One of the signs we watch for every autumn is when the hen pike start to show up, moving up out of the depths to feed shallow. Muskies tend to be around there all summer but move in more intensely then also, although this year the reports on muskies I have heard say it has been a very poor year for the muskie hunters on the lakes we normally fish. I can believe that since we saw more small and medium pike last summer than in previous years when the full sized muskies were more common. Grandma largemouths show up more regularly then too.

We are seeing all of this although at and after dark. Of course these are metro lakes, off the Big River and much smaller than Pepin. I would expect the fall patterns on them to be a bit advanced and touchier to daily weather changes than in the River, and acre for acre under significantly more fishing pressure.

The big plastics are working for us now. We have also been finding that the fish are fussy about color too, at least so far, even after dark.