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| Species | Today | Tomorrow | Wednesday | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid15° | Eve14° | Night13° | Dawn13° | Mid16° | Eve16° | Night15° | Dawn14° | Mid17° | Eve15° | Night15° | |
| ★Perch | 87 | 88 | 77 | 87 | 85 | 88 | 72 | 88 | 85 | 83 | 74 |
| ★Pike | 88 | 90 | 78 | 88 | 86 | 90 | 72 | 90 | 86 | 84 | 75 |
| ★Crappie | 71 | 77 | 68 | 75 | 69 | 77 | 60 | 77 | 69 | 68 | 65 |
| ★Largemouth | 35 | 36 | 13 | 28 | 27 | 40 | 6 | 34 | 27 | 25 | 8 |
Northeast shoreline is your first stop. Strong wind fetch is stacking perch against that shore right now. Target 13–23ft, the deeper end of that range, 18–23ft, is where schools consolidate under overcast skies. Rising stable pressure at 1024 hPa means active, feeding fish. These aren't lock-jaw perch, they're chasing.
Lead with a small jigging spoon or a 2–3" paddle tail on a 1/8oz round ball head. In Cook's Bay's stained water, go chartreuse, gold, or orange. Drop to bottom, rip it 12–18 inches to call the school in, then slow to a 2-second lift-pause-drop cadence to trigger bites. Perch in November hit on the fall, watch your line. A 1.5–2" tube on a 1/16oz tube head in perch or goby pattern is a strong secondary option when they go finicky. Keep it tight to bottom, perch in 20ft aren't chasing presentations a foot off the mud.
Work the school horizontally once you mark them. If bites dry up after 10–15 minutes, move 20ft along the same depth contour. Fall perch schools are large but mobile. A 3–4mph electric motor drift along the northeast break, pausing on marks, will find concentrations faster than sitting. Overcast skies keep them feeding through midday, don't wait for low light here.
Watch your limit. Yellow Perch season is open. Check your licence type, Sports anglers keep up to their daily limit, Conservation licence holders have a tighter cap. These late-fall fish are excellent table fare and this is exactly when locals load up.
Northeast shoreline is your first stop. Wind push is stacking baitfish, and pike, against that shore right now. Work the dying weed edges in 4–8ft first, then step out to the 8–12ft outside edge where vegetation meets the basin. Overcast sky kills the light-penetration advantage weeds give baitfish, so pike are hunting aggressively on the flats. Rising barometer with stable trend means active fish, don't slow down.
Throw big and fast. Large spoons in the 3–4" range (silver, white, or chartreuse in this stained bay water) worked on a rip-and-flutter retrieve trigger reaction strikes from pre-freeze pike. Magnum inline spinners with #5–#6 blades in gold or orange cover water fast, reel at 2–3 turns per second along the weed edge. Alternatively, a 6–8" paddle-tail swimbait on a 1/2oz swimbait head in a natural shiner or perch pattern, retrieved at a steady 1.5 turns per second, is deadly on big fish right now. These Cook's Bay pike are fat and aggressive heading into winter, don't baby the presentation.
Key structure: weed-to-sand transitions and any visible point on the northeast bank. Cast parallel to the weed edge, not through it. Work the seam where dying cabbage meets open sand, pike are ambushing from that cover. If you find a point that funnels that northeast wind fetch, stack your casts there. November 2nd is prime time; the biggest fish of your season are realistic today.
Watch your hooks and leaders. Wire or heavy fluorocarbon (60–80lb) leader is non-negotiable, pike will cut mono clean. Keep a hook remover and jaw spreader in your front pocket. Land fish fast, keep them in the water for release, and get them back quickly in this cold water, recovery time is short at these temperatures.
Black crappie are schooled tight right now, overcast skies and a stable baro at 1024 hPa have them feeding confidently through midday. Northeast shoreline is your first stop; wind push has baitfish stacking there and crappie are right behind them. Target 12–18ft, the lower half of that column where fish suspend off any available structure, submerged weededges, dock posts, or soft-bottom transitions.
Fish a 1/16–1/8oz round ball jig head tipped with a 2" grub or tube in white, chartreuse, or a natural shad pattern. Stained late-fall water calls for a touch of chartreuse or glow. Drop to the bottom, lift 6 inches, pause 3 seconds, repeat. Crappie in November hit on the pause or the first inch of rise, not on the fall. If the bite stalls, kill the jig completely for 5 seconds before lifting again.
Overcast is a gift for crappie, their light-sensitive eyes mean they'll roam higher in the column than they would on a bluebird day, so don't ignore 10–12ft if you're not marking fish deeper. Schools are mobile this time of year; if you go 10 minutes without a tap, move laterally 20 feet before you move structure entirely. Crappie have soft mouths, use a light-wire hook, set with a wrist flick only, and keep the rod loaded on the fight. A long-handled net saves fish.
Regulations are open for Black Crappie on Cook's Bay. Know your licence type and daily limit before you keep anything.
Northeast shoreline is your first stop. Wind push is stacking largemouth against that bank right now, don't overthink location. Target 4–8ft over submerged weeds and hard bottom transitions. Overcast sky keeps fish shallower and more aggressive than a bluebird day would.
Lead with a lipless crankbait to cover water fast. Work the 5–8ft zone with a moderate steady retrieve, roughly 1–1.5ft per second, burning it just above the weed tops. Gold or chartreuse in stained water, natural shad or silver if it's clearer. Late fall largemouth are chasing shad schools, this is the highest-percentage search bait right now. Once you get a strike or a follow, mark that spot and slow down.
When you find fish, switch to a 3–4" paddle tail on a 1/8–1/4oz swimbait head. Natural shad, white, or perch pattern. Dead-slow retrieve at 4–8ft, one-foot-per-second or slower, with a 2–3 second pause every few cranks. At 13°C you're right at the edge of the feeding window, slow down 20% more than instinct tells you. A finesse worm or stick bait on a 1/8oz ned head dragged along bottom transitions is a legitimate backup when they go lockjaw.
One hard warning on this fishery: water temps are dropping fast toward 10°C, once you cross that threshold largemouth shut down almost completely, so this bite window is closing. Check your regulations. Cook's Bay largemouth are heavily targeted late fall and the season status can shift, confirm your current FMZ rules before you keep anything. Fish the northeast bank early, move with the wind, and don't waste time on dead water.
| Species | Today | Tomorrow | Wednesday | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid16° | Eve14° | Night13° | Dawn13° | Mid17° | Eve18° | Night15° | Dawn14° | Mid18° | Eve16° | Night16° | |
| Smallmouth | 63 | 56 | 47 | 63 | 56 | 63 | 47 | 63 | 55 | 55 | 40 |
| Perch | 85 | 82 | 74 | 85 | 82 | 85 | 74 | 85 | 82 | 82 | 71 |
| Pike | 79 | 76 | 69 | 79 | 77 | 76 | 69 | 79 | 76 | 76 | 66 |
| Species | Today | Tomorrow | Wednesday | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid15° | Eve14° | Night13° | Dawn13° | Mid16° | Eve16° | Night15° | Dawn14° | Mid17° | Eve15° | Night15° | |
| ★Smallmouth | 64 | 67 | 50 | 64 | 60 | 67 | 40 | 60 | 59 | 56 | 43 |
| ★Perch | 87 | 88 | 77 | 87 | 85 | 88 | 72 | 85 | 85 | 83 | 74 |
| Pike | 77 | 79 | 69 | 77 | 77 | 79 | 63 | 76 | 76 | 74 | 66 |
| Largemouth | 29 | 30 | 11 | 23 | 22 | 32 | 5 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 6 |
Smallmouth Bass, Strawberry Island, November 2
Rising pressure locked at 1024 hPa with an overcast sky, smallmouth are feeding, not scattered. Northeast shoreline is your first stop; the light wind push is stacking fish against that structure right now. Rocky shoals and main-basin reefs in 15–24 ft are holding the bulk of the population this time of year. Don't waste time shallow, these fish have transitioned deep.
Lead with a football-head jig in 1/4 oz paired with a 3–4" craw or creature plastic in natural brown, green pumpkin, or goby pattern. Drag it painfully slow across rock rubble, 1 ft every 4–5 seconds, with 3-second dead pauses on any irregularity in the bottom. The overcast sky and cooling water mean fish are hugging the bottom tight, so maintain contact. A 3/8 oz head is the right call if you're fishing the deeper end of the zone (20–24 ft).
Second look: a deep-diving crankbait that reaches 12–20 ft, in a natural shad or perch colour, cranked along the rock-to-transition edge. Count to 5 before you start the retrieve so it digs fast to depth. Vary your retrieve, 3 hard cranks, 2-second pause, repeat. Cold water smallmouth will follow before committing, and that pause triggers the bite. This bait covers water fast and tells you where the school is holding.
Late fall smallmouth are at peak body weight and will fight harder than anything you've hooked all year. When you find one, you've found a school, work that exact depth and structure aggressively before moving. Overcast keeps the bite window wide today; don't rush off a spot after one or two casts.
Northeast shoreline is your first stop. Wind push is stacking perch against that shore right now. Target 18–23ft where the bottom transitions, sand edge, gravel, or any subtle drop. Rising pressure and stable baro in late fall means active, aggressive fish. Schools are tight and mobile, so mark fish on the sonar before you anchor or drop the transducer straight down through your hole. Don't waste time drifting blind.
Lead with a small jigging spoon, 1/8–1/4oz, in gold or chartreuse-gold. Drop to bottom, lift 6–8 inches sharp, let it flutter back on a 2-second fall. Three or four hard rips to pull fish in from distance, then cut the action back, slow 3-inch lifts, 3-second pauses, when they're underneath you. Perch in this depth and water temp will hit on the drop more than the lift. Watch your line.
Tip with a small soft plastic tail, 1.5–2" grub or paddle tail on a 1/16–1/8oz round ball head, as a second rod. White or yellow in these conditions. Work it at dead slow: 1-inch lifts, 4-second pauses, let it barely breathe just off bottom. This is your closer when the jigging spoon pulls them in but they won't commit. Pair that plastic size to a hook no larger than #1, don't oversize it.
Perch in late fall are eating hard for the table, bring a cooler. Sports licence: keep up to 50 per day. Conservation licence: check your card. Overcast skies today mean perch won't be hugging bottom as tight, expect them 1–3ft off the substrate. If the school goes quiet, move laterally along that northeast shoreline, even 40 feet of boat position change can put you back on them.