FALL FAVORITES ON THE GREAT LAKES - PART 2

This is part two of the drift fishing tactic I began describing yesterday. It can produce some nice surprises at this time of year on the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water.

BOOST THE ODDS - RUN MORE RODS
While drift fishing, you are looking for actively feeding fish, so running more rods covers more water, increasing the odds for finding some action. Most anglers like to hold one rod in hand while setting out a second in a holder.

With two anglers in the boat, one should fish from the stern with a drift rod set straight out the back while the other angler works from the bow with a rod set to provide the widest range of coverage.

LONG, LIGHT ACTION RODS IN THE HOLDERS
By running a long rod in the nine foot range from the holders, you “automatically” cover a wider range and because these long rods have a lighter tip action, they give you a little extra time to hook light-biting fish.

CONTROL YOUR DRIFT
Anytime you set up a drift-fishing pass, you should put your electric trolling motor in the water and have it ready to use. Gusts of wind, or a breeze that does not quite propel you on the desired path, can be corrected quickly and quietly with the electric motor.

BE READY TO MARK GOOD SPOTS
Once in a while you’ll be drifting along when two rods “go off” simultaneously – often when passing over an active school of perch or white bass. This is the time to circle back upwind of the spot (toss in a floating marker to stay in touch with the strike zone) and slip an anchor overboard. You should have it on a seventy-five to one-hundred foot rope so you can let the breeze slide you back toward the marked spot.

HAVE A “BACKUP” PRESENTATION READY
I like to stay slightly back from the floating marker, and cast small jigs using ultra-lite action spinning gear toward the spot I believe fish are holding in. Another great choice – especially in waters over ten feet deep - is to work a small spoon baited with a piece of minnow meat or a short section of nightcrawler. Run a “Swedish Pimple” spoon in bright colors vertically just above the fish. Tip it with a minnow tail. You know how well these spoons work through the ice. They are just as deadly in open water.

MOVE WHEN THE BITE SLOWS
You know how hard it can be to pry a stubborn fisherman off a spot he catches fish in. He just doesn’t want to move, and repeatedly returns to the same spot. In my experience certain structures like long drop-offs hold fall fish fairly consistently, but where fish are found along these drop-offs or weed edges can change by the hour. For this reason, you need to start another drift fishing pass when the action slows in one area.

Have your gear ready, and fish confidently. You’ll run into another school of biters if you just keep looking.

Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008

FALL FAVORITES ON THE GREAT LAKES - PART 1

Author's note: I have written about drift fishing in previous blogs, because this is one of my favorite ways to work the Great Lakes in the fall season. This blog details a variation of drift fishing rigs that has worked well for me. Watch for part two of this blog tomorrow.

By: Ray Hansen

Surprises. In a word, that is what makes fall fishing on the Great Lakes so much fun. You may wish for walleyes, plan for pike, or want some white bass, but you never know for sure what you might catch. In this article I’ll pass along some strategies and locations that can produce just about anything that swims in these waters. Try them and you’ll get some new stories this autumn.

START WITH CURRENT INFORMATION
I’m going to recommend a few tactics that require live bait in this article, and the place you stop to get this bait is also a good place to ask about places to use it at the current time. Local baitshops have given me plenty of great tips over the years.

USE A WIND-POWERED DRIFT
One of the most productive ways I’ve found for covering water in search of active fish is to drift with the wind along some structure that extends in the direction (or close to the direction) you will naturally drift in.

On the Great Lakes, the land points with deep weed edges nearby, long drop-offs running parallel to shore, and the flats up on the shallow sides of these drop-offs are proven spots for this approach.

SET UP A PROVEN DRIFT RIG
I like to rig a seven-foot spinning rod with eight pound test monofilament, pass my line through a one-quarter ounce egg sinker, and tie on a barrel swivel as a stopper. To the remaining free end of the swivel, I tie a four-foot leader of six-pound test monofilament. On this leader, I slide two bright orange plastic beads up the line, before tying on a size two, four, or six chartreuse colored hook. This is the basic drift rig. Use smaller hooks for panfish, and larger hooks for gamefish. Rig up for what you want to catch.

HAVE A BAIT SELECTION READY
It’s tough to beat a lively two to three inch minnow for all-around fall success, but you cannot ignore the potential “crawler bite” at this time of year. I like one third to one-half a medium sized crawler threaded on the hook. You will find the water is never too cold for this common bait to work its magic.

Stay tuned for part two of this blog tomorrow!

Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008