Dock-in-it

The deep bite for me is very inconsistent due to the constant shad and bass movements. Some creeks were loaded with shad in the last few weeks but I am no longer able to find that scenario. What you find today is irrelevant for the next day and you have to start your searching from scratch. I normally like to check the creeks because the fish have boundaries that allows you to find them a little easier. On the gravel flats the boundaries are pretty vague. I was able to catch them good today fishing vertical with numerous baits (ice jig, spoon, Damaki, 4"grub). I found them in in 40-50ft range and after catching a few from a group I had to leave that group and search nearby for another bunch. They get educated real quick. I tried casting a spoon and swimbait but that did not work. Had about 12 keepers. WT about 50.

Good catch. I am using 6lbs mono on the damiki rig and I think the bass are getting the entire jig in their mouth and the big moon eye head is hendering the hook set (due to line stretch). I am going to experiment with braid to reduce the line stretch. When the fish start to ignore the D rig I would try another bait to give them another choice. Also, the fish you found today might not be there tomorrow due to shad movement,,,etc. But there is good chance the same exact location will be productive when the shad are back in the area.

Bobby, I was on the water from 7:30 to about 11:15. I started on the main lake and quickly found active birds and fish. That produced good until 8:30, then I searched with the big motor for well over an hour. I checked channel swings, gravel run outs, and a few creeks. Some creeks are just loaded with shad, but it is time consuming to find a group of active fish. There was very little wind so that opens up the areas I am willing to search. I always search where I want the shad to be and that is out of the wind (comfort, better boat control, and less trolling motor noise).

I fished a while this morning and the deep bite is still good but it takes a lot of searching with the big motor and trolling motor. The shad are normally stacked when you find them and they might be thick for several hundred yards. I do not see very many fish relating to stacked shad. I normally find the shad then use both the big motor and trolling motor to search the edges for active fish. The shad are normally in the channel and I move to the shallow edges (normally 38-55ft). Caught fish this morning on a 4" smoke grub, Damiki rig, and 5/8 ice jig. The WT is about 50-51. The graph picture below shows no shad around the fish, but the shad were very thick about 60ft away. Had about 12 keepers and plenty of shorts.

The deep water fish are using all depths in the water column and feeding on very small shad. The fish above 35ft are tough to fool, but they will eat a swimbait or grub once in a while. The deep fish are in a different mood each day and some days they can be extremely difficult to catch regardless of how many are looking at your bait at one time. A lot of fish are suspended at depths for the a-rig to be very effective. I have tried a jerkbait a few times on the deep fish suspended in the 15-20ft range but it has not worked for me.

Bobby, the shad are very small so I am using an ice jig in the 5/8oz size and the color is normally 'silver fluorescent chartreuse'. I think colors like pearl, blue/silver would work just as well. I like using the 7/8oz but the 5/8 is all I am currently using. Regarding the Damiki rig, I have adjusted to the tiny fluke like your picture shows and this morning the fish wanted it hopped up about 2ft. For some reason I miss 50% of the Damiki bites, I have them hooked a few seconds then they come off. They must be grabbing the tail, but the bait does not slide down because i have it super glued. The fish are pretty tough to catch so getting the right bait size seems critical.

The fishing was pretty good again this morning. I took a couple of graph pictures for folks new to deep fall/winter fishing. This first pic, I was seeing a lot of shad in deep water then the fish were on the edge of them in shallower water. Notice the deeper water and shad on the left side of screen. The second pic is after I put the trolling motor down. Ignore the WT on the 2nd pic, I had just put the trolling down and the temp sensor was reading a little colder than actual WT. WT is 51-52.

The deep bite is still pretty good if you can find them. There are too many times that I find the shad but no fish around/feeding on them. The shad can be found on the main lake and in the creeks. Yesterday morning I caught one dink but today I caught lots of fish. This morning fish were caught on an ice jig, 1/2oz spoon, 2.8 SB, and Damiki rig. The swimbait is effective for the first 30 minutes of daylight because the shad are high in the water column. The Damiki rig can be a little effective for the 30ft suspended fish, but it is not a go to bait. I had 4 bites on it in 5 minutes then tried it several more times and the fish just ignored it. The 1/2 oz spoon just worked for bottom hugging fish. The ice jig is my primary bait for fish in the 40-60ft range. To get bit, I normally need to have my bait in front of a small group of fish. Presenting your bait to an individual suspended fish is pretty frustrating. Individual fish that are right on the bottom can be caught much easier. Remember what Bo does..... keep the big motor running until you find them. WT 51-52

Bobby, I tried the fishing the lil george vertically a few times and I could not trigger a bite. The attached graph picture is one of the times I tried the technique. The ice jig is the best bait for me. I see the fish(s) and drop to them and then try three approaches on the same fish until hopefully one bites. Shake, twitch up/down a few inches, then hop the jig up about 5 ft and land the bait back in front of them....then repeat the process. The 5ft hop will get their attention. If you see loons up to several hundred yards from the bait your fishing around, then you are probably in a decent area. The loons bug the shad, then swim off and look for other opportunities ( but they stay in the general area).

Bobby, I worked the lil George like a swimbait and sometimes let it drop and start the retrieve again. The K's were scattered through the water column and I normally worked it from 15 to 30 ft. I used the George or swimbait while moving/looking for vertical fish below 35 ft.

The deep bite was pretty good this morning. The Damaki rig and 4" grub did not work but the ice jig, swimbait, and Lil George did the trick. Hit four locations and three of them produced. The spot that did not produce had way too much bait. Thanks to Bobby B for mentioning the lil george in his comments. That bait stays at the desired depth during the retrieve.

Merc always reminds us about the time it takes to search for shad and that they will vanish overnight. His advice is so true. This fall season I have not been able to find bait in the same location on consecutive days. Searching for bait in the morning is a little aggravating knowing that the primary feeding time is clicking by. In the afternoon, the bite can get better with each pasting hour so the search time is happening before the primary feeding time. When your excited to start fishing, keeping the big motor running is easier said than done.

I fished this morning for a while and had the best luck on a Damiki rig. I use a VMC 3/8 neon moon eye jig with a Zoom 'The Fluke' and cut off about an inch to match it up with the jig head. I would drop the bait to the fish and just lightly shake to entice a bite. It really helps if at least 3 fish are looking at your bait. I tried the D rig about 10 days ago and they would just slap it. The 4" yama grub is working fairly decent, followed by the ice jig. They are ignoring the spoon way to much. Caught several K's and a nice walleye on the rig. Had about 10 keepers, WT 53, and fished in 45 to 65 FOW most of the time. The graph picture shows a weird color under the fish, not sure what the deal is with that. This post has been promoted to an article

What you don't see on the graph picture is a huge amount of shad hugging the bottom in 60ft which is about 30ft away from my boat position.

I fished this morning and the deep bite is still going strong. Caught a good mix of all three species on a swimbait, spoon, and ice jig. I am using a vertical presentation for the spoon and ice jig. Had about 20 keepers and just a few additional shorts. The shad will travel from day to day so you do have to search for a while.

The deep bite is going pretty now. I fished a spawning cove and a creek this morning. The fish are feeding on very small shad about 1.5 inches. So I am catching them a 1/2oz white spoon and a underspin with 2.8 swimbait. I see 20 times more fish than I catch. The spoon is fished vertical because casting is not working very well. I catch about 70% SM and 20% K's and an occasional LM. Seems you have to keep the spoon in front of them for a while. I checked a gravel run out today and did not see much so I went into a creek and it was loaded (also birds everywhere). You will also encounter a lot of gizzard shad at all depths so just keep that in mind. Yesterday was a good redfin day because of the mild temps and cloud cover. The fish were chasing shad on top. A regular swimbait does not work for me, but if it did I could catch a lot more. WT about 57. I prefer staying in 40 to 55 FOW and try to catch the deepest fish. Thank goodness for the SM. Also you may want to net your fish vs boat flip, because they spit shad everywhere. Had about 10 keepers this morning, but I bugged a lot more.

There is a deep spoon bite that happens this time of year that is not mentioned very much and it lasts for about an hour first thing in the morning. It involves 'resident fish' in a feeding frenzy with very limited shad in the area. I prefer deep spawning coves and some mid creek locations. The resident fish will feed around a dominant feature (trees,,etc) and then just fade away. This morning I caught all three species fishing vertical in a deep spawning cove (spoon and ice jig). I tried casting to them with a spoon and swimbait, but the vertical presentation worked best. This morning, I could see the fish feeding from 20 to 50 ft. The LM in the picture was at 47ft.

The video reports this week are very useful and informative. Today, I fished a few hours early, then about an hour this afternoon. I caught a few good SM this morning on a jig and a few K's on a spoon. This afternoon I caught a few keepers on a spinnerbait (SM & LM). There are some LM up shallow and they seem to like main lake windy steeper banks with flooded buck brush. The LM bites I get are very shallow and I have caught them on a CB and SB. Regarding the spoon bite and gravel run outs, if you do not see shad on the flats then check the down stream area where the roll off begins. Finding plenty of shad on the main lake is pretty easy.

Yesterday vs today. You just need more clothes.

In the Kim City area: On Oct 6 & 11, we had about 7" of rain and that rearranged the shad and bait fish in the backs. About 75% of the shad seem to have vanished from the creeks and the other 25% moved closer to the center. I routinely try the creeks with little success, so my confidence is on the main lake. I had three shallow keepers this morning on 3 different baits. CB, SB, and jig. And a bonus 20" walleye that smoked a screaming eagle SB on a flat gravel bank in about 4'. I have looked for bass under the shad that are still in the creeks, but no luck yet.

General feedback regarding the Kim City area: I just fish a few hours in the morning. The early bite (7am) is pretty reliable, but it gets tougher with each hour. The 15-20 foot jig bite stopped for me back on Oct 1st. Then the square bill and spinner bait in the backs held up for several days, then it slowed way down. Some mornings the rock crawler works on some decent fish right at daylight on the main lake. This morning I was fortunate to get the jig to work on a few nice fish (a 4# LM and a nice SM). I normally start with a jig to see if it is going to work, then throw a CB and spinnerbait. Each day is different and I rotate locations each day to try to find new fish. The CB is starting to be my favorite. The fog is an issue to deal with, so keep that in mind. When you launch, do not try to travel east with fog/steam and a bright sun. Travel West young man.

I fished the Kim City area on Sept 25 & 27 and was off the water by 10:30. Fished for smallmouth on flat gravel from 15 to 20 ft. Had 5 keepers one day and 7 the next. I used a 9/16 and 5/8oz jig in GPO with a GP zoom craw. I did not catch many shorts. I am not fishing the long gravel runouts, but I am normally real close to them. There is a crankbait bite, but I only fish it at daylight for about 20 minutes. The CB fish are normally short K's and SM, but I have caught some keeper SM. Regarding the deep topwater bite, it can happen back in the creeks but conditions have to be perfect for the 'quality' LM to participate.

Bill, thanks for the report. Your topwater info in exactly what I am seeing. The red fin will definitely outperform the spook and plopper. So I just have a spook tied on for those major blow ups within 50 ft of the boat. The LM are also doing good over timber. This morning I had the boat in 40 to 45 ft and just fan cast to the direction of the last surface activity. The LM bite over timber seems to last a little longer than the open water. The MLF guys would of had a field day this morning.

Bill, thanks for the report. Have you been seeing any shoreline related shad spawn. It was good in a few places on Thursday and Friday morning.