November Fishing Reports

Well if we don’t get the walleyes this month might have to take up ice fishing .

Went down to the 26 Bypass nothing,worked My way up had two unbutton boat side by bike trail bridge. Popped one short eye by the old old 106 bridge. Plan on hitting it again today.

Wefish

Three days of fishing, finally found one, and would’nt you know it, the wind came up out of the north and it was very difficult to manuver that area which was 10′ to 11′. took a few pictures of this nice 23″ and let it go to swim another day.

WeFish

hey ice fishing isn’t always a bad thing in fact i love to ice fish. will be out Wednesday morning with some friends so hopefully we’ll be able to find a few fish to cooperate for us. will definitely make a few trips out on the big k this winter.

Good job Andy, you earned that one!

well some how my good friend dan convinced me to fish newville this morning. wow it was slow a couple bites and that was it. water temp was 44 wish i could’ve fished in the afternoon but o well. looks like 1 more trip up to blackhawk and then its time to go deer hunting and then ice fishing.

Sounds like the same old reports, don’t feel bad netmann, been there, I,ve all ready started bow hunting and looking forward to gun hunting. Might make it out one more time if I get a deer bow hunting the next couple weeks.

I finally found some fish had a great day out yesterday so I wouldn’t give it up quite yet. Three big girls, 23″, 25″ and my personal best 27.5″ 8 lb 8 oz toad. The worst part is I have no time to fish again for 2 weeks unless I call in sick with an “eye” problem so I need to experience fishing through you guys. Where’s the report from the guys I met from Elkorn? You should have stuck by me I told you I already had one. I also lost a 30″ + pike boatside before calling it a day.

way to go greg! you have definatly convinced me to make at least 1 more trip for some eyes. hopefully we can find some like you found. by the way did you catch any other legals or any other fish?

I wouldn’t say they were jumping in the boat. It took me 7 hours on the water to catch those fish and I didn’t have any other bites before I found those fish. I ended up 3 for 4 after losing that northern. The quality of the fish more than made up for the quantity of opportunities. Don’t think it’s easy, I spent hundreds of hours working for my fish. In response to my private message, I don’t use cranks, I don’t troll, I don’t use 3-ways and I rarely use live bait other than during the walleye league spring-summer season. Vertical jigging, patience and practice are keys. I also like solitude and rarely fish in site of others. No other people fishing saw me catch over half my fish this fall and I don’t motor over the areas I target. The water is low. If I was a fish I’d be a reluctant to bite too if boat traffic was constantly buzzing only a few feet above my head. Try slower than no wake going upstream and kill your motor 30-50 yards before where you want to start jigging and use your trolling motor to get yourself to your starting spot. All my fish have come between 8-12′ of water. I’m also willing to share more details with those that put in their time and are willing to return tips so don’t expect to buzz in once or twice a year and have me spill the beans. This is my backyard and I rarely fish waters more than a few miles from home and I like it that way so giving up more than I have already without something in return is unlikely. Good luck out there and be safe! BTW, the water temp was in the mid 40’s.

Congrats on the PB, Databoy . It’s fishs like that, that keep us coming back.

Got out monday 11/09, put in at hwy 26, was on the water by 10am. Tried jigging with a paddle tail and a half a crawler, also drug a fathead and #5 shot, managed 3 short walleyes, 10″ to 12″ers, two on the minnow the other on the paddletail. Made a couple more drifts nothing doing so switched up. I fished a few downed trees and got a few crappies on small fatheads 2′ under a float. Only one nice sized one (13″) all the others were 7″ers. Had to find trees with 10 fow close by or nothing home.
Was off the water by 2pm, managed to catch a few fish, in a t-shirt in mid november…. doesn’t get much better.
Hopefully be able to get back out another time or two yet this year, so if you see a guy with a ProDrive and a big black lab stop and say hi

I got schooled, humbled and embarrassed yesterday afternoon. I was home in the morning with a sick child and made it out for a few hours in the afternoon. I went back to the last spot I worked and got one bite, a 15# catfish. Then I went over to the mouth of the Bark and was taught my lesson. Of course I only showed up with fake bait and didn’t get another bite but the two guys in the tiny little boat dragging 3-ways with a floating jighead and live minnows had at least 5 keepers and several shorts. My bait might produce some big fish but I learned it’s still primarily a live bait system. The conditions were right for dragging jigs but I wasn’t prepared for that.

Hey Databoy,

Been there done that. Usually it has been the opposite with Jeff putting on a clinic in the same area with me dragging minnows on three ways. Jeff would work the same area with plastic and make me feel bad .

Don’t worry Jeff. I have more confidence in plastic. Still a young jedi. I think Databoy is on his way to becoming a Master.

Thanks for the reports. Getting ansy to get one more outing in.

D

Thanks for the compliment Diesel but I still have way too much to learn. I’m also finding that once I get away from the river on the south side of Fort I feel like a lost kid in the woods. So, there’s more than one way to catch fish?

Made it back out for another time Wed 11/11, was on the water from 6:15 to about 2p. Put in at the bypass again. Started drifting by what I think is called the stink pipe, had what was maybe a 24″ walleye come loose at the boat right away. Although it came off, I thought alright, this is going to be a good day… didn’t have another bite until 11:00, caught a 13″er drifting up by the VFW. Decided it was such a nice day I’d run up the river a ways, there were a couple guys fishing by the Bark but they too said it was really slow. Ran all the way up to the dam in Jefferson and caught another two 13″ers. I then went up the Crawfish (I think) a mile or 2, sure seen lots of mallards, fished by the first bridge (hwy 18?) caught a 12″ smallie on a jig and twister. Had to pack it in about 2p, sure was a nice November day but sure wish the fish would’ve cooperated a little more…

Now for a couple Q’s, do most of you just drift and jig? I hear about running 3 ways, do you just drift with them or cast and retrieve, also how long of a lead to the sinker? How heavy of a sinker, I have trouble with snags dragging more than 3/8 oz in the low water. Does anyone ‘pitch’ for ’em? Do you anchor, or just drift along and cast? Do you cast to shore and bring back over the channel dropoff or cast paralell to the channel. How about blade baits? Don’t think I have high enough quality equipment to fish them though…
Sorry for all the Q’s but really new to river/walleye fishing and looking for any tips or techniques.

Gonna try to get back on the river again Friday, may have an open seat…. IM is on. If you see a guy in a ProDrive with a big black lab stop and say hi, seen two other IDO’ers while I was out there.

well basically most people just v-jig every where at all the different spots there are. im not sure about the 3-ways as i’ve never used them hear. i would think blades would work but i’ve never used them hear either. there are a few spots you can pitch jigs or you could work the trees as the walleyes like to be in there at times. but other wise just v-jig everywhere unless you find a spot to pitch. size of jigs depend on the current flow. hope this helps. will be out today in a little while and will report when i get back

Al, it’s nice to hear you’re putting in the effort hopefully the rewards will come soon. I took a drive down to Blackhawk on Monday and saw you working that tree for crappies. You are definitely more adventurous than I am, I’ve never been north of the Kmart boat landing, which is where you should be launching – there’s still a dock there and you shouldn’t have any problems getting your boat in there. The landing doesn’t seem to be heavily used and as well known as the bypass landing. I do think you’re heading in the right direction by heading farther up river, at least that’s been the pattern in years past.

Most of us on this page have been schooled by Jeff and we mostly all leave the anchors at home and vertical jig. I watched a Next Bite episode and try the Chase Parsons mixed passive/aggressive stroke, but mostly I do what I call a vertical drag with a simple line, jig and bait attractor – usually half a crawler when water temps naturally bring them out, otherwise it’s a minnow or minnow imitator. Ok, my secret bait is a Gulp 4″ minnow in the fall or 3″ in the spring. I usually use the black shad color only because to me it looks most like a real minnow though I’ve been experimenting with the chartreuse and they work a little too. 6-8# lime green fireline works best on the river and there’s no need to add a clear leader. Most common jigs are 3/8 or 1/4 oz. Fintech Knuckleball jigs (jigfish.com). I mostly use the green/char or orange/char 2-tone colors with the later getting most fish for me this fall. 2 years ago it was the orange/black that was super hot but that doesn’t seem to work for me anymore. I have never used a 3-way, at least not since I was a kid. Most people that use them do it anchored but the guys killing me were swiftly drifting with the wind and current without a trolling motor. Blade baits work for some at rare times but never for me so I gave mine to my kids. I won the Anchor Inn walleye tourney a couple years ago with $80 rod/reel combos so it doesn’t take quality to catch fish as long as you keep bottom contact and can feel it. To me a 6′ rod is too short but anything over 6’6″ is too long. Those cheap rods I got at Gander Mountain and were 6’2″ Fenwick rods with Abu Garcia reels. I think they were IM6. I love my new St. Croix’s though and wouldn’t trade them for anything. I have the 6’3″ medium light extra fast action Avid spinning rods perfectly matched with Pflueger President reels (the colors even match the rods). The rod/reel combinations would run you about $160 for the rod and another $60 for the reels. Jeff and I both run white Alumacraft boats with Fintech decals on the bow though I have the 14′ mini version of his boat. You won’t see either of us out for a bit though. Jeff needs to bag a buck and I’m busy with family plans. And yeah, I’m bored at work so I should write a book or something so I hope this helps. We also tend to not say too much on that other page or there’ll be even more fishing pressure on the system from the south. I’m glad to see the ones that are coming are still mostly working the Blackhawk Island area and don’t know there’s more river than that. Blackhawk can be hot but the time for the bite there has likely past. The key to vertical jigging is to feel the bottom and to use your trolling motor to keep your line as vertical as possible which is why the lime green line helps. You need to feel the bottom and be a line watcher. Set your drag tight and hammer the hook set hard to nail them right between the eyes without your drag slipping. I always tell guys in my boat that when in doubt on whether it’s a bite or not to try to set the hook anyway. It seems the smaller fish will bite and pull back so you know it’s a fish but the big fish bite will be just a tick and you won’t know if it’s a log on the bottom or your trophy fish unless you try to slam it. Yep, you’ll lose an occassional jig but most of them you can get out of the snags by motoring back up river and snapping the line like a guitar string. Later dudes… boss is roaming.

Thanks for the feedback guys I appreciate it.
I liked the looks of the river in between Fort and Jefferson didn’t find too many deep holes though, but maybe deep is only a relative term… an eight foot section is deep compared to only two feet of water… and in 10 plus miles of river cruising I only nicked one rock or boulder on my way back downstream, but not a big deal with the ProDrive.
Thanks for the pointers on jigging, I do use hi vis yellow PP and even a short leader of 8# floro. I’m also sold on the Knuckleball and I think Oddball jigs (don’t have a package just a couple bins in the plano box).
I’ve never tried pulling 3 ways but seen that the guys by the Bark must’ve been as their poles had a serious preload on them. Sure wouldn’t want one to slip out of your hand on a fast drift.
As far as rods go one of my favorite ones was a $30 Quantum IM6 from Farm and Fleet it was more sensitive than the MF St Croix Premeir I bought to replace it. I really need to step up to a Legend series, I used a Legend Elite that my brother has and it’s like an electric fishing pole, don’t know how else to describe it…. it’s on my wish list.
I’m really gonna try to get back out on Friday and it looks like I don’t have to work this weekend so I can fish till dark . I think it’s one of those things that you just have to pay your dues on and somedays will be slower than others.
Thanks again and if ya see me stop by, only guy in a ProDrive.

Hey Guys,

I should be out Friday around 930ish. Prodrive haven’t meet ya but I will be in a blue and white Mirrocraft with a Yamaha. Can’t miss me. Will give you a yell if I see ya. Plan on jigging the river and trolling the lake depending on how I feel and the bite.

As for techniques. I am a firm believer in having a number of techniques to try to figure out what works. At certain times of the year I will use three way rig for casting minnows, or cranks, or as a sitter rod. In the past I have had good luck with that. I am working more on my vertical plastic technique. Getting better but can always improve.

I also cast blades and cranks – depending on where I am on the river and time of year. Some places this works other places you are just donating to the river .

Overall I tend to use what I have confidence in then try the arsenal til something clicks. I try to let the fish and conditions dictate what I try.

Now all that being said I am not too proud to admit that I sometimes don’t listen to what the conditions tell me and try to force feed the fish something that is not working. And I leave skunked. (not a word guys )

Just like everyone else – still learning.

Derek

well we made it out and it was pretty slow. we managed 2 shorts and a couple of missed biters. they were definatly not slamming the jig today. we fished all around even tried for some crappies but didnt find any as we only had a couple hours. water temps 44-46 we did see some deer and turkeys and we also found a dead deer with his antlers cut off of just above the bypass over across from the houses

I’m sure that deer was hit on the bridge. There was one that came flying off the bridge last year and landed right next to the boat landing. I never saw much reason to take antlers from a deer that wasn’t your own personal kill. Anyway, it sounds like you guys know and perfected way more techniques than I use. I rarely waver from vertical jigging because it works! We got burned more than once in the walleye league losing confidence in jigging and doing something else only to get back to the weigh in to find out the other guys that had more patience and stuck it out got the big fish. Jigging does test your patience but if you have a little confidence in what your doing, keep practicing, get out often enough to stay on the fish, and have lots and lots of patience jigging will win out on all those other techniques day in and day out all year long. I’ve witnessed that many times, especially in the walleye league and those guys all think they know how to catch fish. I may have a chance to ditch my in-laws Sunday morning and make it out for a few hours. I’ll likely be jigging somewhere between the 106 bridge and downtown Fort.

well i made the run up to indianford in the boat for a few hours tonight. i didnt do to bad as i got 4 shorts with 1 awesomely colored sauger. all on jig/minnow and v-jigging. water temp was about 45. might be the last trip in the boat for the year. now bring the deer and then the ice

Report from Friday and Saturday the 13th and 14th.
Friday hit the river by myself (and the dog), decided to checkout the launch by Kmart. There was four other trailers in the lot already when I got there about 11am. One boat was just launching, they headed downstream towards town. The wind was cranking right out of the South hard enough to make some small whitecaps right out in front of the launch. I REALLY hate the wind with my boat, it’s kinda like being in an innertube or a canoe in the wind. Decided I was going to get away from the crowds so I headed North. Fished by the dam for a while picked up 3 or four shorties, 10″ to 13″. I then ran up the Crawfish to above the new set of bridges about a half mile, drifted and jigged back down all the way to hwy 18, under the new bridges had a double only bad thing was they were both only 10″ long I caught them in about 3fow, only fish I got on that drift, I had fished some nice deep water and I caught them in 3fow, not sure how that worked but whatever…. Wanted to run upriver aways to check it out so headed North again, made it all the way up to Hwy 94 bridges , fished there for a little bit and picked up another shortie, but would be the biggie for the day at a little over 14.5″. Started working my way back down and hit a few more nice deep curves when I noticed gee it sure seems to be getting dark… Almost 4:30 and I was stiil 5 miles north of Jefferson, so packed it up and headed back downstream, got back to the launch about 5:15p. Definetly got away from the crowds as I didn’t see another boat the whole time out… Not too bad of a Friday the 13th, no leagals but prolly 15 or 16 short fish..

Yesterday, the 14th went out again. Took my son and a freind out, no dog today. Launched at Kmart again but ran downsteam. Started jigging just up from 106 and jigged all the way down to the mouth of the Bark, went back about half way and then drifted back down again all the way through town. We managed to pick up about 5 shorties including my first Rock river sauger… a 10″er. Also finally put two legal size fish in the boat, both about 19″. Lost a few too, one that felt real nice but…. All fish came on a 1/4 oz chartruse knuckle ball jig and minnow or a bottom rig with a 1/4 oz bullet weight, swivel, 12″ leader and a white floating jighead. We also tried different color jigs with gulp and live minnows, nothing on them. All bites very light taps or just heavy jig feeling. Fished until about 5p. Water temps were 46 to 47 degrees.
Think I might be able to get out a time or two more this coming week if weather permits, otherwise it’ll have to wait untill after Thanksgiving.

Great day of fishing out there today…but the catching was tough. Launched at the tavern at 10 or so, and fished till 4pm. Started up at VFW and worked our way down to the mouth. Boated eight 10 to 13 inch eyes and sauger, plus a few good rips but no fish. No white bass, no goats, which is a bit unusual. Water temps at 46. Saw quite a few boats out as we motored up, including Denny. Thinned out a bunch by noon as we worked our way back down river to the mouth. Great November day on the water, but the fish did not cooperate. Only used paddletails, ringies, and gulp minnows….maybe should have had some meat on board?? Hopin’ for a few nice days like today to hit the river before it hits the fan.

I fished Sat, not much to talk about. Today Sunday popped a pair of twentys both females one had a complete oak leaf in its stomach (strange), both were caught on a 3/8″ Zone R red/black and a 4″ Berkly Gulp Black Shad. To this date haven’t caught a male yet this fall.
WeFish

Sorry for the late post.

Fished Friday at 1100 am with a buddy out of Newville to troll Kosh and give some lessons on dragging boards. Headed to Newville due to high winds forcast from the SSE. Would have rather trolled the mouth by Blackhawk due to better conditions (at least last time I trolled there ). Started out in the river with another boat trolling shallow shad raps and a deep berkley frenzy. Not a hit in the river. Headed to what I believe are the clam beds and two boards go. I am thinking here we go . A 13 and 14. OK a start. Continue to troll and nothing.

Turned around and trolled back to the waypoint I marked from the two shorts and pow. Another short. Then another short. Turned around again and checked a board. When letting out line to reset POW a 15 incher hit under the boat. The only other time that has happened to me was when I was with Larry (as I teased him) on Pine Lake. So we keep circling the area and a board trips and drops back. Nice fish, northern. Definitely legal but I did not see that it inhaled the shad rap and right at the boat, slice, gone. Oh well. That is why I bought an extra at fleet the day before. Tied up and began to clip the board and POW, another walleye from below the boat. Go figure. Well since we were running only 4 boards we long lined two rods and held them.

Picked up a short northern and a couple more short walleyes on long lines. Caught one short sauger that Larry tried to drown on a board (it survived)

Had enough at 4 and called it quits. Not much action for the conditions. I would have done better at other locations on the lake based on experience in these conditions but need to stay safe on Kosh.

Left with one 15 incher and good times with Larry.

Told the wife this was the last trip but just not ready to quit yet.

Derek

Diesel…..last trip my . Bet you get out there some more. With decent forecast for next 10 days, you owe it to your family to feed them some fresh eyes.
After just having a week off with my son and family staying with us for post-deployment leave, I’m trying to figure out how to call in sick for the next two weeks to take advantage of this bonus time on the water.
WeFish..surprised you didn’t find any frogs in their bellies. Anyone else find the frogs yet while cleaning?? Has been a pretty regular occurence for me the past few years for November eaters. If only I could catch any eaters, could check ’em out for myself.

Of the legals I have caught in the river (not many at all) no frogs. Those in the lake have been eating perch.

DC

Made it out Monday 11/16, fished from 10a to 2p. Drifted from above the 106 bridge down to the mouth of the Bark. The wind was a real challenge at times but managed to boat 3 whitebass all about 13″ and one male walleye about 17″. The bass all came on a 1/4 oz chartruse jig and minnow and the walleye came on a lindy rig with a floating jig and minnow. I’m sure I missed a few bites with the wind even watching the lines… had to keep minimal amount of line out of the water.
No frogs in any fish here either, two bass had what looked like the remains of shiners and the other two were empty…. Not much forage for them to eat or maybe they just haven’t been feeding lately?
Water temps were down to 44* to 45*.
Good luck out there, they should start biting soon… Probably be next month before get another chance to get out again…