Open Water BasinBite Still Happening?

Is the open water basin bite still happening? How long do you expect it to happen for?

Yes, there is an open water bite until it freezes, then it’s considered a hard water bite. I think this is the case on most lakes and rivers.

If you are wondering about the open basin trolling I haven’t had time to get out at all this year.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

There are WAY better fishermen than me out on the lake, but it’s been very slow for me over the last few trips. From what I heard from the MTT results in mid-August, though, even the good sticks were really struggling. Maybe the dip in water temps will get them turned on…I don’t know. I sure hope so.

The open basin bite slowed down for me last weekend as well. We were still able to catch some quality fish but overall numbers were down to about 1 fish per hour. Other anglers I spoke to on the water had similar results or even less. Most of the fish we caught were barely hooked or came off in the net. Some of them spit out some small perch and they were also crapping all over the boat – looked like mud. I’m guessing they are also feeding on the bug hatch out there. We had several strikes with no hook ups too. Bottom line is they are not very hungry right now.