fall bite on pepin

I read alot about the “fall bite” on these natural lakes and reservoirs. Will Lake Pepin have a similar sort of activity for walleyes? Will they relate to the deeper holes and drop-offs before making their way up to the dam? I’d like to fish Pepin a few more times before the snow flys but the fishing on Pepin as of up to a few weeks ago has been really slow. (For me anyway.) What can we expect? JLK

Jeff,

The bite on the upper end of the lake and on up in to the river has been decent the last few weeks, my suggestion would be to fish these areas instead of the spots you have been fishing.

Some of the walleye on lake pepin will make a movement on up in to the river in the fall I personaly have never fished the lake in oct so I can not relate to what the fish on the lake are doing this time of year but the fishing on the upper end of the river can really heat up in the first few weeks of October.

If you still insist on fishing the lake your best bet will to be to fish the inside turns and cups of main lake points the steeper the break the better. Rigging minnows and crawlers should be a good way to get you started. Casting crankbaits to steep rip raped banks will put good fish in the boat on most days. Pitch jigs to the rocks in the same area until you figure out what they want!

Hope this helps and good fishin!

Dustin

Thanks Dustin, I usually fish by La Cupolis or out of there. I’m about 65 miles away. I have seriously thought of the upper part of Pepin and the river but do not know the area very well. I guess there’s only one good way to learn. I guess too that boat traffic should be fairly low. I hate missing out on good walleye action. Thanks again. JLK

Jeff, the mouth of the chippewa and the steep drop off right out in front of camp lacouplis usually starts producing good numbers of fish this time of year right up until ice up.

Give it a try and let us know how you do.

Dustin

Yes, I’ve fished those areas before without much action. Especially the deep hole. But that is what I am looking for. I need some insight as to whether or not those fish may move in to those locations. I don’t mind spending the time to find the fish on my own, don’t get me wrong, I just feel better about going over there if I at least think I’ll get some action. But, as we all know, it’s much nicer fishing and catching nothing than working. Unless fishing is your work. Than you got it made!!!! Thanks again, JLK

Jeff,

The answer to your question is yes. The fish will move in to locations like the one down at lacouplis as the water gets colder most walleye ( not all of them) will pull of the flats and main lake points and concentrate on the steeper breaks close to deeper water as opposed to being right up on top of the flat or point. This will typicaly happen when the water temp reaches the high 40’s and even lower 50’s.

Good points to look for on the lake are the ones that extend out in to the deepest water in a given area that are deep along the shoreline on either side and have a steep break in to deep water on both sides of the extension. The cups or inside turns that are formed along the shoreline are very productive spots in colder water. These points will hold a larger number of fish as opposed to the shallower slower tapering points you would target in the summer months. The same points you fish in the summer months can and will produce some fish as well. Just do as the fish do in this case and realate to the deeper breaks closer to the deeper water in the same area. Not to put my foot in my mouth but you should never ever, overlook the shallows in the same locations on some days this is where the bigger fish will be.

Good luck and I will see ya on the river!

Dustin

Dustin, Hope to be on Pepin Sunday. I’m going to try a few different ways to fish the different depths and drop-offs. I hope the wind does not blow toooo hard or she’ll be a little cooool. I’ll let you know how we do. JLK

Fish the spots that the wind is pounding in on to increase your chances as long as the wind is not blowing so hard that you can’t control the boat and let us know how you do.

Good fishin!

Dustin

Dustin, Well, I guess sloooooowwww is all I can say about the walleye fishing around La Cupolis. Stated with cranks-deep water, breaklines, shallow shorelines, nothing!! Went down to chippiwa, anchored, drifted, nothing. (nightcrawlers). floater rigs, jigs, plain hook. Finally started pitching jig and grub to rip-rap. AAAHHH! At least the smallmouth were active. Caught some nice “football” shaped smallies. So we at least had some action. Got on water about 7:45 left at 3:30. I can’t quite figure out the walleyes! Also Dustin, I hear people say they see walleyes on their fish locator!! Can you give me some sort of idea what walleyes look like on display as compared to say sheepshead, mooneyes,crappies? Is it possible to tell the difference or just take an educated guess? Thanks Dustin or James or whom ever knows!!!! JLK

The bite was a little slow this weekend for most of the anglers I spoke with on sunday. The size of the fish has been real good which is a good sighn of things to come.

You can never be 100% sure that what you are seeing on your graph is a walleye or another species of fish you have to know your unit and get used to it and trust that it is not giving you false readings. I feel a lot better about marking fish if they are tight to the bottom or hugging a steep drop off. Most of the time, not all the time the fish the graph is marking are suspended up from the bottom of the river 3′ to the surface and the chances they are walleye are slilm on the river.

Make sure that your fish id on your graph is turned off so that it has long drawn out lines to mark fish instead of fish symbols it will allow you to understand whats going on underneath the boat a lot better. If you leave the fish id on it will mark bubbles and debris floating in the water such as tree branches and so forth as fish when fish are not present. the key is to get the sensitivity set just right for your unit so that the screen does not black out on you when running up on plane or in turbulent water. On some days I will adjust my sensitivity 3 or 4 times thru out the day depending on the conditions.

Dustin