a little sore now too ... hhmm.. Quote
punch Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 2 hours ago, FryDog62 said: Now that I mention it, my throat is starting to feel a little sore now too ... hhmm.. Me and a buddy are hitting Stella-Washington tomorrow. See you out there! haha Quote
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