Fishing Articles

CATCH FALL FISH ON JIGS

by Bob Jensen

 

There are lots of signs that fall is not far away. You can listen to the locusts at night, notice that the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler, or you can just look at the calendar. No doubt, another fall is starting to make its entrance. That excites many anglers, because in the mind of many very successful anglers, fall is the best time of the year for fishing. And to many of those same anglers, jigs are the way to catch fall fish. Jigs might not be our first choice if bigger fish are what we're after, but when it comes to catching numbers, jigs are the ticket. And don't misunderstand, big fish will eat jigs. But there are a lot of different styles of jigs, from the generic roundhead jig to a good number of specialty jigs. Here are some ideas for selecting and using jigs to catch fall fish.

First we need to determine what species of fish we're going to be chasing. In the Midwest, walleyes are what most anglers would like to catch. We'll be tipping our jigs with either minnows or plastic much of the time. When using minnows, redtails are great when you can get them, although I've done very well in some situations with four inch sucker minnows. Shiners are the best choice in some lakes, and if you just want to catch a bunch of fish, fatheads are probably the way to go, but get the biggest ones you can find.

I really like Fire-Ball® Jigs when using minnows. Fire-ball Jigs have a short shank/wide gap hook. Put the hook in the minnow's mouth and out the back of its head. By doing so, we get outstanding hook-up percentages, and the minnow stays on the jig longer. The minnow's lips are right up against the jig head.

Another jig that's really been getting the attention of avid jiggers is the new Swivel-Head Jig from Northland Fishing Tackle. The hook isn't molded into this unique jig, it's attached with a swivel. The hook is completely free to move, so the minnow can move more also. It has a stand-up head, so it can be fished slowly. The Swivel-Head Jig is catching fish when others don't.

If you choose to use plastic, and more and more walleye anglers are, try a Rock-It Jig. It has a longer, sharper hook and a holder that keeps the plastic from sliding down the hook. It also has a stand-up head so it can be hopped or ripped along the bottom very effectively.

Now for largemouth bass. If you just want to get bit, go with a jig/plastic combo: Use a five or six inch plastic worm and fish the weedline.

But if you want to focus on the biggest bass, go with a rubber-legged jig with bulky plastic. The Jungle Jig is an outstanding jig of this style. Work it along the deep weeds, but also swim it in the deeper reeds. If you can locate clumps of coontail in deep water, try making short pitches to the clumps. I've had some memorable days fishing deep clumps of coontail.

From now until ice-up, if you put your jig in front of a fish, the chances of that fish eating it are very good. This fall, if you have to choose between raking leaves or going fishing, go fishing. You'll be glad did.

PHOTO CAPTION—Mike Frisch catches lots of walleyes like this one on jigs in the fall.

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How to Load the Boat With Giant Fall Crappies

A Midwest pro shares his one-two combination for nailing trophy fall crappies.

Article by Mark Modoski

 

Photo by Keith Sutton

Fall can be the best time of year for big crappies. 

When early-fall water temperatures drop into the mid 50s, crappies go on a feeding tear, gorging to put on weight for winter. "There's no better time of year to hammer trophy-size slabs," says Scott Smith of Crappie Xtreme guide service in Illinois. To capitalize on their ultra-aggressive feeding behavior, Smith hits crappies with a one-two punch of spider rigging and vertical jigging. But which tactic scores the knockout depends on where you find the fish. 

Load Up on Suspenders
Fall crappies often suspend in open water, chasing schools of baitfish. To target them, Smith uses a spider rig, which gets its name from the eight rods extending off the front of the boat—in Smith's case from a pair of Driftmaster rod holders that accept four rigs each. He deploys 10-foot crappie rods matched with small spinning reels spooled with 4- to 8-pound-test. Small crappie tubes work well, but Smith's go-to are live minnows, which he rigs on a 3⁄32-ounce jighead with a 1⁄4-ounce weight fixed about 18 inches above the bait. 

Fan the rods across the bow with the tips 5 to 10 inches above the water and lines dropped at various depths, depending on where you're marking crappies. Move the boat ever so slowly—​1⁄4 to 1⁄2 mph—with the trolling motor. The spider rig creates the illusion of an entire school of baitfish swimming together. 

Win on Points
If the fish aren't yet suspended, Smith jigs vertically over brushpiles in 10 to 12 feet of water, focusing on cover at or near the top of a break, which he says holds the largest numbers of good fish. He keeps working over brush until he hits a crappie. "They school this time of year, so if you find one, you've likely found a bunch more." Smith's jig of choice is a  1⁄8-ounce pink jighead tipped with a Southern Pro tube; he varies the color to see what works best that day. If wind or current make it tough to keep tubes over the sweet spot, he'll step up to a 3⁄16-ounce jighead. When he gets a bite, Smith simply lifts the fish out of the water and into the boat. By not taking in line with the reel, he ensures the bait falls to the same depth on the next drop—right back into the hungry school.

Few things in life work as well as a bottom bouncer, making it pretty much the ultimate sinker for walleye fishing. The wire "leg" common to all bouncer styles allows your sinker to crawl up and over snags. Bouncers deflect off boulders (ideal for rocky Canadian lakes) and scratch across sand. Just clip on a livebait or spinner snell, add livebait, and you're all set.
 
All bouncers self-adjust, depthwise, meaning that when depth changes (within reason), you sinker automatically runs a little deeper or shallower to compensate. The only thing that changes is the angle of your line extending downward.
 
In short, bottom bouncers sort of do most of the thinking for you, keeping your bait or lure in the fish zone, a few inches above bottom. So much so, that anglers often simply set their rods in rod holders, drift or troll along at the proper speed, and wait for the rod to bend. The trick is not jumping the gun and grabbing the rod out of the holder at the first indication of a bite. Rather, wait for it to bend, then throb, indicating that a walleye is firmly attached at the other end of the line.
 
Expensive, high-graphite-content bass rods tend to be too stiff, bending only near the tip when a fish bites. A rod that loads up too quickly telegraphs its presence to fussy fish, and they're likely to drop the bait. Better yet is a softer, medium action walleye rod that bends through the midsection until it loads, giving walleyes ample time to suck in the bait. Seven to 7 ½-footers are about right.
 
So are small thumbar casting reels, spooled with 10- to 12-pound test durable monofilament line. Depressing the thumbar with your thumb releases additional line to compensate for depth changes. Some automatically reengage once you take your thumb off the thumbar, preventing the necessity of reaching over with your other hand to reengage the spool. They allow you to fish two rods simultaneously, or to keep one hand on the tiller motor while trolling.
 
Traditional v-shaped, "safety pin" bottom bouncers that evolved on the Missouri River system are ideal for presenting spinner rigs or livebait snells up to about 3 ½ to 4 feet in length. Any longer, and the bait tends to drag on the bottom. Some bouncers constructed a foot or more in length position your bait farther off bottom. Nice for fishing; tougher to store in your tackle box.
 
Slip bouncers combine the best aspects of snag-free presentation with the ability to feed line to a tentative walleye on the strike, allowing a few more seconds before you sweepset the rod forward to set the hook. Most are straight, rather than v-shaped, to fit in tackle boxes. Many attach to your line via an easy on-off clevis or coiled wire end that allows you to change sinker sizes without retying.
 
In most instances, 1 ½- to 2-ounce bouncers do the trick for shallow to moderate depth walleye presentations, drifting or trolling from ½ to 1 ½ mph. You can run a shallow-diving minnowbait behind bouncers at slightly faster speeds; just be aware that diving lures may be scratching bottom.
 
For deep, intensely slow, teasing livebait presentations, 3-ounce bouncers match nicely with what's termed a "slow death" presentation, using a half-nightcrawler threaded onto a kinked, light-wire Aberdeen hook. The crawler ever-so-slowly spins or flops as you inch along, tantalizing fussy walleyes into striking.

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Four-wheel drive trolling

by Jim Edlund with Ted Takasaki

In his countless clinics and tournament appearances, legendary walleye pro Ted Takasaki says he's asked thousands of anglers what they struggle with most on the water.

"Almost everybody wants to know how to control their boats in the wind," says Takasaki. "Which is fair enough, boat control is one of the most critical concepts for any angler to master."

Wind and walleyes go together like peanut butter and jelly, so goes the term "walleye chop." There's a good amount of biology that tells us why walleyes plus wind equals good fishing.

"Active fish often concentrate on the windy side of a lake where the food chain goes wild and walleyes can use their keen sight and lateral lines to their advantage," says Takasaki.

"The wind breaks up light penetration as well. We've all seen it. The wind blows, we hammer fish — the wind stops, and so does the bite."

photo courtesy of Ted Takasaki

That being said, if you're a serious walleye angler, the key is to learn boat control techniques that use the wind to your advantage.

Takasaki has mastered techniques to do just that over decades fighting Mother Nature's worst from the Great Lakes to the Dakotas, where he now calls home. And if there's one thing you can count on in the Dakotas, it's wind.

But the problem really isn't the wind in and of itself — it's what the wind does to boat speed, direction, and keeping the boat at the correct depth.

Controlling boat speed

"Walleyes can be selective and finicky. Like all predators, they'd rather their food come to them, as they instinctively reserve energy for growing and reproducing. They tend to avoid chasing lures or bait.

"As a result, more walleyes are typically caught when the boat is moving slower than 1.5 mph, but the wind typically moves a boat faster than you want it to go. Luckily, there are tools you can use to slow down."

Bow-mount trolling motor

"In a slight breeze, position the bow into the wind in order to effectively work the contours of structure. When buying a boat, equip it with the most-powerful trolling motor and longest shaft you can afford. Minn Kota's Terrova or Ulterra trolling motor is a great aid for walleye anglers.

"The i-Pilot feature allows you to set the direction you want to move the boat. It also has a feature called Spot-Lock, which turns your trolling motor into an electronic anchor that keeps the boat in one spot.

The i-Pilot Link feature follows LakeMaster contours on Humminbird sonar units with the simple press of a button."

Fire up the kicker motor

Back-trolling with a gas tiller motor can offer even more control in stronger breezes. The trick there is to be subtle. "In this case, make minor adjustments in speed, not major ones," says Takasaki.

For anglers in console steering-wheel boats, a gas-powered "kicker" motor gives you additional power in order to neutralize the wind speed. A bow-mounted electric motor can then be used with the gas kicker to steer side-to-side and keep your boat in position in a strong wind.

This is a boat-control technique that Takasaki uses nearly every day on the water. He's expanded it into a concept that he calls "four-wheel drive trolling."

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by Greg Bohn
 

If you think your rock bar is hot during the day,wait until the sun goes down. Many walleyes put feeding on hold until nightfall. Don't miss the bite after dark. It can be unbelievable!
 

There's nothing more exciting than watching a Lindy Nite Brite lighted float dipping underwater near the boat. You know there might be a big walleye on the hook. If that doesn't get your attention, check for a pulse.
 

I live in heaven when it comes to the night bite. My area of northern Wisconsin literally offers thousands of lakes that turn on hone the sun goes down.
 

Still, some anglers consider night fishing a hassle. I agree it's a different world out there after dark and it does have it's moments. Swatting mosquitoes and big June bugs or watching bats swoop down and hit your lighted bobber are things that happen. But, I assure you, late-night walleyes will make it worthwhile.
 
 

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