Thanks Fat Boy.
Hi guys,
Here are my fall fishin' reports for the months of Sept & Oct..
Report #1.
Sept. 1st (Labor Day).
I was back at my usual spot doing some shore fishing from 2:40pm - 6:00pm.
There was a mix of sun and cloud with strong winds and white caps. The temp was +16 deg C / 60.8 deg F, but, with the wind chill it felt even cooler.
Here is a photo of what it was like out there.
In the first 10 min of fishing I had a good strike, but, the fish bit right through my fluorocarbon leader and was gone - lure and all. Too bad, felt like a nice pike.
Half way through the day I finally land one, this walleye.
The action then slows. All I land is one more - a walleye - 20 min before I decide to quit for the day.
The final results are, 2 fish on and 1 bite off. A slow day, but, better than a skunk.
Not exactly sure, but the low pressure system that was rolling in might have been a factor in their disinterest.
Report #2.
I decide to give the Qu'Appelle River a try and see what was biting.
I heard that it held channel cats and carp. That sounded good. I always wanted to catch a good sized one of each species.
Sept 6th, from 3:40pm - 7:28pm I tried my luck in the valley.
It was a nice warm afternoon with mostly sunny skies, temps in the +19 deg C / 66.2 deg F and a fair wind from the NW.
I started fishing with earth worms on a 2 hook dropper rig system with a pyramid sinker on the bottom.
I hoped this might appeal to both carp and cats.
The Qu'Appelle River was running hard for this late in the year. The the 2oz sinker I used was no match for the strong currents, and, it bumped and bounced along until it would hang up in some weeds on the bottom or snag in undergrowth and debris in the water.
I am not sure what size of weight I would have needed for the job, but, this was not it, so, I just cast out up stream and let it bounce down stream.
While doing this I did have a few taps off and on. Every time my bait was gone from both the hooks.
I am not sure who the culprit was, but, they were delicate and precise in getting the worms off without being hooked.
My supply of worms finally run out. I switched to a hook, attached to a length of line with a barrel swivel and sliding pyramid sinker - a more common rig I have seen catfish anglers use. I baited it with a gulp alive bait, thinking it might stand up better to the river nippers. Not long after using this rig, my drifting lure stops moving, and, I feel a tap. I set the hook, and, a brief fight takes place. The water is quite full of algae and drifting sea weed so I can't quite see what I have on the hook until I net it, and, it turns out to be this guy, a river walleye.
Even though it was little, it was fairly chunky.
After a photo it goes back quickly.
I also get another hit on this rig and am just reeling the fish into shore when it spits the hook. I never seen what I had, but it fought like the previous walleye.
So alas, that was the extent of bites I got that afternoon. I may have stayed a bit longer, but, those darn mosquitoes were coming out in hordes, forcing me to leave, just as the sun dipped behind the valley's hills.
I did see a group of other angels on the other side of the river, and, a bit up stream from me. They appeared to have landed one pike, but that's all the action I seen in their camp as well.
I am not sure if the carp and cats were there and just not hungry or if they are in a different location this time of year, but, whatever the case, the hunt for them goes on.
That was my first walleye from the Qu'Appelle River - not what I went looking for, but that's OK.
Report#3
It's Sept.14th and I'm on another river bank. This time I though I would try the Whitesand River.
I was there in mid May and though I would see what the river conditions and the fishing was like in late summer / early fall.
I fished on the river's edge from 3:23pm - 7:10pm.
The afternoon was a mix of sun and cloud with wind from the NW and a + 14 deg C / 57.2 deg F temps.
The area around the river had changed significantly from when I was there last. The late June, early July floods had left their mark. The river had obviously burst it banks, far into the nearby farmer's fields and washed out the trail leading to it. I was shocked to see dried grass and other debris still hanging 6 feet up in nearby trees. It looked like wash outs along the shoreline and road had been replace with nice fine sand again. Most of the underbrush was washed away.
There were mounds of pure sand and clam shells strewn all the way from the rivers edge way out into the field.
The river appeared to be flowing as strong as it had been in mid May.
Fishing started off a bit slow. I did hook up with a walleye an hour into the fishing, only to lose it when the fish wrapped around one of the many snags along the shoreline. A bit more time, and, several lures later, I get another bite.
This one turned out to be my smallest pike of the open water season at 12".
I was just going for the camera when the little guy flipped out of the net and into the water, so no photo of that one.
Towards the end of the day I get one last strike and it was another walleye.
It was about the same size as the one I lost earlier.
I donate a few more lures to the river's snags before I call it quits at dark.
I as I was leaving I saw an interesting looking area a bit up stream from where I was. I was too late to explore, but if it doesn't wash away by next spring I think I might try to get out onto it.
Report #4
It's Sept 21stl, at my usual spot on Fishing Lake. I'm doing some shore fishing.
The trees are really starting to display their fall splendor making a colorful drive out to the lake. The wind is taking it's toll and there are already a few bare looking trees showing up.
Although the signs of fall are all around the temps are still great. We have had several days with above normal temps, and this day was one of them, with nice sunny skies, a fair wind from the W that calmed down in the evening, and, temps at + 21 deg C / 69.8 deg F.
This afternoon I fished from 2:30pm - 7:00pm
The lake was fairly stirred up by the wind, and, there was quite a bit of floating sea weed that occasionally got caught up in the line and lures as I reeled in.
The fishing started out a bit slow. I just got nibbles for almost half the time I fished. I threw quite a few different styles, types and colors of lures at them, but ,they were not buying what I was trying to sell them.
Finally I found one lure that they had some interest in. It's a lure I use more often ice fishing, but, it works for open water also, the PK flutterfish. The fish were quite aggressive with this lure and hit it hard and fast.
A couple of times I had a fish pick a way at it as I brought it in, finally giving it one hard hit and being netted.
My final results were 5 fish, - 3 walleye and 2 pike. I lost one other pike when it jumped out of the water as I was raising the spoon above the surface. It only got hooked in the very edge of the mouth and in 2 good leaps, threw the
hook back at me.
The fish.
The only other angler I saw that afternoon was this young grebe, who, slowly swam up and down the shoreline all afternoon, picking up a tiny meal from time to time.
It kept a wary eye on me, but did not leave the area.
I quit at sunset, but not before snapping a picture of the horizon.
An end to an OK day of fishing.
Hopefully I can get out a few times this Oct. - weather and time permitting.
Report #5.
It is Oct. 12th and I'm fishing from shore at Good Spirit Lake.
The weather was quite nice with the temps + 16 deg C / 60.8 deg F, sunny skies, and a good wind from the NW.
Even though it was windy it was warm.
When I got there I noticed that the main lake was really rolling, so I opted to fish the bay to be out of the wind a bit.
This was a good choice as the bay was much calmer.
As I arrive I see a few fish jumping, so, I know at least a few are in the area. I walk down to the shore and spook a fish that was sitting very near the shoreline leaving little puffs of silt as it bolted. I figure this spot looks promising and I wade into the same spot.
It took half an hour, and, a change from a spoon to a swimbait before the first fish hit.
Another 20 or so min later and the 2nd fish of the day struck. This one gave me quite a start as I had cast my lure, and, was just bringing it back with weeds on the hook. I was attempting to remove the weeds by dabbling the swimbait just on the surface, trying to shake them free, well all of a sudden, I see the waters erupt to the left of me and a fair sized wake smash into my jig and take the lure, weeds and all, in one gulp, and, bolt towards my feet. I step to the side and it flies past me and almost onto shore. It then turns, and, pulls drag for the safety of the middle of the bay, adding a few acrobatic jumps as it leaves. After a few more runs, I finally get it close enough to net. It turns out to be a decent sized pike and the big fish for the day.
After I released it I thought I would measure the depth of the water where the fish was tucked up in the weeds - it was 5". That's the shallowest I have ever hooked a fish. I knew they went shallow, but that still surprised me. Even though it was only a few feet away from me, it was sitting in a thick weed mat right near the shore. Amazing camouflage!!!
Ten min after that the 3rd pike is landed.
This would turn out to be the final fish of the day.
There were lots of sights and sounds along the shoreline. I could hear cattle on the far side, ducks winged their way in and out of the bay, sometimes only a few feet from me, and, as the afternoon wore on, large flocks of snow geese began to lift off of the lake to the W and fly over me to the E to feed in nearby grain fields. At times the geese were so loud they drowned out all the other noises around.
I left the lake as the sun began to sink along the horizon, to the serenade of a pack of distant coyotes echoing across the bay.
Overall it was another satisfying afternoon and I was happy that I was able to get out and experience it all.
Hopefully the weather holds out for at least 1 more open water trip.
Report #6.
Oct 19th.
It was a dandy afternoon with sunny skies, a slight wind from the W and + 17 deg C / 62.6 deg F temps. It felt more like a summer afternoon - I'll take it.
This was more of a sight seeing trip with my family and friend. We probably done as much driving as fishing, but, I did stop at a few spots to wet the line.
My first stop is at Whitesand / Pelican Lake. The usual area where I fish at the lake had several vehicles parked and quite a few anglers all fishing in close quarters, no room there, so, I set up a bit further down the shoreline, along the bulrush beds.
When I arrived I saw a young ruffie / ruffed grouse doing it's best camouflage routine. I must admit it was pretty good and all that moved was a blinking eye.
I shot a few photos and was able to get roughly 12 feet away before it finally though it should fly for it.
After my encounter with the young ruffie I got my gear and walked the shoreline looking for a place to fish. I found one spot where the rushes thinned a bit and gave a few casts. My first cast snagged and I lost my lure. I then switched to a swimbait that I had rigged weedless. This was a better option, and, I was able to slowly swim it through the bulrushes with only the line snagging from time to time.
I fished that area for half an hour or so and in that time I caught 4 pike - 2 got off and 2 were landed. The 2 that got off wrapped themselves tightly amongst the rushes and just twisted off the hook.
Here are photos of the 2 pike I did net.
I tried further up the shoreline, in a new spot, but, this area had no fish activity and after 10 min I though I would try my usual spot back on Fishing Lake.
By the time we got to my usual spot it was 4:30pm and I fished from then until 6:00pm. The fish were also quite active at this lake and I had several that would follow just a few inches from the lure and either turn away just as it got to shore or make a quick grab and just get the rubber of the swimbait and not the hook.
The fishing was not too bad however, and in the end, I caught 4 pike and lost 3.
I got a photo of 3 of the fish. On the last one the camera's batteries died.
The water was quite murky despite hardly any algae.
The water felt very cool now. It appears that the fall turnover is occurring - probably why it was as murky as it was.
All in all it was a dandy afternoon to be outdoors, be it fishing or just sightseeing.
With the frigid temps we have had the last few days and nights already this Nov., it's time for me to start thinking about the new ice fishing season. It was a great open water season - I have enjoyed hearing from everyone.
I hope everyone has a fun and safe upcoming ice fishing season.
Talk to you next on Ice Shanty. . .
WW