Fall is a great time to be on the water for many reasons. Maybe the best reason is because the bite can be downright hot when the weather cools. Where to go to find the most fish in the fall? Finding green, living weeds is often a great starting point!
As waters cool during late summer and into fall, weeds start to die. As this occurs, oxygen levels deplete, cover is more limited and the baitfish and gamefish that lived in a weed bed for the past several weeks often relocate to weeds that are still alive. I’m not sure why some weeds live longer than others, but do know living vegetation is a key!
Finding green living weeds can be accomplished in various ways. One way that I find green weeds is by using sonar to cruise along the edges of weedy flats. I use the DownScan feature on my Elite FS sonar unit when looking for living weeds. While traditional 2D sonar is great at showing fish arches, it doesn’t define individual weeds nearly as well. DownScan, however, does a great job of showing individual upright stalks of living weeds, while also showing dead or dying weeds that often collapse on the lake bottom.
Another great way to find living weeds is by fishing through potential areas with lures that occasionally catch a weed. For example, when targeting largemouth bass in fall, I love throwing a crankbait. Crankbaits catch bass, but they also hook an occasional weed. When that happens, I inspect any weeds on my crankbait hook to see their condition. If I find plush, green weeds on a hook, I often spend more time in that area. Last fall, I had some outstanding catches throwing KVD Elite 4.0 Squarebill crankbaits across weedy flats in a couple of lakes near my home.
Casting crankbaits for bass is a reliable autumn pattern. When fishing walleyes in the fall, pitching jigs to green weeds can be a great way to catch fish. A few falls back, for example, I found a school of hungry walleyes in a small, shallow lake that were holding in weeds as shallow as 5 feet. I was slow trolling the drop off edge of a weedy flat one October day when I hooked a walleye that had some green vegetation along with it when I netted it. Slowing down and pitching jigs and fatheads to the green weeds led to a good catch. Those weeds stayed green for several weeks and the longer fall persisted the more walleyes showed up in that area. Not surprisingly big northern pike and some oversized largemouth bass called the area home in late fall as well.
If oversized fish are on your bucket list this fall, find the green to increase your chances for fishing success!
Mike Frisch hosts Fishing the Midwest TV. Visit www.fishingthemidwest.com to learn more.
PHOTO – Here’s a happy angler with a bass caught by “going green!”
