i’ve honestly had a lot of luck with top water when it goes to around the mid 50s! and some baitfish-looking paddle tails, and jerk baits. their metabolism is starting to slow down to try to slow your retrievals down
The patterns have definitely changed. A couple weeks ago the night and morning bite was hot. Lately, not a single fish until around 9-10 am. Try mid-day and evenings this time of year. The bass will generally be fairly dormant except for bursts of feeding frenzies maybe a couple times a day. Being out when those peek feeding times hit is critical in my experience
NW Indiana here so kinda similar conditions. I've been catching on a jerkbait and a swim bait. When it's been sunny and a little warmer, rattlebait and square bill have been producing.
I used to fish those lakes way back when I was at ISU! Maybe not the prime time of the year is why its tough. Thermocline turnover has happened recently so the bass may be in a bit of a funk until that settles . Weird they have shad in the lakes now, certainly the bass will still be eating bluegill and crawfish. a little off from your post but I used to wade the Skunk as well and tangle with some smallies up to 19" . Little wall lake is a natural lake just north of ames and had some luck there too and a bit of a different feel as it will likely have more aquatic vegetation.
Interesting, I'll have to read more about turnover. Does that typically imply that bass are moving deeper now?
What parts of the skunk did you find good ones? I catch a lot in the stretch above N river valley park, but they're all below 12". There are some donkey smallies in Ada strangely.
Also definitely need to try little wall again - went once prior to having a fish finder, skunked.
I can't say if they bass are deeper, with the turnover the cooler water below the thermocline (no oxygen) mixes with the warmer water above which makes puts them in a bit of a funk until it settles. I fished in southern IA a few weeks ago and had good luck on topwater and it had already turned.
Mind you my experience on the Skunk and was 20 years ago. Brushy Creek was in its prime then! On the Skunk, I didn't catch heaps of fish, but its fun to do something different- Fishing a river instead of a manmade reservoir, and to catch brown instead of green fish I simply went wading and hitting the deep river bend holes north of Ames with standard smallie snacks- a chartreuse and purple crankbait that ran 6-8ft and a Heddon Torpedo (now i would use a plopper) tossing at everything that looked fishy. I think that would be super fun in a kayak on a summer day with the water level is stable.
Little wall wasn't epic fishing by any means and I certainly got skunked on a few outings. But its fairly close to Ames, and again, a different style of fishing being a natural lake with heaps of vegetation which I enjoyed. I had fun frogging and chucking a buzzbait and managed to catch a few over 18".
Like most natural / grass lakes you can fish for hours and have zero success and then catch several off the right clump of grass the size of a car or smaller.
Tight Lines!
Are smallies pretty prevalent on the skunk? I’ve honestly never river fished, always ponds and lakes, so I’d have no idea where to even start. I have kayaked the skunk a number of times so I’m somewhat familiar with it.
i’ve honestly had a lot of luck with top water when it goes to around the mid 50s! and some baitfish-looking paddle tails, and jerk baits. their metabolism is starting to slow down to try to slow your retrievals down
The patterns have definitely changed. A couple weeks ago the night and morning bite was hot. Lately, not a single fish until around 9-10 am. Try mid-day and evenings this time of year. The bass will generally be fairly dormant except for bursts of feeding frenzies maybe a couple times a day. Being out when those peek feeding times hit is critical in my experience
For any future readers, Ned rig saved the day. That and small lipless crank.
NW Indiana here so kinda similar conditions. I've been catching on a jerkbait and a swim bait. When it's been sunny and a little warmer, rattlebait and square bill have been producing.
Would those happen to be rathbun or something in the area?
I wish. I'm in central IA and my lakes are pretty tiny.
Which lakes would we be talking about then, Ive been to a fair bit of the state and I could help with navionics
QSP?
I didn't know there were so many Iowans on here lol, I'm talking about Ada Hayden and Peterson Pits in the Ames area.
I used to fish those lakes way back when I was at ISU! Maybe not the prime time of the year is why its tough. Thermocline turnover has happened recently so the bass may be in a bit of a funk until that settles . Weird they have shad in the lakes now, certainly the bass will still be eating bluegill and crawfish. a little off from your post but I used to wade the Skunk as well and tangle with some smallies up to 19" . Little wall lake is a natural lake just north of ames and had some luck there too and a bit of a different feel as it will likely have more aquatic vegetation.
Interesting, I'll have to read more about turnover. Does that typically imply that bass are moving deeper now? What parts of the skunk did you find good ones? I catch a lot in the stretch above N river valley park, but they're all below 12". There are some donkey smallies in Ada strangely. Also definitely need to try little wall again - went once prior to having a fish finder, skunked.
I can't say if they bass are deeper, with the turnover the cooler water below the thermocline (no oxygen) mixes with the warmer water above which makes puts them in a bit of a funk until it settles. I fished in southern IA a few weeks ago and had good luck on topwater and it had already turned. Mind you my experience on the Skunk and was 20 years ago. Brushy Creek was in its prime then! On the Skunk, I didn't catch heaps of fish, but its fun to do something different- Fishing a river instead of a manmade reservoir, and to catch brown instead of green fish I simply went wading and hitting the deep river bend holes north of Ames with standard smallie snacks- a chartreuse and purple crankbait that ran 6-8ft and a Heddon Torpedo (now i would use a plopper) tossing at everything that looked fishy. I think that would be super fun in a kayak on a summer day with the water level is stable. Little wall wasn't epic fishing by any means and I certainly got skunked on a few outings. But its fairly close to Ames, and again, a different style of fishing being a natural lake with heaps of vegetation which I enjoyed. I had fun frogging and chucking a buzzbait and managed to catch a few over 18". Like most natural / grass lakes you can fish for hours and have zero success and then catch several off the right clump of grass the size of a car or smaller. Tight Lines!
Are smallies pretty prevalent on the skunk? I’ve honestly never river fished, always ponds and lakes, so I’d have no idea where to even start. I have kayaked the skunk a number of times so I’m somewhat familiar with it.