rippinlip

crappiefisher
 Tim took the boat out this arthurnoon with his girlfriend. He calls me a hr. or so later and wants me to bring them a large net as quick as possible. I said "ain't happenin' " He replied " I'll give your brother a call and ask him then" 
 
crappy
 
 
 He had robo grips on board he just don't think. They never got to see the fish anyway. She fought it for over 10 minutes, had it next to the boat one time but would rip line supper fast. Told her prob. a big cat or Byrd. She said it wasn't a cat since they had already caught some nice ones before that. Tim thinks it was a Musky or Big Byrd.
 
 Supposed to rain a little after 3:00 'till 8:30 or so. Might head down at 2:00 and see if they turn on. Usually do good on Byrds this time of year right before and during breaks in the rain. Supposed to hit 35* Sunday morning. Should help with tree color.
 
crappy 

He should have called my cell. I was there on my Toon.

..

Made it out with my two kiddos on the 23rd. Lots of smaller perch only about 3-4 worth keeping. We released all. Also had about 8 or 9 largemouth mixed in. The kids had fun, thats what matters. 
 
Prob would of done a little better with waders on walking around trying to find the perch. They were hitting Shiners over fatty's and worms. 
 

I tried taking advantage of the nice day yesterday, hit the lake and likely last boat trip for the year for me.  It definitely was a nice day, but this lake has turned into the Dead Sea for me.  Usually I can rely on spring and fall for at least okay fishing.  Zero perch caught in many of my rather reliable spots.  Got one crappie, two largemouth, another largemouth (nice one) up to the gunnel and self released.  Father in law got a bluegill.  Other than that, a few other bites.  This is kind of what I would expect in mid summer, not fall.  Guessing the fish aren't a fan of this late season warm spell?  
 
Surface temp ranged from 51-55.  I know the lake is usually off color and the pea soup is typical of late summer, but I always thought that it changed in the fall though?  Visibility is less than 2'.  I could swear the lake usually has a bit more visibility this time of year.  I am so dejected from the last few times out, I might be done for the year.  The past two years has been awful Arthur for me.  Every fish species seems to be getting smaller and less of them.  

Hmmm. I was thinking of taking the boat to moraine tomorrow. Might have to rethink that plan. Looks like there’s gonna be some wind too. Maybe I’ll drive up to wilhelm instead.

From seeing others not seeming to stay in spots for long and talking to one other guy, it appeared to be similar results from others yesterday.  We tried deep structure, shallow weeds and wood.  We definitely marked some deeper, but couldn't spark any interest.  The perch bite is typically shallow weed oriented at this time of year.  I think water temps are close to a month off track.  So, if you have a reliable early fall pattern, that might be the ticket?  I am usually stuck in the office from mid summer until mid Oct, so I haven't figured out anything reliable during that stretch.  

Made it out last Saturday 11-6. Fished Muddy Creek for hours, one small bass. It was awful. I usually do pretty well there. Decided to stop around the 528 area before heading home. It was also slow until about 5 PM, then from 5P-6:45 the action was pretty much non-stop. It started with perch, 7 keepers, several throw backs, then the Largemouth moved in and took over the bite until just before dark. Two nice channel catfish were also caught using a floating jig head and shiner. Once twilight hit the Crappie bite was on. I kept several crappie 11-13" threw back many more. Then I lost my lighted float and the fun was over. The last few hours made the trip well worth it, but it was a struggle before then. Not sure when I'll get back out to try again. 
 
-all fish were caught on fatheads and shiners-

I made it out for the afternoon/evening on Wednesday. I waded a few spots on upper 528. The wind from the South started out annoying and led to unfishable in the first place I stopped. Also the path to one of my favorite wading spots was completely over grown with brush. Wasn’t worth putting tears in my waders. Should make it a better boating spot with less access by foot. Moved to a bend in the lake to avoid the wind. It was still a bit windy, but not the amount of chop, but did have some wind current. I weeded through some fish to end up with 6 keeper sized perch and 1 crappie. Fish were definitely showing up in schools. 30-40 minutes of nothing, then 10 minutes of bite on every cast. Nothing spectacular, but not bad. Skim ice on the surface weed beds. I’m hoping the next few days of fridgid temps don’t lock things up. Another warmup in mid to late week. Would be nice to get another trip in before it is iced over.

 Hit a spot that haven't fished in years down there. Same thing overgrown jaggers and brush. Got around it and did ok for the short time out and no live bait. Windy snowy up here today.  
    crappy
 

I heard there two foot high white caps the other day. Can anybody confirm or deny?