In a normal September, I may have to rake leaves a time or two before the month is over. Not this year. Few leaves fell in September. In the first week of October, I’ve had two major clean ups and my compost pile is already growing. Nearly all of the leaf drop has come from stress shedding. I even had a day on the river where I was having to deal with a fair amount of leaf clutter- normally a November concern.
One of my guiding principles for fall fishing is that the second best time of the year for river smallies is Oct 7th, +/- 5 days. Only the spring prespawn binge is better, but its timing is fickle. It could be as early as late February or as late as mid May. The October window is usually much more consistent. In keeping with this, I have done a fair amount of fishing of late - even to the point of taking a few folk on promised trips. And we are catching smallies… Yesterday I took a 77 year old fellow DNR volunteer to the local for an outing. I had to preplan access that wasn't slippery or steep. He wanted to fish a buzzbait which would not have been my first choice. On his 3rd cast he hooked up with a "jumper". The guy was grinning like a kid... I haven't had another day of big fish like last week yet, but good numbers are the rule. We are fishing single hook, barbless and even with most fish jumping we land a pretty good percentage of the fish hooked. The surface bite has slowed down, but hair jigs and plastics clear/off white colors are producing good results. I’m letting the jig rest on the bottom for a few seconds before beginning the retrieve and have had more than a few fish pick the stationary lure off the bottom. I may try fishing a shaky head rig later this week.
For all the fuss, we have only had about 1/3 of an inch of rain where I live and the river is still low and fairly clear. The neighborhood is over-run with puffballs. I just may have to go again tomorrow.
Fish on,
rivereddy