Need help learning to fish from late Oct. to ice up

[Questor]

Mr. Dahlberg:

I have not fished in the fall much after the early October in Minnesota, but am starting to do that. I was surprised this weekend to see what a dramatic difference there was in the underwater landscape at a lake that I thought would make a good fall lake because of the variety of structure on that lake.

A few weeks ago I was fishing a weed bed near a drop off and catching bluegills, northerns, bass, sheepshead and walleye. I went back there yesterday and the weeds were mostly gone, the lake was 51 degree surface temp, and I caught a few perch that were biting very lightly on a light Carolina rig. Man, what a change!!!

I tried some slow trolling for northerns but realized I didn't have any idea of where I should be trolling because I didn't know what the temperature was like at various depths.

This experience got me interested in figuring out how to fish this lake at this time of year.

What I realized when I got home is that I had no idea whether the lake had turned over, but I suspect it had. I also realized that my trolling was more or less aimless because I did not know where to troll. I was basically just trolling a reasonable spring an summer pattern.

Do you have any pointers for fishing in a situation like this to help me get up to speed with fishing this time of dramatic change?

Also, does it make sense to own a bottom thermometer? I really should have taken the temperature down there. How important do you think that knowing the temperature in potential trolling zones is?

Is there a quick test for determining whether the lake has recently turned over and is, consequently, a waste of time to fish?

Finally, does it make more sense to fish lakes that keep their weed beds later into the fall?

As you can tell, I'm quite disoriented. My books don't help much, and although I have a pretty decent library, little is written about this time of year.

Thanks!

[dahlberg]

Hi Q
Come on, don't call me mister! It makes me feel weird. The turnover period when the water gets really cloudy is the toughest time of the year. It's best to skip to lakes that are pre or post, or fish rivers.
That being said, after turnover and a return to better clarity fall is a great time. Depending on species, usually fish will use much steeper breaking stuff adjacent to main lake basins. Another pattern that can be very productive is to fish the areas where frogs "bed down" during winter. The "frog run" was always a very important phenomenon back in the day, but became less important during the years when pesticides reduced their populations and was pretty much forgotten about by anglers. In many places frogs are back strong and fish are chomping on them right now. (Boated a 30" walleye a couple of days ago that was full of them)
Some of the old stuff produced by InFishermen regarding calendar periods is worth looking at if you not already done so.
If fishing lakes that have forage species that spawn in fall, shallow reefs with the right sized rocks on them can be great for pike, big eyes, muskies, lakers etc.
They are harder to find in fall often because they are grouped more tightly, but once you get on them it's balls to the wall!
Hope this helps a little, I always enjoy your thoughtful posts.
best
L

[Questor]

Larry:

Thanks! That is very helpful. It seems to me that I might be better off specializing in the river at this time of year, but I'm too bone headed to pass up a good challenge. I'll try those suggestions and see how it goes. This seems like just one more case where mysteries are revealed by the application of effort.

OK, I'll quit with the "Mr." salutation. The reason for using it is that I'm the last warrior fighting against the creeping overfamiliarity our society has come to allow us in correspondence. Face it, we're strangers, and it seems to me that I should be a bit more formal. I realize you must get quite a few strangers addressing you for the first time with "Hey 'Lare', how's it goin', Dee-meister?", or something to that effect. These are the same people likely to address Pope Benedict XVI with something like "Hey Benny, how's it hangin' bro?", or Henry Kissinger with "Hiya Hank? Nice shoes!"

Anyway, thanks for the advice. It's a real gift to be able to ask somebody who really knows fishing as well as you do a few questions to help expand my knowledge of this fascinating pursuit.

[nstenni]

I was told that trolling for pike this time of year may produce on occasion but its better to cast due to the fact they will group up this time of year. while trolling, you may pick off a pike here and there but if you find one, ten more may be lurking nearby waiting to take the next tasty thing to cross its path. Also as the water cools, the general forage slows. this also could call for a slower presentation with wide heavy wobbles. the fish is more likely to take a big meal to save its energy. good luck to you