First blank of the year.

[Fishin Dad]

Headed out today at 2:30 once it warmed up a little bit (58 degrees air temp.).   Hit the lake with water temps only 47-48 degrees.   Yikes.  Fish were not havin it.  Nothing.  I have said the last 2 years I am storing the boat in October and taking the bow out earlier.   Should have listened to myself.  Have not done well at all in mid October.  First trip this year with nothing.  I may make my appointment to have the boat serviced for October 1, 2020 to force myself to STOP!!   

[TnRiver46]

First skunk of the year???? No sympathy from me as I’ve had 3 this week alone. Sounds like a year to remember!!

[Fishin Dad]

Hey Tennessee,

Sorry to hear about your skunks, but I would trade for your PB!  You would be really close to our state record with yours.  We have 15,000+ lakes and it seems pretty easy to catch fish, but, the Fall just doesn’t like me here.  I have just really struggled here in the fall the last couple years and it is driving me to hang it up early.

 BTW, I am jealous of your much longer season as well!

 

Good luck your next time out!

[GreenPig]

We all blank at times and summer is my blanking season. It's just really getting good here in GA. Water temps in the upper 70's and our numbers are improving as the water drops. Really looking forward to our winter spoon fishing. We catch so many vertical spoon fishing it feels like cheating. Goodluck with your bow season. 

[Fishin Dad]

Thanks GreenPig!   I am jealous when I see you southern fellows PB’s.  I can’t even imagine a bass over 8 pounds.  Have fun hammering them with those spoons.   That’s something I have never done.   I will be drilling holes in the ice for fish in 2 months.  ❄️?

[TnRiver46]

10 hours ago, Fishin Dad said:

Hey Tennessee,

Sorry to hear about your skunks, but I would trade for your PB!  You would be really close to our state record with yours.  We have 15,000+ lakes and it seems pretty easy to catch fish, but, the Fall just doesn’t like me here.  I have just really struggled here in the fall the last couple years and it is driving me to hang it up early.

 BTW, I am jealous of your much longer season as well!

 

Good luck your next time out!

Im going to give them heck all weekend and maybe this evening too 

[Harold Scoggins]

18 hours ago, Fishin Dad said:

Headed out today at 2:30 once it warmed up a little bit (58 degrees air temp.).   Hit the lake with water temps only 47-48 degrees.   Yikes.  Fish were not havin it.  Nothing.  I have said the last 2 years I am storing the boat in October and taking the bow out earlier.   Should have listened to myself.  Have not done well at all in mid October.  First trip this year with nothing.  I may make my appointment to have the boat serviced for October 1, 2020 to force myself to STOP!!   

New moon window coming up, try it then.

[Fishin Dad]

I am going to give it one more try tomorrow, then the weather takes a cold turn.  High in the 40’s, lows around 30.  Time to stick some meat. Hopefully the new moon is good to me.  Thanks!

[TheRodFather]

Summer kicked my butt.  Keep the faith, try things way out of the norm, you never know.  I tend to get caught up in what I "should" be throwing, and I think that handicaps me sometimes.  I usually start the day throwing what is appropriate for the seasonal conditions, and if that doesn't work, I'll throw a bait I have a ton of confidence in (ned rig).

 

If that doesn't work, I start throwing everything but the kitchen sink, within reason, I'm not going to throw a frog in open water 30ft deep, etc.

 

For example, I can't catch a fish on a crankbait in the summer (or at all really) to save my life.  Topwater in the morning?  Nope.  I may as well quit watching Youtube all together.  I've been skunked so many times this summer I don't want to think about it enough to come up with the number of skunks.

 

I have tried to really work on locating fish this year.  And still, lots of skunks.  Last weekend I went to a shelf that always has guys parked on it, I have never caught a fish there in 2 years of fishing that lake.  I threw a live shad on a dropshot, and 2 casts later, wham, 7.4 pounds, my personal best.

 

The PB certainly helps with motivation, but it's been a rough summer.

[Fishin Dad]

Rodfather,

 

Thanks for the encouragement and congrats on the PB!!   7 lbs. was my goal the last 2 years, but still waiting.  We had some bad winter kill on some of our better lakes with over 2 feet of ice and incredible amounts of snow.   A lot of big fish washed up on shore this spring from lack of oxygen.  I am jealous of you southern guys and I am moving south during January and February for sure when I retire.  I am not a crank bait guy either and also get caught with confidence baits too often.   Good luck on the rest of your (long, I am jealous) season.  Today may get be my last day for the year, cold weather is coming.  

[WRB]

Most of the Minnesota anglers are chasing big pike and musky during Indian Summer. Natural lakes are very different then reserviors, the LMB bass have evolved in those lakes, their behavior set in stone. My guess is you need to learn where those bass are located and what they will strike. 

LMB bass natural lakes are aquatic cover fish from post spawn to early fall, then they move deeper out of the cover. The movement doesn't happen over night it takes several weeks but it does happen.

I would put away all the faster lures that are fun to fish and use slower moving dark (black) colored jigs and worms in deeper water near where they were during the late summer and any rocky areas. 

Not catching bass tells you something.....stop doing what doesn't work.

Tom

[Scott F]

From the water temps you reported, it sounds like your lake turned over recently. That alone will shut down fishing. Once things stabilize, fishing will improve. These warm climate fishermen probably don’t experience lakes turning over until much later or not at all. 

[WRB]

Fall turnover is very common everywhere in lakes that have a thermocline. 

Cold night air coupled with cooler day time temperatures, add a cold front system and the surface water cools faster then the warmer deeper water. If those conditions occur the lake turns over. It's usually easy to see and smell a tournover with patches of bottom debris floating and a sulfur like rotten vegetation smell from the bottom debris. Your sonar unit displays lots of clutter and no thermocline layer.

It takes about 2 weeks for most lakes to settle down and large lakes may turnover in sections in lieu of the entire lake.

How did this topic ended up in boats forum? the op mentioned he was going to stop fishing because he was blanked and putting his boat away for the season.

Tom

 

 

[Boomstick]

I have been skunked so many times, especially this year. But I still go out whenever I have time. Once my youngest son's travel hockey games start (next weekend) my season ends -- until then, I'm trying. I only wish I had a boat...

[Fishin Dad]

Well, I went out today on a different lake and caught 11 bass.  Probably the last fish of the year for me was a nice 4.6 lb. on a jig by a bridge piling.  Thanks for the encouragement!!   Good luck to all you lucky folks who have a much longer season.  Off to the deer stand!!

[TnRiver46]

16 hours ago, Fishin Dad said:

Rodfather,

 

Thanks for the encouragement and congrats on the PB!!   7 lbs. was my goal the last 2 years, but still waiting.  We had some bad winter kill on some of our better lakes with over 2 feet of ice and incredible amounts of snow.   A lot of big fish washed up on shore this spring from lack of oxygen.  I am jealous of you southern guys and I am moving south during January and February for sure when I retire.  I am not a crank bait guy either and also get caught with confidence baits too often.   Good luck on the rest of your (long, I am jealous) season.  Today may get be my last day for the year, cold weather is coming.  

Be careful a long season just gives the bass time to get smarter. From what i read on here the bass bite better up north....... Then again i couldn't handle the long harsh winters 

[Fishin Dad]

Our bass do bite well here and we have so many lakes, you can get away from pressure.  I would really like to have a chance at 7+ lber. Though.  Good luck out there!!   Think of us freezing here soon.  I have to drill holes to fish then.