So many of us anglers use the muggy, humid days of late summer as an excuse to stay home in anticipation of the more comfortable and supposedly more productive autumn bite.
There's no question that even the most avid of fishermen can use an occasional brief respite from their favorite pastime. It is my experience that the frustrated angler enduring a slump and/or uncomfortable weather conditions might well consider having his or her hiatus from the sport during the uncertainties of spring, if the lay-low period of hardwater (ice) during winter provides an insufficient period of cabin fever.
Put aside the late winter/early spring hype provided by the new catalogs, TV shows, sport shows and magazine articles that affect us all, and take as unbiased a look at spring fishing production for most species as opposed to the "dog days" of August and September, and it doesn't take long to realize just how overrated spring fishing can be.
Fact is, this current later time of year that gets so many anglers in a relative funk provided by frustratingly sparse results for the average inland walleye, bass, or panfisherman combined with uncomfortably hot weather offers productive, enjoyably educational alternatives that all too many otherwise accomplished anglers might readily turn to to not only enhance their angling versatility while enjoying a learning experience at the same time.
So when those slump and slumber inducing days prompt you to shelve your gear for a period, consider the following alternative options and choices.
DEEPER WATER
Walleye: Fish that were charging throughout the water column only weeks prior tend to shorten their strike zones in accordance with baitfish doing likewise. Warmer waters and less oxygen are the culprits and savvy walleye fishermen will break out the bottom bouncers and harnesses to affix their crawlers and leeches to fish the deep water contours in a more deliberate and precise fashion.
Panfish: It always tickles me how many panfish "experts" aim only for the spawning time when bluegill backs are almost or literally out of the water. Any further adjustment seems somehow too much for them. If only they had the moxie or sense of wonder to simply fish the exact same shorelines that produced so effortlessly and mindlessly in the late spring, they could largely continue their production by simply moving out deeper in a deliberate and methodical manner until inevitably encountering the same school(s).
Remember, almost all panfish (bluegill, redear, pumpkinseed, sunfish) live their entire lives within a football field or so of where they originally hatched.
Bass, both large and smallmouth, will be along deep water haunts and pathways during this time. It's incredibly difficult, it seems, for many bass anglers to leave the shorelines they were successful along only weeks earlier and progress to deep dropoffs and extended points and break out the deep-diving crankbaits and tubes that will enable them to take that major step in the sport that has always separated the mediocre anglers from the outstanding. Too many bass anglers still blanche at the mention on deep water.
ALTERNATIVE SPECIES
This is a particularly important option among those cultural champions that at all regularly take youngsters along on their outings. It is a premier time of year to head out for a night of bottom fishing for either/or carp and catfish. Many a patches-adorned bass angler will have to reluctantly admit how much sheer fun this can be while the local big boat walleye fisherman may well hear a strange, new sound heretofore foreign to his ears. It's called a drag.
THE NIGHT BITE
These last three categories are obviously somewhat inter-related.
Walleye: So many Great Lakes anglers fail to realize that walleye are essentially as much a night-oriented species as catfish. The famously productive cult of night 'eye hunters actually can't imagine why so many fish for the species during the day. Small boat owners in particular take supreme advantage of evening shallow water walleyes. And they spend a lot less gas than the daytime deepwater trollers, while regularly outproducing them. Shorebound anglers know to hit the river holes after dark with deep-running plugs.
Panfishing: There are few activities more fun than catching big panfish on poppers and small crankbaits after dark. The occasional bass attack don't hurt, either.
Bass: Don't get me started. This is the freshwater angling experience at its most primal and storied. Start with buzzbaits to gauge activity levels, slowing down to first chuggers like Pop-Rs and finally slowing down to in-place attractors like Jitterbugs or Spooks.Often you may never have to adjust downward.
Finding ample fishing time in our regrettably faster-paced-the-time world is bad enough without using excuses for not going out on the water. Savvy fishermen don't look for excuses not to go fishing.They look for reasons TO go.
Adjusting intelligently to the changing seasons is a fundamental factor in that process.