I love fishing in the fall. Usually I will fish a lipless crank bait fast on arrival which will get the aggressive boys to bite. Then I'll slow down, real slow, with spinner, cranks and square bills. If the water is like glass, I'll go top water, but will take it slow.
I look for shallow and then suspended bass even using a float and fly crappie technique when bite is tough.
Last resort is a jig or if conditions permit, weightless plastics.
I also dress in many layers rather than one big jacket because it's easier to move and adjust for temp changes.
Please share?
Fish all year round- spinner, roostertail or jitterbug. Mostly piks biting, but have caught bass in january. If it's not windy, i'm fishing. I dress very warm in layers and have work gloves that have wool in them. Nothing like catching fish when the snowflakes are falling. No insects, only diehard anglers out there! About 35 degrees is my limit
35 degree limit? Pussy. Just joking. It's funny you mention jitterbug. I happened to pick up one the other day because I wanted to make a nice subtle wake. Those things are the made of the cheapest materials and still sell for $6. Proven track record I guess. I don't know what cheap metal alloy those treble hooks are made from but they are super thin a sticky sharp. I rigged my gear at home and hit the fishing spot late at night. I reached for my rod with the bug because I wanted to test top water action. There was a stiff wind and as I'm separating my rods the bug hit me and immediately sticks into my carhart jacket. Then I grab it and try to pull in it out and the other hook ends up in my glove. They are needle sharp and because the metal is so cheap the barb bend out making it worse. It took me a good half hour to get that thing off of me. I could tell the metal was junk because I basically had to straighten it out and rebend to fix the mess. what a nightmare.…I just wanted to fish. Needless to say I ultimate did fish but that big got stuck to everything it touched that night.
By the way, I've never known someone who catches pickerel as much as you. I fish quite a bit and I rarely catch them.
to 1 or 2 hooks and debarbed all my hooks. Alot of pikerels were just inhaling the lures and since they have teeth, i decided to make it easier for both of us! Fish isn't out of the water and gets less damage, and i don't get bit....some of them piks have molars and fangs ha ha. The jitterbug is a b**** to get unstuck from carseats too.
. The [jitterbug is a b**** to get unstuck]from carseats too.
Haha. Try getting it out of a heavy carhart coat... I've had a Rapala x-rap stuck in a rear seatbelt for weeks. I have a duplicate and don't use the belt so it's going to be there for a while.
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I fish all year.... of course. not as much in winter, but when weather permits I get out there.... pickerel are very active all winter... bass are much tougher since their metabolism slows down quite a bit and they dont feed as much and aren't as active.... but they still feed and I have caught them when ice was on the lakes.... I usually use spinnerbaits, jigs, rapalas, and crankbaits in cold weather... never had much luck with topwater or plastic worms... went out yesterday at Malaga and nailed a 5 pounder... biggest bass I ever caught out of there. That lake gets pounded. I went thinking I would catch a ton of pickerel and I just wanted to get some action. Can't tell you how surprised I was to nail that bass.... caught it on a white spinnerbait in the pads.. made my day!!
Nothing Better than getting that monster when you're not expecting it!