I'm thinking about going down on either the Sept or Oct full moon. The fall redear bite is usually great up here in Southern Indiana and I figured it would be tremendous down there too. I have an opportunity to rent a place from a business associate, would this be a good time to try for the ears.
I honestly don't know anybody who targets redears in the fall. Most folks are back on the crappie or chasing deer. I do know that the largest redear I have ever heard caught on KY Lake was caught in late fall and was 3 1/2 pounds.
Sounds reasonable that they should get after it good later in the year. We may have to get you to try it and tell us all how it went.
I fish for the them in the Fall. The largest Red Ear I ever caught was one 16 inches long at Center Hill in October. All the Bluegill guys I fish with always talk about the "Fall bite" for Shell Crackers. Now we don't fish on KY Lake but I am sure it would be the same all over. Dale Hollow has one...Center Hill...all of the TWRA family fishing lakes do too. I always catch a bunch below the dam at Pickwick in October when I am Crappie fishing also...and technically that is KY Lake.
Regards
As much as Ive fished for crappie during fall and winter I cant say that I have ever fished for redear in the fall. And to be honest dont know of anyone that does. It seems to be more of a springtime thing on Ky- Barkley while the fish are on the spawning beds.
How do you fish to target redear in the fall? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks
The fall redear bite is arguably better than the spring bite. They're much more predictable, meaning you can pattern them and catch more fish. In the fall, they typically hang out on flats anywhere from 10-12ft deep, on bottom. The fall bite will be noticable when they start crapping in your hand as you boat them. I went yesterday and caught fifteen in a short amount of time, all around 9-10 inches. I hear people say they catch them on nightcrawlers or pieces of crawlers, but I do much better on redworms that have alot of wiggle in them.
crapping in your hand? they do that more in the fall? why is that?
Cotton ... I'm gonna take a stab at it, so understand that this is just a guess on my part :Quote:
Originally Posted by cottonhead
I would think that they'd be more likely to be feeding up for the Winter, whereas during the Spring spawn they'd be less likely to be eating with any consistancy ... being preoccupied with the spawning task. If we're talking true "Fall", here ... wouldn't they be past their spawning attempts, by then ?? That's what I'm basing my guess on, anyway Rofl
.. cp :cool:
I spoke with a couple of guys a few years back who raved about the shellcracker bite in the fall. It was news to me then and I've been wanting to try it ever since. When things cool off, this may be the year.
Would like to know more about the late season bite . When does it usually start. Would you look on the big flats like Blood River. Will have my 5 year old grand child with me. He won,t last long so some help would great.
Red Ear, would the fall bite start with the water temp. getting to the mid 70,s or colder? I'll be down to the lake in mid Oct. thru mid to late Nov. I fish mainly for crappie but love fishing for redears and brown fish. If you could tie a red ear and a smallmouth end to end I think the redear could out pull him.Please keep us advised. Thanks Dave
I got several last spring while gill fishing with a little black bug tipped with a wax worm in 2 / 4 f o w How should you go about it in October
I stumbled on to the fall redear bite two years ago on Lake Barkley while fishing for catfish in early October. Caught several nice fish on two different trips. Then last year, I tried the same thing on KY Lake and caught a nice bunch. I found the fish on small flats near the main channel of each lake where water is in the 10 to 16 ft range. If you can detect shell beds (possible with electronics we have these days) that will increase your probability of finding redears in the fall. If you don't have the electronics, get a good map, and just stay near the main lake channels on the flats in the depths I've mentioned, particularly at times when the current is not too strong. October and November seem to me to be the best times to catch them. By the way, I do know of a guy who a couple of years ago min the fall caught significant numbers of redear on KY Lake just off the main channel on the downriver side of the Paris Landing Bridge. I've found small pieces of nightcrawler to be my bait of choice for fall redear fishing, though I catch them on small jigs tipped with Berkley power wigglers in the springtime. The rig I use is my standard bottom-drifting catfish rig with 1oz to 2oz weight on the bottom, and I hook about a foot off the bottom and another about 18 in. above that.... but I simply downsize from regular catfish hooks to bluegill hooks. Good luck!
Kyfishman,thanks for the info will be looking forward to to the fall bite. Will be down in the near future ,fish around Rushen bay will be in a red tracker w 75 hp merc. If wou se me stop an say hello
Right now it's getting good, went yesterday up here in Indiana and caught twenty ears in terrible weather. Nothing terribly big but a good mess none the less. I look for them on flats and around bottom contour changes in the 8-12ft depths. It doesn't take much of a contour change, a bump in the contour that goes from 9ft to 7ft or a creek channel that runs through a flat is ideal. Gently sloping ledges are also ideal. One no-no in redear fishing IMO, is that they don't like steep banks, stick with flats and such.
That's why the fall and winter is my favorite time. Everybody is hunting deer or watching football -- which is fine with me. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by ric44