Current conditions, bait availability, etc

Looking forward to maybe getting a couple fish to harvest over a long Labor Day weekend.

I can pull cranks but will also have kids and they probably want to slip bobber. Are leeches available in the area?

Doesn’t sound like many leeches around. And seems like a tough time of year to keep minnows alive. Kind of an odd time of year for me personally to target walleyes. Might have to just pull cranks for the most part

Not that difficult to keep minnows alive. This is when I usually start my sucker bite.

You can probably still find some medium and those will work, also I would not be afraid to hook some worm on a jig head. I would also pick up a scoop of fatheads or suckers as Rip mentioned.

It you are targeting the 20-23 keeper size, go with small suckers IMO. The leeches I have been seeing are all on the small size.

-J.

Drag 5″ Red tails and Suckers around structure, you will catch plenty of fish.

Last week Prince Bait had a fridge full of leeches. Large ones too. Not sure how fast they went though.

Trail Side and Portside had some leached last weekend but they were very small but labeled as large. Trail Side had small (pike suckers) at $12/dozen while Portside I think was at $1.13 each. I was at Thorne Bros yesterday and suckers were $10.99 a dozen. So as usual the folks up at the lake who get their bait from the same wholesaler are very happy to charge a premium, especially Portside. I was going to run to Sue’s to check out her prices but didn’t make it up to Malmo. Reed’s in the past has been very good on sucker prices. Don’t overlook crawlers.

gonefishin wrote:

I was going to run to Sue’s to check out her prices but didn’t make it up to Malmo.

Sue’s were $6.99 doz last Saturday. These were size small 4-6 inches.

-J.

Thanks all. I’ve never done much with suckers. Although really don’t try them much outside of winter tip up fishing. I’ll have to keep that in mind.

I did find large leeches in Malmo they just got a delivery. Port side had a large “mix”and 65 Bait said they were done for the year.

Sunny flat and calm today and tomorrow and then kind of a cold front hitting Saturday. I don’t expect very good fishing, especially beach hopping with the family most of the time. Will be breaking in a new pellet grill tomorrow and couple racks of ribs so should be a good weekend either way…

Lindy,

You’re missing out if you’re not dragging suckers in fall, it’s like smallmouth candy! If you hit it right it can be epic

Craig Sery wrote:

Lindy,

You’re missing out if you’re not dragging suckers in fall, it’s like smallmouth candy! If you hit it right it can be epic

And smallies are not the only ones that like that candy.

Craig Sery wrote:

You’re missing out if you’re not dragging suckers in fall, it’s like smallmouth candy! If you hit it right it can be epic

I don’t think he’s after smallmouth. His original post mentioned pulling cranks and using slip bobbers with leeches…

Sorry wasn’t paying attention Lindy. Rip, have you tried creek chubs? Curious if they’re any better/worse

Nope. I have used different minnows on the pond. I’ll take a sucker almost every time.

I actually don’t fish very much in the fall for some reason. Hit it pretty hard all year but typically take a breather about this time and then hunting season starts.

I did find a school out deep last night… little guys. Some around 13/14 inches and then a couple tiny ones like 4 inches. (walleyes) Lots of little ones on the graph. Good news for the fishery I think