Photo by Ron Sinfelt

By Ted Peck

There are a number of reasons why Wisconsinites stow their fishing gear after Labor Day. Humans are susceptible to seasonal change just like fish and other critters, although our metamorphosis is on more of a metaphysical than visceral level.

We are looking for change when it's time to molt into flannel shirts and down vests again, with hunting high on the list of those who thrive in the outdoors. But there is a subliminal and somewhat darker reason many of us shy from piscatory pursuits when autumn comes blowing in. Fish can be more difficult to pattern in the fall, and after a couple of consecutive trips during which folks run out of time before they figure things out, the enjoyment potential experiences considerable decline.

In lakes, panfish generally move shallower in fall after the second serious cold snap, with predators dogging their every move. After lakes "turn over," fish may be anywhere in the water column, with casual anglers unwilling to adapt to changes in fish behavior and fishing conditions.

For example, the lower end of the Door County peninsula will soon offer a night bite for big walleyes as good as or even better than it was back in the mid-1970s. But even though fish are heavier now than they are at any other time of year, the faint of heart just don't see venturing out on big water at night with a 2- to 4-foot "walleye chop" on the water as "fun." Sometimes you can't find 'em. Sometimes you can't make 'em bite. You can count on being cold and wet, and probably whining silently to the point of giving up before a head-shaking whopper garwoofles that No. 18 blue/white Rapala.

Those who hang through the agony and come to know the ecstasy are hooked on fall fishing for life.

If you're just getting serious about fall angling, river fishing offers a generally shorter learning curve. Rivers don't "turn over" like lakes. River fish aren't as susceptible to cold fronts and other weather anomalies as fish that dwell in lakes are. Desirable riverine habitat parameters are narrower and appeal to more species than in lakes. Some rivers see fall runs of species that spend most of their time in much bigger waters.

Salmonids leaving Lake Michigan and Lake Superior for inland streams may provide the most obvious migrational moves. But walleyes, giant flathead catfish and sturgeon all experience predictable riverine travels as well.

Although most anglers try to be species-specific when fishing rivers, "bonus" species are the rule rather than the exception. Catching an upper Wisconsin River muskie on a No. 4 Mepps Black Fury spinner intended for a smallmouth - or a 14-pound steelhead on a Zip bait that was supposed to fool a Fox River walleye - can provide memories that will endure until spring brings the irrepressible urge to pick up the long rods again.

Don't put away these tools just yet. The year's best fishing is just beginning!

You can try to be species-specific and drag big stick baits behind planer boards out from the Fort Howard paper plant for walleyes. But Great Lakes-strain spotted muskies have a real affinity for this neck of the river.

Working pilings of seven bridges along this river in pursuit of ol' marble-eyes might pay off just the way you planned it. Most of the action here is close to the bottom with the old jig-and-minnow or blade bait like the Zip. But walleyes relating to railroad bridges on the lower Fox like to suspend at the middepths as well. Don't be surprised if a monster flathead catfish gets there first. Fifty-pounders are swimming here, with little desire to leave the area. And smallmouths are always hanging around these bridges, too.

The warmwater discharge across from the boat launch at the mouth of Green Bay can produce a strike from just about anything capable of stretching your string. The most diverse day here last fall produced nine different fish species, with a 1/2-ounce Hopkins Spoon the best medicine.

Those who really, really want to concentrate on walleyes head for those waters from Voyageur Park upstream and fish at night. This is as close to a sure-thing bite as you'll ever find in Wisconsin. I had one of the most memorable days on the water of 2002 last October. Top tournament angler and guide Brian Bliske promised my longtime buddy Kurt Friedenauer a nice walleye. And if Kurt wouldn't have choked on the first fish, Bliske could have netted a fat 8-pounder for him. But Friedenauer has an uncanny way of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The only fish boated that night was a 14-pound steelhead with a death wish. That fish had absolutely no business swimming around below the De Pere Dam at night.

Contact: Brian Bliske, (920) 429-0934; email B.Blisk@CS.com.

Hundreds of king salmon are staged where the Root's brown waters meet the deep blue of the big lake right now, with Little Cleo spoons and big-lipped chrome crankbaits a great way to get hooked up here.

Several public access points in the city draw hordes of anglers who can stand literally elbow to elbow - especially on the weekend - covering water that any 10-year-old could cast across.

Using fly tackle is the most productive way to catch fish once they move inland, using about a 10-weight rod and large purple or black flies like the egg-sucking leech pattern or Woolly Bugger. You don't need to be an expert flyfisher to fool these fish. If your fly is in the water, you're a threat. And you can always resort to using spinning gear and Gummy Bears candy. Red works the best, and I'm not kidding about this.

Other rivers in southeast Wisconsin have considerably less public access than the Root. Both the Pike River at Kenosha to the south and the Milwaukee River up the coast illustrate this point. Virtually any tributary offers the potential to attract salmonids intent on heading inland. Sometimes these efforts can be blocked, as is the case at the Pike River, where a sandbar often blocks inland movement with low water levels. If this is the case, trolling close to shore on those days when weather permits can produce spectacular action.

Tributaries that enter the west side of Green Bay - most notably the Oconto, Menominee and Peshtigo rivers - are also worth targeting salmonids on. But don't overlook the potential for also catching everything from walleyes to pike to perch, with fishing just offshore always an option.

Streams that dump into Lake Superior along Wisconsin's northern border are at their very best this time of year, epitomized by the Brule River, where you are liable to tangle with steelhead, brown trout or chinooks between Highway 2 and the lake. Other waters worthy of note are Pike Creek outside of Bayfield, Fish Creek at Ashland, and Cranberry Creek near Corning.

When winds are calm, Chequamegon Bay reveals why it's known as our state's premier whopper smallmouth water. Some bronzebacks are easing toward shore, while others are still related to humps on the big water, where tube jigs and twistertails are effective. But don't be surprised if your bassin' efforts are rewarded with a steelhead or coho salmon passing by.

Contacts: Lake Superior - Angler's All, Ashland, (715) 682-5754; Green Bay & tributaries - Bob's Bait & Tackle, Green Bay, 1-800-447-2312 or on the Web at www.bobsbaitandtackle.net; Lake Michigan - Riverfront Bait & Tackle, Sheboygan, (920) 458-4406; Racine-Kenosha - Jalensky's Sport and Marine, (262) 654-2260; Fishmeister Sportfishing - (262) 639-9562.

The lower river around the Wisconsin Dells offers a truly unique opportunity to fish for giant sturgeon in the short season that is only open for a limited time each fall. This is primarily a night bite, with a gob of night crawlers spiced with anise scent lobbed to the upstream edge of a deep river hole and held in place with a large pyramid sinker being the way to go. These bottom feeders tend to work upstream in waves, vacuuming foodstuffs off of the bottom. Three-foot male fish are common, but a 5- or 6-footer may find your bait. A free tag is required before fishing for sturgeon, with other restrictions also in place.

Castle Rock, Petenwell and Lake Wisconsin flowages have well-deserved reputations for being autumn walleye producers, with slab crappies in wood off of the old channel offering another option. Live bait or little tube jigs are the best medicine for the crappies, frogging from stump to stump with a cane pole or similar wand until you find fish. Walleye action is a combination of trolling crankbaits - especially on Petenwell - and vertical jigging with jigs or blade baits in the old channel or in tailwaters below the dams that mark the downstream edge of each flowage.

Flowages with a quieter reputation include the Big Eau Pleine Reservoir in Marathon County, which could be the best flowage for crappies in our state, and Lake DuBay just downstream, which has a virtually untapped muskie fishery in addition to the standard fare of walleyes and panfish.

The wild upper Wisconsin River above Merrill is the diametric opposite of the sleepy, sandbar-choked water found around Muscoda, and pretty much most of the river below the Prairie du Sac Dam and the confluence with the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien farther downstream. On the upper Wisconsin it's all boulders, rocks and fallen trees. A No. 4 or No. 5 Mepps Black Fury spinner tracks pretty well over generally shallow and snagged-filled waters, keeping your rod in a state of constant bendage with everything from walleyes to smallmouths, with a real potential for tangling with a lean and mean river muskie.

Walleyes and smallmouths are favorite targets on the sandbar breaks and deep cuts close to islands on the lower Wisconsin. But don't overlook the catfishing, which continues to be excellent through September when using both cut bait and dip bait. New regulations for walleyes now in place on the Wisconsin River from Grandfather Dam clear down to the confluence with the Mississippi are already showing a profound positive effect. These rules allow you to keep fish 15 to 20 inches, protect all walleyes between 20 and 28 inches, and allow possession of one trophy fish over 28 inches.

Contacts: (from north to south) guide Todd Koehn, 1-800-710-8020, www.rivercatch.net; Steve Elsen, Petenwell Guide Service, (715) 886-4064; River's Edge Resort, Wisconsin Dells, (608) 254-6494, www.riversedgeresort.com; Ray's Riverside Resort, Sauk City, (608) 643-3243.

After over 40 years on these waters, I would like to offer a couple of humble observations in regard to fishing success on Wisconsin waters of the Mississippi. Overall success is driven by current flow rates, and that run of river between La Crosse and Prairie du Chien has the best multi-species riverine fishery in the state. Bass tournaments are held out of boat ramps between these two cities all summer long, with it being pretty much common knowledge that it will take 16 to 18 pounds of bass in just five fish to take home top honors.

Largemouths run heavier here, but smallies can be more willing, with wing dams and closing dams built from rocks a primary habitat right now. Smallies tend to school from now until mid-October, drawn to a location primarily by forage base. Catch one and chances are you'll soon tangle with more.

One of my favorite fall smallie spots is a closing dam about a half-mile below the Trempealeau Dam on the Minnesota side of the river. In just one afternoon here last October I caught smallmouths from 13 to 17 inches on 15 consecutive casts using suspending stick baits and plastics. There is a run of riprap along the railroad bed on the Wisconsin side of the river at Victory between Genoa and De Soto where an early September trip last fall produced five smallies over 16 inches in just an hour on Chompers Skirted Grubs. And there are many more places that make days like these look mediocre.

De Soto Bay, directly out from the Mississippi Sports and Recreation complex, is a phenomenal fishery for pike, walleyes, crappies and perch - which are seeing a renaissance on these waters after a fairly long hiatus. Last March I iced three perch that looked like whoppers, with each better than 12 inches long. One of the Boardman clan just chuckled at that fish and produced a recent photograph of a perch taking up 16 1/2 inches on a yardstick!

Wanna talk pike? They won't even put your picture on the wall at Mississippi Sports and Recreation - the best bait shop on this neck of river - unless the "toother" is over 38 inches long.

Big white bass on Lake Onalaska at La Crosse go on a feeding rip on schooling minnows beyond belief every September. All you have to do is watch for feeding seagulls, throw a white Roadrunner horsehead jig, and leave the livewell open until you've caught enough or 20 minutes pass, whichever comes first.

There is about a 10-day window every September when the current volume and water temperature are just about right when you can tangle with whopper flathead catfish on big-lipped crankbaits near the upstream confluence of Onalaska and the main channel.

Walleyes and saugers are found in both size and numbers below all dams, above wing dams, and at "running sloughs" like the Minnesota slough out from the upper Iowa River. This neck of the Mississippi is a fabulous place. An average angler who understands river fishing can come here and catch fish just about any time the river is running right. But therein lies the rub. Consistency means time on the water. The first step is getting on the Internet at www.fishtheriver.com, which will give you current flow and other handy data. Then it's just a matter of getting out on the water.

Contacts: Mississippi Sports and Recreation, (608) 648-3630; guide Bob Kjos, (608) 783-5160.

Sometimes everything is active and you can chase your favorite piscator. Other times the bite is so hot on another species that you simply have to go after them, especially from now until mid-October. If I had just one day on earth to fish Wisconsin, this would probably be the destination. And it would be a 24-hour day.

Contact: guide Gary Nault, (920) 743-1100.

The philosophical question "If you had one day left on earth to fish, where would it be?" has a solid, simple answer: Wisconsin!