Anyone chase smallies on opener?

What did you guys see for water temp?

Saw one of the guides posted last week it was mid forties on the main lake. Rain tomorrow probably will knock back what todays heat does, but id think for sure by the weekend it would be over 50.

I would think water would be low 50s by the weekend. Could be wrong but should warm up relatively quick looking at the weather.

It would be nice if they would adjust the net sampling in the fall. We are seeing more and more consistent warm weather patterns much later into the year. Middle of October would give a much more realistic outlook in my opinion. Speaking as an angler who fishes heavily in the fall, water temps arent getting anywhere close to driving fish shallow anymore in September.

Alright last question/questions… Can they go out of any access or do they use specific areas? I assume resorts dont let them use their launches?

I have wondered this for awhile, when can they start netting? Is it specific to the lake being declared ice out, or is it as simple as whenever there is access to open water in the spring its a go? Also is there a set date it has to stop at?

We caught the majority of our fish in that 7-10ft range. You could for sure get them shallower if the wind is blowing in the right direction. Just never end up checking super shallow. I think its called chara or I call it perch grass, but most fish were found in or along that type of weeds or in the sand. I know some of the guides were thinking shallow rocks would fire while we were there but i can verify that they indeed did not… Also saw one of the guides post the rock bite hadnt heated up yet after we left.

I will also tell you fishthumper if you want to get on a big perch bite go up to Cass. We fished it one day specifically for that reason, caught a 2 man limit between 10-13in relatively quickly.

Also just got back a few days ago. We were there the 6th-12th. Saw water all the way down to 50 when we left. This is mostly a walleye trip for us. We had some good days and some bad. Portage was the best area for us. If you could mark them, you could typically catch them. I will say they were quite flighty. A few times wed see a pod catch a fish and they would all blow out of town. Jigs and minnows, didnt really see a preference to minnow size. I am guessing they are trending towards big minnows now though. We tried rocks quite a bit and never could get much going. Fished for smallies some, caught a few but never really fired them up. It was a pretty good trip overall with several fish 25-27, but definitely slow times to factor in as well.

Water should be low 60 range. Find some weeds up in sucker/portage and that should hold all sorts of fish that time of year. Like others have said wind swept points are another good choice. If you get wind out of one direction for a few days I’d be fishing that general area its pushing in to. Will be up the second week of October. Hoping she cools down!

Thats a good way to go out for sure Rj. Seemed to me like when we were there in October there was very little walleye angling and a lot of perch pressure.

I did see some good pictures from this winter out of some of the resorts catching nice fish. Who knows maybe we are on the bottom end of a downward cycle and starting to trend back the right way.

I havent been up, but will next week. Looking at water temps and trends should be fish in multiple stages. If it was me going this weekend I would fish some of the reefs and reef edges 5-10ft of water with swim baits and ned rigs. Slow steady retrieve on the swims. Another option is go to the bays and site fish them, not my style but certainly something a lot of folks enjoy and should be going now.

Well thats a pleasant surprise, i would have thought middle 50s by now. I suppose you guys are still having some pretty cool nights it looks like.

That looks like a good time. What did you have for water temps? Headed up for a week on the 30th. Was hoping for some prespawn action, I have a feeling with warm temps coming this week a lot of fish will be pulling up on beds.

Had a day on Mille lacs a few years back that would have to be up there for me. Myself and a couple buddies got on a smallie/walleye bite one afternoon that was unreal. We fished about a 75 yard stretch and caught upwards of 100 fish in a couple hours. Several boats in the area fishing live bait couldnt figure out what we were doing. Finally had a guy pull up and ask if we had dynamite or what. It was close… Ned rigs. Lots of 19-20in smallmouth and several walleyes in the mid 20s. Now I am forced to go fish that spot every single time I am up there to check memories.

Anyone else try for smallies this fall? Was up the first week of October, caught a few nice ones, but numbers weren’t any good. Found a lot of really nice offshore rock I thought would hold more fish. Most of my fishing is on the SE side when chasing brown bass. Might have to venture out to some different areas next fall.

I think they launch from Eddys each day.

Did you get get any good smallies? They can make a slow day of walleye fishing entertaining if they are the right ones.

I would guess water levels wont be back to normal level anytime soon marbleeyes? Maybe you guys have a lot more snow up N, but down here in N Central Iowa we’re sitting on about 6-7 inches total. Never really considered that when we were up there. Probably something to keep in mind for this coming fall though.

Had 3 of the guys go out with Phil on a guided muskie trip for a day, didnt end up with any fish but the weather was brutal that day. Should have had them pick his brain on smallies!

Well we are headed back first week of October again next fall, will see if we cant come up with something more productive. Most all our walleyes came off jig and minnow and ripping raps/shiver minnows. I should have included we did catch some really nice fish 24-29in, just limited numbers overall.