Hey Brook, just got your phone messages from the preceding weekend, sorry but not to sorry I missed them as my phone is useless at the "Hole". I spent the weekend over at Potholes for a final late summer early fall scenario. the weather was scheduled to be in the mid 80's for highs and 47 to 50 as the lows.

On Saturday morning I fished with Chris and we did not fare well. I watched fish get landed all around us as the bite was on very strong, I discovered after an hour that my spinner was not spinning. After the correction I dropped a secret spinner over the side into 16 feet of water and hooked a big fish. My broomstick "winch" 7 foot medium rod was bending nicely and my Abu Garcia C4 reel was being stripped of drag (this is a good thing). I watched Chris net the bruiser Smallie that measured 18 1/2 inches and was a rotund 4.5 lbs (Trophy). We fished until 3 pm as Chris was excited to go to a dinner that probably never happened (the Walleye club schedules potlucks during the peak of the day?). Chris was also tired from fishing for two weeks in a row. I (Roger) went fishing at the Canal were it flows into Soda Lake. Earlier that day I asked Chris why we didn't check that area out the week before because I figured it to be a focal point of a bite with current, bait and predator galore. I was right this place was magical and in two hours I watched 10 Walleye (3 were mine 15,18, and 20 inches), several huge smallies (my biggest was 19" scale did not work?, and a couple of crappie plus a trout)
Not bad for the begin of October, if you stop and consider that fish are starting to fatten for the upcoming winter (late fall here as winter is optional) season. Interested in harvesting some Meat (by that I mean steak dinners not Ramen Noodles or grilled cheese), opportunities are present for Walleye, Smallmouth and Largemouth to swing into an area and ambush crappie, bluegill, perch, and young trout, not to mention baby bass and walleye. If a big league fish is in the mood so to speak, the predator could terrorize a whole stretch of habitat where targets of availability are likely. Or said predator may take the lazy route and set up where he or she can capture (nail!) forage without expending energy (I was kind of lazy on that one - Classic Dean!). Either approach could be occurring at any given time during the Fall season which cools waters and fishes activities as metabolic levels drop in proportion to the water temp. I am going into this long winded session for a reason and that is to highlight the fact that on Sunday afternoon, Dave and Dean and myself were drifting over top of some of the nicest fishing habitat a fisherman can find. I knew Dean was geeking to catcha crappie and My thought was maybe we can go to the "Crappie Hole" and get one in the boat and move on to the "Trophy Department". Bottom bouncing for Walleye had not been productive by our impatient boat. We stopped the engine at the Crappie hole (Right side of Crab creek heading out just after second sand bar) and drifted magically along the "face of the dunes" in water that averaged 10 feet deep but could shallow up to 6 and deep to fifteen. As we drifted Dean got midevil on a nice 15 to 16" inch bass on his ultralight rod. After a good battle, I decided to join the plastics as Dean was using a tiny crappie tube jig, so I tied on a Senko rigged weedless and drifted for a while and then Dean hits a trout to about 15". I was ready to change to the crappie jig and I reeled upthe Senko and I caught a 13" bass that was drawn to the activity of

"Fish are not concerned with our intentions just there own comfort"

"out like a trout cause I am straight like a gate"

The Bear

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