Cold water fishing a new experience for me (except ice fishing)

Went out about 2pm and fished until sunset on a local lake. A friend fished there from shore and did well using a float and lure rigged on a light jig. The crappie were small, except for a few, but hey - it's late Oct. and the water temperature is falling, soon to be in the 40's.

I had the advantage of fishing from a row boat and have sonar on board to find depth and the old creek channel in 8-9 FOW. A few weeks ago someone I showed how to use my creation, slayed them in the middle of the lake and convinced me to now fish deeper here on in. Best advice I've gotten in a long time because now I'm slaying them, finding small schools.

My shoreline friend recommended a light jig under the float, so I tried it for awhile. Only one 9" crappie casting around the boat, changing leader length to see how low the lure should hang down. I got tired of waiting and put on a 1/16 oz jig with a 2" manufactured minnow with little tail action and caught a 10" yellow perch. I figured if that lure worked, may as well go back to my own design in 2".

I couldn't believe the strikes in 9' and in 54 degree water. As the day got shorter I figured why not experiment with a 1/8 oz jig and a 2 3/4" lure (the one I poured) in chartreuse and pepper. Now I'm getting crappie as well as perch as I drift and anchor, drift and anchor! The sun is going down fast and the water temp with it - 50 degree surface temp. Still caught a lot of fish as it was getting dark on the chartreuse minnow lure. (Can't believe crappie preferred a longer lure that moved a bit faster on a heavier jig head.)

Note: before I lost the 1/16 oz jig to a deep submerged tree trunk, I was killing them using my 2" minnow with green pumpkin body & green flakes/ clear tail with a bit of silver flakes.

All told, over 30 fish in three hours - perch between 8-10" and crappie between 9-10". Could it be the bite was that good because the remnants of Hurricane Patricia is arriving tomorrow or could it be that good for the near future? In any case, I'll see how their biting Thurs. using the 1/8 oz and the same lure. At least I know now that the bite can be fierce in much cooler water and downsizing not an advantage until ice fishing and the most amazing thing - fish were hitting the lure multiple times on the same retrieve or hitting it if I cast it close to the boat a second time after I missed the hook set!

Crazy fish ...

Wow! Looks like you had another good day fishing. I hope the rain will end here tomorrow and I can get on the water and wear those lures you sent me out on some fish. With the "honey do's" (painting the house) and rainy weather from hurricane Patricia, it has been a while since I was on the lake. Thanks for the fishing report and information.

Welcome to late fall fishing in the North....This is the "Gorge" Pattern before Winter...Once the oak tannins from the leaves here or whatever regional trigger sets in, the fish know it's time to feed Heavy and put fat on for the long Winter...They will feed like this in our area until the lake temp hits 39 degrees...then it's the Winter and Ice fishing pattern.
I am on vacation next week to enjoy the fishing, it's nothing to go out and have a 300 fish day on the boat...the best part is that there may only be 2-3 boats on the whole 2500 acres!:):):)

Good Fishing
Brent

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Originally Posted by INTIMIDATOR

Welcome to late fall fishing in the North....This is the "Gorge" Pattern before Winter...Once the oak tannins from the leaves here or whatever regional trigger sets in, the fish know it's time to feed Heavy and put fat on for the long Winter...They will feed like this in our area until the lake temp hits 39 degrees...:):):)

Good Fishing
Brent

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I know about Ohio late fall fishing. The chill can definitely get into your bones but any time you can get to go fishing is a good time. Nice catch.

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Originally Posted by shipahoy41

I know about Ohio late fall fishing. The chill can definitely get into your bones but any time you can get to go fishing is a good time. Nice catch.

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We have a Under Armour Outlet close...So I can Get my Favorite UA stuff Cheap at certain times of the year.
I love the Military Cold Gear, It has areas of Super warm "Base 4.0" and then areas that have normal Cold Gear, so it "Vents"....With this, there is no bulk, but you stay Real Warm, without getting sweaty!
Great Stuff to fish in when it gets Cold!

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Originally Posted by scrat

Wow! Looks like you had another good day fishing. I hope the rain will end here tomorrow and I can get on the water and wear those lures you sent me out on some fish. With the "honey do's" (painting the house) and rainy weather from hurricane Patricia, it has been a while since I was on the lake. Thanks for the fishing report and information.

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Really looking forward to your report.
If I got enough feedback, I'll look into the cost of advertising on Crappie.com and get molds made of different sizes to mass produce. At present the process I posted takes far too long to make even a dozen, as you can see from the how to make them topic I posted.

Just wish there was more usage reports...
C'mon guys, the lures and jigs were FREE and I've been sending them to members since 2010!

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Originally Posted by Spoonminnow

Really looking forward to your report.
If I got enough feedback, I'll look into the cost of advertising on Crappie.com and get molds made of different sizes to mass produce. At present the process I posted takes far too long to make even a dozen, as you can see from the how to make them topic I posted.

Just wish there was more usage reports...
C'mon guys, the lures and jigs were FREE and I've been sending them to members since 2010!

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As soon as mine arrive I'll get to work on some "research" with them ! Ha ! Looking forward to it !

Thanks Minners N Jigs - looking forward to it.

I just paid to became a sponsor and as soon as I get a little help from Slab, hopefully will be able to at least send out free lures without some members accusing me of violating site policy. Still haven't sold any and not sure about a lot of details, but seriously want fellow anglers to see how they compare with other lures under many different conditions. Therefore please report back especially if they worked in cooler water the same as they did for me yesterday; or in your local waters regardless of temperature. It will add to my research about the largest lure size I can use rigged on a 1/8 oz jig.

Most lures have limitations under certain conditions. Lure versatility isn't just about various presentations or different species caught. The number of months effective, lure sizes fish (small to large) will hit, etc., are also data I want to record without personal bias or based on flukes.

Tomorrow and next week will be interesting!
(Usually I store the boat once the water temp goes below 50 and then wait for Jan. to fish the hard water.)

Excited!

This was the lake at sunset and I was getting cold but still catching fish:

Attachment 218055

wasn't there and might never know for sure but did you check the barometer that day ?
it might a been falling to that sweet spot when fish get kinda crazy

Like a lot of environmental factors, barometric pressure is one I never bother to check. I've never correlated pressure changes to fish activity or location. Maybe I should, but for now a seasonal pattern is going on that locate them in certain depths in certain areas in the lake making it easier to catch fish.

Now yesterday was wild with the wind blowing over 15 mph, gusting to over 20 mph, the air temperature in the mid 60's. The only difference was the shallow locations I was getting fish that had been dead for the last few weeks. Crappie, bass, perch and sun fish were in 5' over narrow flats and underwater rock ridges. The best consistent bite was in the exact same water I caught them before the remnants of Patricia hit with over 2" of warm rain. But the surface water temp only rose by 3 degrees - 53 versus 50, and the strike not much different. Even caught a one-eyed crappie along with the other species mentioned, with sunfish and crappie biting in the same water fished (8-9')!

I might venture out today with wind a bit less but air temp in the low 50's versus near 70 and the wind less than 10 mph.