Establishing The Pattern

Another factor to stay in touch with are moon phases. Whether you believe in the effect of the moon or not, one cannot overlook the statistics that show that the best big fish time is the week surrounding the full and new moons. If you follow the moon phases there are a number of fishing calendars that print the phases. You can also access the U.S.Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department on the Internet.

There you will be able to download “Sun and Moon Data for One Day. Be sure you have the longitude and latitude for your fishing location because it will ask you for that. If this appears to be too complicated then order yourself a new Casio Forester “fishing” watch from any number of outdoor stores for around $40.00. This watch will let you set your longitude and latitude and then you can punch the mode button and it will show you the best times to fish each day. It even illustrates it for you in one fish (poor) up to four fish (good).

I have to tell you a story about my watch. I am not a big believer, but I never want to miss a bet either. The next day after Steve and I fished I was out fishing with another friend on another secret Vilas County lake and caught a 38” inch musky. We released it and I checked my watch. The time was 5:16 PM. I punched in the mode and the peak time for that days fishing period was 5:08 PM. which could well have been the exact time I hooked my musky. I do like my watch.

Well now you’ve got it all. Keep your eyes on the gulls and other birds feeding on small baitfish. Fish those areas. Keep track of the moon phases, check your barometer during the day, be sure you set it as you leave the dock to begin fishing. Fish outside the weed beds, stay shallow. Use colors that fish will be able to see, especially on overcast or clear and bright days. Try to establish a pattern using smaller spinner baits and deep running crank baits. Remember there is no rule regarding lure selection and switching. Choose your lure styles based on what has been producing of late and the depth/cover area you’ll be fishing. If you are uncertain of what has been producing, start fast with bucktails and topwaters and eventually work to finesse presentations if the faster stuff isn’t working. If that doesn’t produce any follows change to surface baits or jerk baits. We started with a spinnerbait and a Bobbie that day because Steve could fish the spinnerbait over and through the weeds easily and it wasn’t a bait the fish commonly see (at least in Wisconsin). Steve had me throwing a Bobbie because the fish seem to really respond to Bobbies in early fall where we were. Plus the buoyancy helps keep the bait out of and over the weeds we were fishing around. Keep a different type of lure on each rod in the event you do see a follow, quickly change rods (different lure) and try something that may provoke a strike.

Finally, after giving it your best effort, change lakes. That is what we decided to do around 3:00 PM for the last few hours of daylight. Well, that didn’t work either. We had a great day fishing. I wouldn’t have traded that day for anything. I learned a whole lot from Steve, enjoyed all his wonderful stories and the proof is my 38” incher the following day.

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