Hey Hawger
Just a quick question…. any word from Cannon or Tetonka about the fall night bite going gangbusters yet? I know you had been hitting some big fish, some really big, but I was wondering if the widespread numbers bite had kicked in?
Thanks in advance buddy!
James Holst
Moving Waters Guide Service
http://www.movingwaters.net
James, you know how this goes…. you better be in the spot before dark and stick to it… or you’ll loose it to a guy in waders! Most all my big fall fish come from the outlet on Lake Tetonka. The cars start pulling in about dark and you are faced with the delima of being a good sport and dropping back (away from the good spot) or being nuts enough to bulldoze into a barrage of flying raps! Not me! I was vaxinated before… I know better. So, you know the drill. Get there early and there is no argument.
Once on the outside of the grass edge of the outlet (about waist deep) you can hog all of the good spot and the fish. Wader fisherman will give you the lead and fill in round you.
Bad part of the game-plan comes when you get ready to leave… best not start up the mig motor! You’ll get a new set of nick-names if you crank up the old in/outboard and pull out! Use the trolling motor or oar is the best. You’ll screwitup it for many minutes to hours if you do not.
So…. get out the waders or get there early! Every time I go I get fish. How much garbage is in the water (leaves are falling now) can make it tough. The lightweights leave about 10:00 so If you get there about 10:30 you can get right up to the spot. The spot being an area about the width of a trucks lingth that has a drop where the weeds end and the water has cut a path, next to the flat/weeds. You’ll know cause your rap will hit weeds/bottom if you are not there!
I plan to check this out Tuesday nite if I do not do Madison Lake with Chris Beeksma and Brett King. Brett has done an invite so that is hard to pass-up! I’ll let you know how it turns out. Hawger
Awesome answer buddy. Thanks a million. One more thing…
I’m growing more and more convinced that less significance needs to be placed on the status of the moon phase when it comes to catching ‘eyes at night. On Mille Lacs the last 3-4 years I’ve really paid attention to how the fish reacted to the presence or absence of moon light during the week before or after a full moon and the primary driving force to the bite still seems to me to be the weather. Every time we get a front moving through the bite always goes balistic. During stable weather the bite just seems to wander from periods of intense moon light to having the best bite take place when the moon has set and the sky has gone completely dark. That in fact happened frequently the week prior to the full moon… the fish would often wait for the moon to set and then go on a tear until the sun came up.
What are yout thoughts about the moon patterns influencing fishing success? Do you see the periods of intense feeding during the times when the moon is high over head? With the reduced clarity of the lakes in your area I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some significant differences in our experiences.
See ya’ on the water Hawger!
James Holst
Moving Waters Guide Service
http://www.movingwaters.net
James,
I do not nor probably ever will for years to come have the expeirience as you do at the night fishing thing but what you said about the moon phase was absolutly correct the 2 nights I was up on Mille Lacs the first night the fishing was better when the moon was set in the sky and it was pitch dark all we had to do was adjust the presentation and use a different bait. But the second night was a different story the better fish came when the moon was high and bright which leads me to beleive that it all comes back to 2 things weather and water conditions and if an angler is able to adjust accordingly to these two factors your going to be a lot more successful than hoping the fish will bite just becase of the full moon. Just my 2 cents.
See ya on the water!
Dustin
True in clear waters…. but in stained water where you need the moon for light penertraition, it is best with the light. Many is the time I have guided in Tetonka, all a moonless night, that my first big fish came with the twilight of the early sunrise! The fish can just see better! Now, in darkness you overcome the dark water either additional sound and/or vibration. I have taken many walleye at night on spinnerbaits while bassing! A real deal! Having them attack the spinner vibraition and surface disturbance… wild huh…this is why you hear me talking up a beetle spin so much! It offers you a great deal more thump and sonic vibraition than a jig and tail live bait combo and a different kind of “sound” and flash than a crank.
just a thought – with the excitement and lore of the fall full moon bite, could we be overlooking the obvious – the change in water temperature. possibly the cooling water triggers the fish in the same way it triggers the spawn in the springtime. the full moon is the time more anglers are out because it is easier fishing with a full moon when you can see better than during the darker phases. i do not have enough experience yet to test this theory, but just thought i would throw it out. james and hawger, what do you think?
I’d be willing to bet water temp, decreasing amount of daylight, larger forage size, and the moon phases all interact together to bring on the heavy feeding we see in the fall.
What actually is the key factor? We can debate that here… but we’ll likely never really know. I do know to go fishing at night with big lures in the fall!…Chomp!
James Holst
Moving Waters Guide Service
http://www.movingwaters.net
Yep, I have experienced a “fall false spawn-run” on the Rainy River on October where the big females try to run up the river just like in the spring. I associate this to lo-light and water temps too. I suppose this happens in lakes too. Hawger
I think on the Rainy the walleye’s may be chasing shiners that are running up the river at that time of year. If you go down to a dock at night where there is a light hanging over the water there will be shiners every where. So could that migration be due to the drop in water temp. and the glut of forage that moved into the river?
You know you may have something there too… Yep, lots of bait in there then… Hawger
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