By Bob Jensen

During the summer and fall months, fish such as walleyes, bass, pike, muskies, and crappies, in fact any predator fish, will be found where their food is. The only thing that fish have to do during these periods is eat. In the spring a fish’s priority is spawning, but in the summer and fall their only concern is finding something to eat. Eating seems to become even more of a priority in the fall. Falling water temperatures and shorter days seem to signal to fish that they better start eating and put some fat on for the winter season that is approaching. If you find the areas that are home to baitfish or anything else that a predator fish would eat, the predators will probably be close by.

In the fall you can find fish on shallow points or deep sunken islands, along or over a weedline, cruising shallow reefs or hanging out in vegetation. They can be almost anywhere: If you want to be successful, you need to be flexible and willing to experiment to find the fish.

When the fish are deep, sonar work will pay big dividends. Walleyes, crappies, smallmouth bass, even pike and muskies will look for food on deep reefs and sunken islands in the fall. Your best plan is to cruise these spots with a close eye on the sonar. Look for concentrations of fish, either baitfish or the larger marks that reveal predators. Sometimes a very small area on a deep structure will hold most of the fish, so that’s where we want to concentrate our efforts. The new Humminbird units do an outstanding job of helping an angler find and catch fish. I’ve been using the 787 Combo unit. It draws a color picture of the underwater world that makes it much easier to detect where the fish are.

On some bodies of water, fish will be found quite shallow this time of year. The night-bite for walleyes in shallow water is well-documented, but there are also times during the day when walleyes will be found shallow. If the wind has been blowing from the same direction for a day or two into a point or shallow reef, you might be able to cast a jig or crankbait into just a foot or two of water and catch walleyes. Muskies and pike will also be cruising these structures, especially if deep water is nearby. Throw Bionic Bucktails into these areas if big, toothy fish are your quarry.

Some types of baitfish, such as tullibee and cisco, spawn in the fall. If you can find their spawning areas, you’re going to find large gamefish. These baitfish are quite large as baitfish go, so it requires big predators to feed on them. You may not have as much action when fishing near these baitfish, but the odds of taking a true trophy are much better.

These baitfish spawn over shallow gravel or sand that is near deep water. They’ll move shallow at night to drop their eggs, and the predators will be close behind. Spend some time fishing around these fall-spawning baitfish and you’re going to get a big bite.

Just like you can expect to find some people around a fast-food place at noon, you can expect to find fish around their food in the fall. If you put your bait in the fish’s restaurant, much of the time they’ll eat your offering.