Fall Fishing Discussion.

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Dungee

Dungee

Keeper of San Juan Secrets
We are headed back down in a couple weeks and I wanted to hopefully get a broad discussion going regarding fall fishing at Powell. Fall fishing is relatively new for us. Only since about 2010 have we gone down in the later months October/November. But those trips have been a little more sporadic and all over the map, to me it's a little harder to narrow down a pattern in the fall. We had an early October trip in I believe '10 that came pretty close to a good spring trip. But I couldn't tell you why it was that way so it's hard to duplicate, it was multi species, varied technique. Don't get me wrong, fall fishing is still great, our experience is just getting bits and pieces here and there, one day is good, one depth or structure is good at times, and the weather seems to be much more stable than spring, but I just want to see what others think...

How do your techniques change in the fall when the water temp does get back down in the upper 60's or lower 70's?

Depth? Use a lot more shad baits? Is there a dependable/favorite fall walleye or Crappie pattern? A lot more topwater? Favorite fall structure? Like I know we like to target the really big buoulders in the summer since it provides shade etc. Any input is really appreciated, I know there are some who have fall narrowed down and have a lot more knowledge/experience with it.

My plan right now would be to hit available brush hard with moving baits and topwater.

Preston
 
Hopefully @bobco will join in. I know he has had success.

Fall should be a great time. But I'm with you, it has been tougher on us. Two years back we got our butt kicked in November. I think we went earlier last year, and did better.

I really need to find a way to keep a journal.,,,
 
I am interested as well. We are heading down on thursday for the latest trip I've done in years as my attention is always on elk hunting by now but this year I had to have one last fishing trip. So I have no advise to give, just gonna listen.
 
Looks like there are several of us that are targeting fall fishing. The only thing I know is typically after around the third week of October the bites slow down but of course that depends on the weather. In my opinion this is the best time of year for fishing. The boils are great but the random nature of finding them puts this time of year ahead of the boil season.
the weather is more stable and cooler and the fish are getting ready for winter making for some hungry fish.
 
I have fished many times during the months stated. Last year the October fishing for stripers was fairly deep 65 ft for spooning but fast and predictable. Once we found the depth they were in, every 65 ft area had stripers present. Possibly the unusual warm water barrier last year kept them deep. Small mouth fishing is usually great along the usual rocky points. Walleye haven't been as cooperative for me yet then. The usual baits- crawdad imitations, plastics, crank baits all seem to work as well as shad imitations. Some small mouth boils may occur. One thing to remember is the shorter days leave longer nights to do night fishing. Night fishing has picked up some already but gets better into Nov. and Dec. I don't think there is a big difference in fall fishing from the other times. The fish will let you know what they want. I do generally use bigger baits in the fall than in spring. I agree with all the stuff mentioned before in the other posts. I think the key is weather changes. Cold fronts tend to shut the bite down and in Utah Oct. is one of the wettest months. I'll be there Oct 5th-14th. Good luck all.
 
We have had some really good times in October and even into November. Last Thanksgiving we would wear snowmobile suits for the morning run. We were throwing Gunfish and jigs on any rock pile we could find for Stripers and Small mouth and slayed them. We were catching big Crappies(more than I have caught in years) and Stripers on Rattletraps in the back of Navajo.
 
What I like about fall fishing vs spring, your not dealing with the runoff, and spawning fish. Trolling, spooning, casting, jigging, baitfishing for Striper, bottom bouncing or trolling for Walleye, jigging or using Shad for Crappie, throwing spinner bait's, or lure's for bass. The hardest thing I find in the fall, are making up my mind, which one I would rather fish for, and how. And after the water cool's off into the 50's, the fishing is still great. And with all the Shad there are, there's going to be some nice healthy fish to chase. I love trolling umbrella rig's, with Hyper Striper's, with Walleye assassin's, it's pretty fun to catch 3 and 4 Striper's at one time. Not to mention, putting a light out, and catching Crappie in the fall, in 70ft of water.
Look in the November archive's, it's allways good. Weather is usally better, or more consistent in the fall, a lot of it if you have the time, is to wait for that good weather.
Have a good one.
KyKevin
 
we target later October, and hope for surface temps cool to ~60 (or less). Once that happens, you start seeing the really aggressive "big" fish boils. We troll, and watch for boils. Last year (October 26) we were seeing scattered boils in coves throughout the day. 1 particular boil went off up in the "fingers" (north-east bank between trachyte and white) - that boil just kept going, and going, and going....what a riot.

Opening weekend of the rifle deer hunt is a good weekend. The mountains are crowded with orange dots, and the lake is wide open! The harvest on Powell is better too!

If the weather holds, early November can be fantastic too. It just seems like those last couple weeks in October through the first couple weeks in November the stripers go crazy.
 
I will be headed to Powell Oct 5-8th.. I usually try to target the LMB, SMB, walleye and crappie.... I will be staying on houseboat at Bullfrog.. and will post success/non-success when we get back..
 
PBH said:
we target later October, and hope for surface temps cool to ~60 (or less). Once that happens, you start seeing the really aggressive "big" fish boils. We troll, and watch for boils. Last year (October 26) we were seeing scattered boils in coves throughout the day. 1 particular boil went off up in the "fingers" (north-east bank between trachyte and white) - that boil just kept going, and going, and going....what a riot.

Opening weekend of the rifle deer hunt is a good weekend. The mountains are crowded with orange dots, and the lake is wide open! The harvest on Powell is better too!

If the weather holds, early November can be fantastic too. It just seems like those last couple weeks in October through the first couple weeks in November the stripers go crazy.
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I agree, I have scaled back to only fishing in October for all of these reasons.
 
My favorite time of year to be on the lake .Fall fishing can be great and average sometimes. The weather does tend to be more predictable with really nice temps .
These are from a solo trip i took in 2015. I caught all of these on a big sammy the last week of October in the lower lake.
I think you'll find that most of the baits you use in the spring will work in the fall.
 

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Guido said:
I agree, I have scaled back to only fishing in October for all of these reasons.
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Hey Guido..its been a while buddy. Gonna be up the 2nd week of October 10th - 14th .If you and the wife are up that week look for my boat.
Probably be camping in Gunsite this year. If you see this Champion center console its me.
 

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Kbass said:
I have fished many times during the months stated. Last year the October fishing for stripers was fairly deep 65 ft for spooning but fast and predictable. Once we found the depth they were in, every 65 ft area had stripers present. Possibly the unusual warm water barrier last year kept them deep. Small mouth fishing is usually great along the usual rocky points. Walleye haven't been as cooperative for me yet then. The usual baits- crawdad imitations, plastics, crank baits all seem to work as well as shad imitations. Some small mouth boils may occur. One thing to remember is the shorter days leave longer nights to do night fishing. Night fishing has picked up some already but gets better into Nov. and Dec. I don't think there is a big difference in fall fishing from the other times. The fish will let you know what they want. I do generally use bigger baits in the fall than in spring. I agree with all the stuff mentioned before in the other posts. I think the key is weather changes. Cold fronts tend to shut the bite down and in Utah Oct. is one of the wettest months. I'll be there Oct 5th-14th. Good luck all.
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Hey Buddy...Gonna be up there around the same time in the southern lake . I'm assuming you'll be up there with Gold Cup around then. Let me know if you're gonna fish south at all ,maybe we can meet up around the Escalante or Rincon.
 
Hey. It's been a while since seeing you southern guys. It would be great to meet up. I think the plan is to be in a houseboat tucked in a canyon which means limited radio or phone contact. We tend to be around BF but haven't made that decision. My fishing buddies are all old farts and don't wanna go very far. Not me though ha ha. If we come up with a plan will try to let you know. I'll put Cup on it so don't hold your breath. Haha
 
Kbass said:
I have fished many times during the months stated. Last year the October fishing for stripers was fairly deep 65 ft for spooning but fast and predictable. Once we found the depth they were in, every 65 ft area had stripers present. Possibly the unusual warm water barrier last year kept them deep. Small mouth fishing is usually great along the usual rocky points. Walleye haven't been as cooperative for me yet then. The usual baits- crawdad imitations, plastics, crank baits all seem to work as well as shad imitations. Some small mouth boils may occur. One thing to remember is the shorter days leave longer nights to do night fishing. Night fishing has picked up some already but gets better into Nov. and Dec. I don't think there is a big difference in fall fishing from the other times. The fish will let you know what they want. I do generally use bigger baits in the fall than in spring. I agree with all the stuff mentioned before in the other posts. I think the key is weather changes. Cold fronts tend to shut the bite down and in Utah Oct. is one of the wettest months. I'll be there Oct 5th-14th. Good luck all.
Click to expand...
Hope to see you
 
Cactus juice Rick said:
Hey Guido..its been a while buddy. Gonna be up the 2nd week of October 10th - 14th .If you and the wife are up that week look for my boat.
Probably be camping in Gunsite this year. If you see this Champion center console its me.
Click to expand...

Hey Rick!

Nice to hear from you.

Looks like you get there just after I leave, maybe next trip!
 
Kbass said:
Hey. It's been a while since seeing you southern guys. It would be great to meet up. I think the plan is to be in a houseboat tucked in a canyon which means limited radio or phone contact. We tend to be around BF but haven't made that decision. My fishing buddies are all old farts and don't wanna go very far. Not me though ha ha. If we come up with a plan will try to let you know. I'll put Cup on it so don't hold your breath. Haha
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I won't :-). But I'll try and call him. Have a good trip if I dont end up seeing you guys. Leaving saturday morning.
 
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