Vilas County - Jeff Winters
September 17, 2013
Hi Folks
Well, here we are in mid-September and have finally arrived in our early fall fishing patterns. Water temps are falling and seem to be hovering in the 64 to 67 degree mark. Things have also finally changed to a minnow bite when it comes to walleye. Fish have been holding in deep timber and rocks as primary spots, although some weed activity is still taking place, especially on natural lakes. Things should stay this way until turnover, which is still a ways off.
CRAPPIES have been my main fish as of late. We have been catching quite a few nice slabs. These tasty fish have been running in the 11 to 12 inch range and should only get bigger as water temps cool down. These fish have also been holding in deep timber. You can use a variety of methods. I have mainly used Jig & minnow combos when out. I’ve been doing this because I’m fishing walleye and northern at the same time but we will also throw out the occasional slip-bobber tipped with a cubbie jig or minnow and this has also proved very effective.
MUSKY fishing has also been pretty good. You must put in your time and work hard, but some nice fish have been moving around. We put a nice, fat 45-incher in the boat the other day. Bucktails have still been the bait of choice lately. When it comes to choosing one, keep in mind – “the bigger the better”. We have had our best luck with double-bladed tinsel tails. Start by fishing your deep weed edges and work your way into shallower weeds. If fish are not looking at these types of lures, try crankbaits. We have had luck using Invaders when doing this. One definite pattern has been wind changes. If you are musky fishing when the change happens, it seems like there is approximately a 30 minute window on each side of the change where fish become active and this happens quite a bit these days. Sucker activity is still slow and I figure not to start using them for another week or so.
That’s it for now – catch you on the lakes.
Jeff Winters