Early fall paterns.Gulp!, Authentx, power bait etc.

Hey guys and gals!! sept 1st my son and i will be on sturgeon lake just south of savant. Ive been spending way more cash on lures than i normally would but thats part of the fun i guess. My question for you is what should be the focus (lures/bait) that time of year? I would think water temps should be still pretty warm the first week in sept. Normally in wisconsin we troll shap raps flikr shads other cranks as well as drift live bait. Later in the fall i start jiggin bigger minnows as the water cools. Are there certain lures we should be sure and have plenty of? Ive bought about 100-150 1/4oz 3/8 oz jigs in various colors. Ive also grabbed about a dozen different husky jerks ans flikr minnows/shads.

Another question i have is about walleye location at that time.. This may seem awful elementery/amatuer but do the walleye transition to shallower water tha early in the fall?

Im just trying to make sure my son has the best opportunity to get fish i can. Im doing the leg work on research.

Thank you, Scott

Stay safe and good fishin!!

Our group has fished 8-9 different lakes over 25+ years of going to Canada. All the trips have been in June so I do not have Sept. water depth experience. Have talked to guys who have fished in Sept and they all mentioned the walleyes were in deeper water.( 10-30ft depths)..I agree with the earlier comment about looking at humps/rock bars that have deeper water around them. I would do a combination of jigging and using some type of weighted presentation (bottome bouncer, lindy rig etc) to get to the bottom and work around the structure.

A flat of crawlers would be a good option for live bait. Can fish them on a worm harness or just tip your jig/plastic combination with a chunk of crawler.

For plastics recommendations we have found that different lakes have different "go-to" baits. We have had decent success with Gulp minnows on most lakes but that was not the case on a lake we fished the last two years.. Crazy good walleye fishing but they would not bite on gulp minnows. Had much better success with regular Berkely power minnows and various plastics that had paddle tails. One of our group members caught alot of fish using smaller crappie baits. We have had decent success on several lakes using the Gulp brown leach and our favorits plastic colors are white, chartruese and different green/orange combinations. For hard baits we have caught walleye's trolling everything from smaller spoons,wally divers, shad raps, jointed raps and flicker shads.. Best colors are usually natural colors (gold..black/white) or perch/firetiger options.

If possible I would talk to someone who has fished the lake that time of the year. Getting feedback from guys who have fished our lakes has been the most valuable data our group had received when researching and selecting a new lake. Most folks are more thana happy to share their best spots on a Canadian Lake. This is not a situation like the local Wisc. lakes where guys are very protective of their favorite spots (for good reason).. Hope you and your son have a great time.. Canada is a special place.!!!       

For walleyes we look for mid-lake humps 4 to 12 ft surrounded by deep water. We throw a marker buoy and make passes over and around it with 5/8 bottom bouncers and 2 hook little joe spinner with crawler while back trolling at slowest speed.

For pike we look for weeds/cabbage in the 8 to 12 ft range along the shoreline and in bays. We stand off in deeper water and cast 3/4oz cleos and spoons. 

On cloudy and windy days we use brighter baits/colors and on blue bird days use a darker color.

Cabbage = fish. Troll/cast the outside edge of cabbage normally but on really windy days we hit the inside edge of cabbage on the windy shoreline. Great time of year. Good luck.

I've only fished in Canada one time which was earlier this summer so I'm not an expert on the subject.  My advice would be to not go overboard on lures.  Save your money for live minnows.  By far, the vast majority of all fish we caught which included walleye, pike, smallmouth, perch and lake trout were all caught on jig and minnow.  We had one evening pulling single hook spinner rigs with minnows on a shallow, wind-blown shoreline and one afternoon pitching and trolling rattlin' raps that both produced walleye.  I stocked up on tons of flicker shads, husky jerks and plastics and hardly used any of that.  I've read where there are live bait restrictions in certain areas of Canada and that minnows can be very expensive in more remote places so plastics might be a very good alternative if that's the case.  Plus plastics are pretty cheap.

I get it though that preparation is half of the fun.  I spent most of my winter organizing tackle boxes and watching for sales on the lures I wanted.  But most of it never left our cabin after our first day.  At least I'm well stocked on artificial lures for years to come.

Post back how you do on Sturgeon.  My cousin bought a place on that lake.  Couldn't tell you where it is as I haven't been there but he's extended an open invite to me.  I might make a trip there with him next spring or possibly do an ice fishing trip.

We have access to squaw harris couture and wirtheim lakes as well with lodge boats. Im just wondering if live bait or plastics will be the dominant pattern at that time. I guess much would depend on how the weather sets up. long range forecast shows highs in the mid upper 60s with lows in the lower 40s. If anyone has favorite plastics to tip jigs with please letme know.

Thanks CanDo, scott

I usually go to Press Lake September 15 and I target the Walleyes in 15 to 25 feet of water.  It is only a few miles from where you are going. I use a 1/4 jig with 4 inch gulp or 3 inch powerbait.  I also use a 1/2 ounce lindy no snag weight with a 2 to 3 foot snell because of the rocks.  I have caught them as shallow as 15 feet and as deep as 35 feet depending on the weather and temps.  The water is down about 2 feet right now and the fish are not where they usually are.  I don't fish them until I see them on my locator, Hopefully they will get some much needed rain.