"Fall can be the best time
to go fishing"
Author - John E. Brady, Hanover PA-USA
Copyright 2001
e-mail - jeb@jebswebsite.com
Labor day is over and the kids are back to school. This typically means the end of summer and the vacation season.
It's time to start thinking about closing up the pool, covering the plants, getting out the rake, exchanging the lawn mower with the snow blower in that special spot right inside the garage door.
For many seasonal anglers, this also means putting away their fishing rods. Some will exchange their fishing rod for a rifle or shotgun and begin hunting. Some will start to have vision of lots of snow while they wax up their skis. Others will simply hang out around the house and watch football.
Most seasonal anglers look at memorial day through labor day as the typical fishing season. Maybe because this period is when the different fishing seasons start, you can always find fishing on TV, and all the stores are full of fishing tackle.
But if you think this is the only time of year to go fish, you may be losing out on some of the best fishing of the year.
September and October can be two of the best months of the year for fishing, and for catching trophy size fish.
Barring prespawn and spawn, these two months of the year have fish getting into their most active time of the year. Winter is approaching and the days will become shorter and cooler, and in turn cause the water to get cooler.
Just as the cooler days trigger us to start preparing for winter, the cooler water will trigger fish to start getting ready for winter. How do they prepare for winter? They gather in schools, start roaming the lakes and rivers, and get on the biggest feeding binge of the year.
Fish become very inactive in the winter, and unlike you and I, they won't eat much during this period of time. They need to start now to build themselves up in order to survive the winter. Just about anything that swims, or is in the water will become fair game for feeding fish.
Ask any angler that fishes this time of year, and they'll probably have a story to tell of the schools of feeding fish they've see that looks like a pack of piranhas. Bass, walleye, pike, and muskie will start to devour almost anything in sight in order to get themselves ready for winter.
There's another reason that this time of the year is a great time to be fishing. A lot of fisherman like to go fishing to get away from it all, and unfortunately during summer, this usually puts you right in the middle of the crowd. Our waterways are crowded in the summer with sailboats, jetboats, water skiers, pleasure boats, and swimmers. Certainly not the ideal get away.
September and October however, can be a quiet and tranquil time on the water. Most of the other boaters will only come out in the best of weather. No more waiting in line at the launch ramp, or the need to go to your second favorite fishing spot because another fisherman is in your first choice.
So while some of us think it's time to get back to the grindstone, the serious fisherman among us will continue to head to water every chance they get to continue to enjoy their favorite sport, and get in on some of the best fishing of the year.
Just remember..."They call it fishing, but the goal is catching!"