Fall Fishing on Balsam Lake, Generic Question for fall fishing

Hey all,

Thanks for the add to the forum, looking forward to it. I'm a novice angler who has a place on Balsam Lake. I usually can't get out on the water after the first week of August due to work. I got some time off in two weeks to go and want to try getting out on the water, I am just curious how the fish behave around the middle of September with the colder temps and other factors? I'm just wondering if I should change up my approach as I usually fish south/west bay in the summer months but I have no idea how that translates to early fall. Any advice is appreciated!

Cheers

Welcome to the fishing forum. The fish do not change to much on Balsam until the water gets cold from my experience. Next two weeks are going to be 22 during the day and 15 at night so it is going to cool down but not fall temperatures yet. If anything the fish hitting your bait should be aggressive. Most of the fish that went after my crank baits etc. Friday through to Tuesday morning hit like trucks. Now I was on sturgeon but I fish balsam as well, same thing to me as far as how I fish both lakes. One change is that the bass instead of starting their late day feed at around 6pm it will be more like 5pm. And by October the fish seem to be hungry all day where I fish Balsam. They stay hungry right up to end of November, but the colder the water the more lazy they will become. I will be fishing Balsam in a couple of weeks as well. I will not change from the way I fished this past week. A quick retrieve with a few sharp stops and starts on my lures. Did not even use live bait or my bobber set up. The bass and walleye and some crappie were very aggressive. There will be one fish that will be back from deeper water and ready to fight. We catch many pike after labour day every year the pike move up more shallow and eat everything in sight. Good luck and stay safe.

I like to troll crankbaits outside the weed edges in w/s bays, all the way around long point.

@crappeeeman, thanks for your insight! Haven't had a chance to get over to sturgeon myself but have always heard good things, might have to put it on the list. Appreciate the insights and tips, hoping for the best for the both of us on our trips in the coming weeks! Tight lines and stay safe.

@Woodfarmer

Awesome, glad to hear, will be sure to give that a try at some point during the trip, appreciate the comment! All the best!

Welcome to the forum .
All great advices from Crappeeeman and Woodfarmer.
I did not fish Balsam much in September but in my experience the more stable the weather is the better is the daytime bite .
Also if you fishing daytime , try to pick overcast and windy days as the fish in balsam can be completely shut in September during bright sunny and low wind days , in which case fishing at night can be much more productive .
Good luck and looking forward to your reports .

@JerkBaiter,

Sweet okay thanks for the reply and the tips. I was planning on going out at first light but if the weather agrees I’m definitely willing to save some sleep haha!
Just a quick follow up question, if the weather shows overcast and some wind, would you prioritize getting out during midday over day morning or before sundown?

It depends on the time of the year and fish specie as well .
If we talking strictly September and the day is overcast and windy , bass and walleye can still be caught early morning and any time throughout the day but for pike I like late morning , after 8 am till around 11 and then afternoon from around 4 pm to 7 pm .
Walleyes are also can be caught in those windows.
Then again , September is transitional period from summer to fall so water turnover can play a role so finding fish during this time can be tricky as they maybe in transition , which is usually transition from deeper to more shallow areas .

With a good walleye chop on Balsam you can start at the canal by MacKenzie pt or Grand Island and take a north wind all the way down to the bottom of the bays.
I have used silver Rapala’s on a bell sinker bouncing off bottom with 3-4’ of line or a jig with a double tail mr.twister in black or white.
Mepps spinners or spinner and a night crawler.
Have fun