Shore fishing hasn't been the best yet, but the cooling temperatures are starting to push fish into shallower waters looking for food to gorge on before winter ice sets in. But on a nicer day recently, I got to enjoy some quality time with both my wife, Melissa, and our newborn daughter, Aurora. I can't say that the fishing was very good (other than one small pike), but the nice day made spending time with my little family well worth it. I have to say that having a child has changed things in so many ways for me. We're both looking forward to raising her in the outdoors and encouraging her to explore new areas and try new experiences. Hopefully, she'll enjoy being outside as much as I do. It
Every time I get on the water, it’s a new experience. However, I love when fishing from year to year can in some ways, mimic itself. For example, fall fishing last year I was dedicated to square bills on the Mississippi river. On my first trip out to a small river, I stuck with the cranking idea and started with a 3XD diving down to about 10ft and never took this rod out of my hands. This little river only gets to about 14ft deep with an average of 6ft or so. Current was running at about 3 MPH, creating plenty of current seams and eddies. So, my fishing partner and I chugged up river for 30 minutes and stopped at a random spot with a small current seam and some fallen trees with less visibil
Finally, the cooler weather is starting to come in on a more regular basis and cool nights means that the waters are finally starting to cool off. But, with the water temperatures still high yet, that means the summer patterns are still holding for the immediate time. Finding fish on deep structure still is working and by deep structure, meaning, underwater humps and grass edges. These humps can top out at different depths, but the more key areas are the transitions from the base of these humps going out into the deeper water. These transition areas are also where the weeds will start thinning out. The weeds from the top of the hump, down the sides, are thick and the bottom of these humps is
As someone that is learning the tricks of fishing for bass, the topwater bite has been something of a mystery to me. I've seen it work on TV but haven't had much success with it when employing the technique. Poppers, chatterbaits, and frogs are the lures I've tried using, but Northland Tackle Tandem spinnerbaits have been my go-to bass lure the last couple of years. But, despite my lack of experience, I do keep trying them to learn to use them and make myself a more well-rounded bass fisherman. On my trip on the water this week, the trials finally paid off. With thick vegetation near the surface making using anything but topwater lures a must, I used frogs and Northland Tackle Buzzard Buzzer
We are approaching the fall fishing season and that means that the crappies will start grouping up and moving out into the basins. There are a variety of ways of catching these fish and trolling crankbaits is one of them. Salmo Fishing Lures have a variety of crankbaits that work perfect for this technique, these are the Salmo Hornets. There are different sizes that work and the size 3 and 4 are the most common sizes that are used. A NEW Salmo Hornet that is coming out for 2019 is the size 3.5 Rattlin’ Hornet, it is the smallest lure with an internal long casting system. Trolling this bait at varied depths and speeds will allow you to cover water while searching for these basin crappies.
