Fall Fishing Nets A Monster Fish

I’m hearing from a few reservoirs around the state that the fall pattern is starting to show itself. Slabs and blade baits are producing some fish once in a while, and it’ll only improve. Big Mac remains slow from what I’ve heard from numerous friends. A blade bait did produce a 63 pound flathead for my friends at Sherman Reservoir last week, though. What a blast that had to be!

The Big Flathead Fish.

Elwood is still a bit behind, it seems. We looked for fish on the graph for a little while, and tried some of our go-to spots, and the hardest part was trying to differentiate between all the bait on the screen and active fish. Almost everywhere we went, there was bait. A few places looked promising next to drop offs, so we anchored up and put some fresh shad down in 45 feet of water. It wasn’t long before we had a few bites, and my friend set the hook on one. Turned out to be a nice three pound channel cat. They were being real tentative and not committing to the bait at all. We lost several others as they were holding onto the shad long enough for you to feel it, but would then let go. We decided with a slow bite that we’d try something else.

My friend Grant and I loaded the boat and headed over to the Tri County Canal where I often fish. We tried some trolling and picked up another channel cat, and things slowed down again. Until….that one bite. The leadcore tightened up, then slack, then tight again. As Grant grabbed the rod, the fish finally realized he was hooked, and then the fight was on. I don’t know how long it took us to get him in, but I would wager a guess on about 15 minutes or so.

Grant just moved back here from Hawaii, so this was a pretty new experience for him, and entertaining for me. I told him what to expect as I was certain it was a big flathead. Not until the fish surfaced did he believe me, which made things more interesting. After helping Grant with some drag settings on the reel, I finally netted the fish, if that’s what you want to call it. The fish did not fit real well, and I was trying not to let him flip back in and snap the line. Grant grabbed one side of the net and we finally wrestled him into the boat. The monster fish (pictured above with Grant) went 45” long with a girth of 27.”

My scale turned out to be less than reliable, so using a few charts found on the internet puts the fish at about 44 pounds, which I feel comfortable with. The body was full and it was a very healthy fish, so who knows, it may have hit 45 or 46. After smiling for some pictures, we watched as it flipped water at us with its monstrous tail. The crankbait was not very deep in his mouth and just ahead of his gills, so it was a nice clean release. Of course we hope to see that fish again next year when it’ll be over 50 pounds.

Of course, the next day we headed back out and tried for more, only to strike out. We did lose a real nice sauger close to the boat, as well as a nice crappie. Managing a few channel cats and white bass on cranks was enough to keep it interesting on an otherwise slow day.

The temps look stable for the immediate future, which I believe will keep things slow to average on the water. Once we get that cold snap, look out. I still say chances are good that we’ll have an outstanding fall bite, but we need to have that cold snap for things to really go crazy. Enjoy the weather while you can--we all know what’s coming.

-population-we™ blog post by Brian Robinson

© 2014 population-we, LLC 
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The Dog Days of Fishing in Nebraska

A flathead caught with crankbait.

Every year I hear and read accounts of anglers who think that August is a slow time for fishing. It’s hot, the dog days of summer are upon us, and in most cases, there are more than enough groceries for fish to help themselves too. Fish can be lethargic, seem to disappear, and not be interested in being caught at all. While part of that is true, not all of it is.

It’s true, in lots of cases this year, that fish have all the food they need heading into fall. We are still seeing lots and lots of shad in the Tri County Canal, Johnson Lake, Sherman Reservoir and many others. This can make catching fish difficult at times, no doubt about it. This in turn, leads to the August slowdown. But not always. I try to look at the positive things about having excess shad in the water you’re fishing.

The first, and most obvious, aspect of having lots of shad, is that they provide a great bait source for us anglers. I’ve been throwing the cast net for a few weeks now, and am still learning the best spots to find fish in certain bodies of water. I’m usually looking in backs of coves and near boat docks in water 6 to 8’ deep, or shallower. Some days I’m only throwing the net once or twice because I have more than enough bait. Other days, it takes a bit more effort. Don’t give up until you find the bait, because when you do, you’ll have all you need.

After netting our shad, we often go back to a spring time tactic of live bait rigging these shad, or Lindy Rigging as it’s commonly known. Concentrating on sunken islands, main lake points, and drop offs are always good places to start. The shad are still behind this year, so they’re easy to rig right now due to their smaller size. My cousin tells me he lost an 8-9 lb walleye last week rigging a shad in about 20 feet of water. Tough break.

Another reason abundant shad is a good thing is because sometimes they help you find the fish. This is especially true for finding schooling white bass on the surface. Follow the seagulls that are filling their bellies, and you’ll find white bass, and in some cases wipers, nearby. Walleye and catfishing can also be good in these areas.

If you’re not finding them on top, look for them on your sonar. When you find ‘bait balls’ on your screen, the predators are often seen right next to them. Trolling these areas can be great, as it has been lately at Lake McConaughy. Numerous wipers and walleyes have been caught on crankbaits the past couple of weeks.

Not to be forgotten is a tactic that I love to employ when August rolls around, and that’s trolling cranks specifically for flatheads. I’m under the assumption that I’m one of very few who do this, but let me tell you, it’s a blast. Having a 10 lb walleye hit a crankbait is one thing; having a 20 lb flathead do it is quite different! Of course you’ll want to make obvious upgrades to line and leaders, and sometimes hooks (depending on your baits that you’re using). I have a few crankbaits that I favor over others, but I also believe there are times when as long as you get a wobbling crank near a flathead, they’ll hunt it down. This past weekend I managed to get a 17 pounder in the boat, but had a possibly much larger one snap off a crank with little to no effort. That sure was disheartening. Almost as disappointing as the large wiper I lost trolling cranks the prior week at Jeffrey Reservoir. I haven’t had leadcore strip off a reel that fast in 3 years. Sure was fun to watch.

So don’t let anyone tell you that August is a month to take off from fishing. It simply isn’t true. You can pull cranks, you can drag shad, heck, you can even start using slab spoons when you find bait on your finder. August is a versatile month when lots – and big – fish can be caught. Beat the heat and get your camera ready.

-population-we™ blog post by Brian Robinson

© 2014 population-we, LLC 
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Walleyes, Wipers and Crappies are Biting in Nebraska

It’s amazing what a little nice weather can do -- it allows us to get out and get some projects done, gives our gardens a shot in the arm and really turns on the bite. By the time you read this, many of you will already know that several species of fish have gone nuts across the state. The walleyes and wipers have been eating everything in sight with crappie, bass and catfish not far behind.

An assortment of fish caught out of Nebraska lakes recently.

As for our area, things have vastly improved. The Tri County canal above and below Johnson Lake has been hot. We have been picking up quite a few fish, and quite the variety, on crankbaits. Saugers, crappies, even northern pike have been very active. The crappies that have been coming into the boat have been very nice sized, and mostly suspended. Along with being caught over open water, this tells me that they are nearly finished up with their spawn. The weather this spring really pushed their spawn back, but they are getting back to normal rather quickly. The sauger bite has been good, and we even lost a very nice northern at the boat. He was all of 32-34 inches and very thick. I believe we also lost a flathead that hit a crankbait as well. These fish are being caught at all depths, but the deeper pattern has prevailed thus far.

Speaking of northern pike, I spent time at a reservoir recently that I don’t fish very often. My friends have a cabin at Jeffrey Reservoir out near Brady and they were busy last week breaking in their new pontoon boat. I was happy to be able to tag along and hopefully get some fishing done in the process. Using their new motor to troll proved to be a productive pattern, and we had one of our best fishing days ever at Jeffrey Reservoir. Dragging crankbaits over points produced 3 nice northern pike on consecutive points, with a total of five. Four of these fish were 28-30”, and it’s clear that they were strategically placed on the tips of points waiting to ambush prey that was unlucky enough to swim by. Every pike was in the same area on each point, and hit the exact same lure. The most miraculous part of this day was that we caught five pike on a lure and actually still have the lure! Throw in five nice crappies and a few white bass in just a couple of hours, and you have yourself a good day. While Jeffrey Reservoir is primarily known as a great catfishing lake, you never know what you’ll catch there. A regular added bonus of fishing another canal lake.

Wipers are another species we’ve been targeting with good success. I’ve written in the past about one of my favorite waters being Elwood Reservoir and how its future is in question, but right now there are some nice wipers in that lake. The alewife are abundant, and the wipers are taking full advantage. In three days we caught over 300 fish, with many of those being wipers. The most interesting thing about that number is that while there are wipers, white bass, pike and catfish included, only one walleye added to that count. In years past, we would catch several walleyes either before or after the wipers were present. That pattern hasn’t existed for us this year. I have been told of several walleyes caught in other areas of the lake, but I have yet to catch one there myself this year. After catching 92 walleyes there in 2012, but only 10 in 2013, their absence still seems odd after being so plentiful so recently. Personally, I have no problem with this change. There are quite a few days when I am very happy with catching wipers over walleyes, and I doubt I’m alone. Hopefully the lake will receive water from the floods out west and the good fishing can continue for the short term future.

Cooler weather has come once again with some rain involved, so that should keep water temps down a bit for a short time. I look at this as a good thing in that some successful patterns that have prevailed will work just a bit longer before changing. It’s clear that fishing has taken off recently, so get out and enjoy it. June is going to be a great month for catching fish.

-population-we™ blog post by Brian Robinson

© 2014 population-we, LLC 
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Fall Fishing Tips

Though the weather has turned colder now, the fishing action has remained hot. The water temperatures have varied anywhere from 41 to 46 in the areas we’ve been fishing in Nebraska, but the fish have yet to slow down.

At the Tri County canal system, the saugers are gathered in somewhat predictable areas and definitely stocking up for winter. We found them in water from 12 to 30 foot deep. With the water temps down to 41 degrees, it’s safe to say the chilly weather out west brought us some mighty cold water. The fish did not seem to care. Saugers are like walleyes in that sometimes they can be picky about what you can catch them on. But this wasn’t the case for us, which was a nice change of pace. We caught them on jig/plastic combos, slab spoons and blade baits. The most interesting part of our day was that not one walleye was boated. Saugers typically relate to areas with current and are usually found deeper in holes than walleyes, but it was clear they had this area completely taken over.

A variety of crankbaits.

Fall fishing is well known for being a great opportunity to catch trophy fish and this year has been no different. A variety of tactics will work, such as trolling crankbaits, casting crankbaits, even dragging live bait. But a real go-to this time of year is slabbing. Slabbing is using a variety of lead and metal spoons with a vertical jigging presentation to imitate dying bait fish. As these fish fall to the bottom, predators are there to feed on them. The biggest key, as stated before, is to find the fish using your sonar units. Once you’ve done that, the real fun can begin.

Slabbing is a tactic that’s very popular on area reservoirs like Harlan, McConaughy, Johnson, Elwood and Sherman. We have fished a few of these areas and had mixed results. Some days have been outstanding, while others have been a bit of a struggle. Fish locations in the fall do change by the day in some areas, and we’ve even seen them change by the hour. When we have found large pods of predators feeding on shad and alewives, we have done well on numbers of white bass, wipers, smallmouth bass, and walleyes. On the flip side, when the fish are difficult to locate, our success has been far less. To illustrate this point, earlier this week, two of us boated a drum, a crappie, 10 wipers up to 24 inches and well over 50 white bass up to 16 inches. The very next day on the same water, two of us struggled to find three wipers and nine white bass.

Another great way to catch fish in the fall is to fish at night; especially, during periods related to a full moon. Night trolling can be very effective at times. Long lining stick baits such as Rapala Husky Jerks, Original Floating Rapalas, Shallow Shad Raps, Smithwich Rogues and Storm Thundersticks are all great baits to start with. Throwing these same baits from the shore in shallow rocky areas may be an even better tactic to target trophy fish.

Now that we’ve had our first snow of the winter season, the water temps are sure to be near freezing in some areas. I’ve even heard reports of ice starting to form on some lakes. With time off around the upcoming holiday weekend, we hope that some of the weather will allow us to get on the water another day or two, and see if we’re able to put any more fish in the boat before it’s put away for the winter. We’ll see you out there.

(Editor's note: Welcome to our newest pop-we contributor--Brian Robinson! Join Brian as he chronicles his passion for fishing the Midwest waterways of Nebraska. Learn more about Brian at this link.)

-population-we™ blog post by Brian Robinson

© 2013 population-we, LLC 
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