Alexandria Area: A Hint of Fall
Can you feel it? The trees are starting to show their colors and the water temperatures are starting to fall. I know, the summer heat that we had a few weeks ago might be done, but let's hope for some warm weather for the Labor Day weekend. Looking ahead, it looks to be in the 70's with stable weather which is always a great sign for great fishing.
This week the water temperatures dropped from 73 degrees to 68 degrees and the fish are still in the areas where we have gotten them during the summer months. The one thing is the crappies and gills were more active. The cooler water temps. will trigger feed mode and this past weekend was a sign of that. The one thing to start thinking about is up-sizing your presentations.
The Northland Fishing Tackle Mimic Minnow Tuff Tube which has been a home run on the panfish was one of the main presentations this week. Color didn't seem to matter, especially when they are in feed mode. You just have to love it when that happens.
Vertical jigging in 8-11FOW in the weeds was the best this week to get the bigger crappies. The bigger crappies will often just rest in the thick of the weeds waiting for that easy meal and we had several 12-14 inches.
The other two presentations that did well was the Salmo #3 Hornet and the Chubby Darter. When the weed bite gets slow, the best way to cover water to find active fish is to troll #3 Hornets. The trolling speed that is the best with the Hornet is 0.8mph to 1.0mph. This speed give the Hornet the best action too trigger the bite. Now, this past weekend, we trolled on the outside of the weed lines until we got a bite. We like covering the areas and marking our spots where we have had the most bites. Once you have a pattern going, you can switch over to vertical jigging using the Chubby Darter or the Mimic Minnow. It's all about covering water and finding fish, but it is also about finding new spots.
The one thing that this style of fishing does is you can research lakes that you haven't fished before and apply it. Some lakes are good, some lakes are awesome and yes, some can be a bust. This is the way I'll cover not only lakes, but once your on the lake you cover water. I get the question some times, "Why do you fish so many different lakes? Good question, and I normally say is that I love the challenge of a new lake. The way I look at it is that if there are crappies in the lake, I will find them one way or another. The other reason, I will scout lakes for filming and photography. Plus, new scenery is always nice for the wildlife photo's that I enjoy taking.
Fall, its coming so we better get ready for another favorite time for fishing. It brings cooler temps., beautiful fall colors and great sleeping weather. So, the bite is going well and look for it to get even better as we go into the month of September.
Remember to involve a kid in your outdoors adventure and teach the value of Recycled Fish. Selective harvest is most important to help our fishery's stay healthy.
Until next time, be safe and we will see you in the outdoors.
