Went to a local lake last Sunday. Up here in Minnesota, it can get chilly this time of year but last weekend, temps were near 70 and the water temperature was still at 67 degrees. Even so, the weeds in this lake are dying off in a big way. There was little action in the morning but around 4 in the afternoon, the bass began to take a frog pattern off the top in anywhere from two to five feet of water. I used two different patterns with about equal numbers of strikes on both. I missed a bunch but still managed to catch and release a dozen or so. I thought the water temps needed to be much cooler in order to see those weeds die back but I guess the shorter day light must trigger the weeds to thin out. Now, you get reach water that was too weed choked to fish just a couple of weeks ago. I never heard or saw a live frog last Sunday but enough bass were willing to be fooled to make it a very satisfying afternoon.
I’ve noticed the same thing; most of the weeds in the lake in my town have disappeared. I have been doing well with poppers, divers and a frog pattern also.
In the morning I tend to use a small popper or Al?s hopper with a olive biot midge dropper and have been picking up a lot of gills. After all the talk on gill busters I tied a few of them up Monday night but haven?t had a chance to try them.
I see your from Afton, I saw a guy in a canoe on Powers lake Sunday afternoon. Was that you?
Dang, I opened this thread all expecting it to be about fly fishing for frogs!
A couple of the ponds I fish have a lot of frogs that I scare as I am walking up to the edge to fish. One day one of the ones that jumped in stuck his head up thru the weeds as I was cleaning off my fly, so I decided to see if my fly really was convincing. Well, do you know how hard it is to get a hook out of a frog’s tongue? Even though it was debarbed, I had to pry his mouth open and then hold his tongue still while I removed it. He hopped and swam away after givig me a dirty look and flashing some gang signs or something. 
Don
That’s a great idea to use the dropper. I got a lot of strikes on the deer hair frog that were probably bluegills that missed the hook. That wasn’t me in Powers Lake. I was on a Lake right outside of Afton. Hastings is just down the road though. Glad to hear you are still doing some good with topwater flies. Have you had any luck with pike? I keep hoping the lower temps will get the pike going too.
travel’r,
Tell me something, please, about fall pike and water temps, if you don’t mind. 
We have only fished them in the spring. We are visiting a trout lake this w/e that has pike and the pike hold most of our interest.
…lee s.
[This message has been edited by lee s (edited 28 September 2005).]
Larger pike are most active in cooler water. In Spring, pike spawn just after ice-out when the water is in the upper 40s. They recuperate after spawning and stay shallow becoming active and feeding until temps reach the low 60s. After water temps exceed the mid 60s, big pike will leave for cooler water which is either very deep or where springs enter the lake or river. In fall, when water temps reach drop down again into the low 60s, big pike will once again feed shallow. In fall, shallow may be on main lake points near deep water, over the weed beds that are still green or possibly in bays they may have occupied in Spring. Small pike can tolerate higher water temperatures but big pike are definitely cool water fish. In the lake I fished last weekend, the surface water was right at 67. We’re getting close to fall pike fishing around here.
I have never caught a pike on a fly (YET). It’s on my things to do list for this fall but I still need to get some flies tied up. I haven’t heard of any being caught with consistency either. Won?t be long though, I was scrapping ice off my windshield this morning.
Pike are moving into the shallower waters. I picked up a nice on Sunday in the rain on a five inch white Clouser. Was fishing for bass at the time and had a bunch of them, including one about four pounds. JGW
Aaahhh… Pike on the fly. Best strike out of any freshwater fish (watching them come from fifteen feet away and hit with murderous intent).
travel’r,
I fish a lake or two around the Twin Cities for pike and did have some slow but decent action last weekend. I took 2 fish that were in the 4-5 # class on topwaters.
That topwater bite…it rules! I modified my Ranger to have more casting platform space.
Works great, even for a couple of guys. Preferably when the wind is on the low side or one of us has to back-cast…which I’ve become decent at, out of necessity!
Good fall fishing!
Jeremy…Anytime soon…
THANKS!
I was kinda hoping that was what you would say.
We have a REAL weakness for top-water. For sure the pike hold the “high spot” but LM’s are our local and handy targets. We ARE setting up next year’s Canada trip currently though. Wignes Lake here we come!!!
…lee s.
I didn’t realize there were lots of other fly fishers who enjoyed chasing pike on flies, especially so close to where I fish.
No doubt about it, the way is pike attacks a topwater fly makes the whole experience worthwhile. Other fish fight harder and longer, but no fish attacks a fly more viciously and aggressively than a pike.
Sometimes they won’t come to the top. Then, I use a dahlberg diver on sinking line or a clouser but my preference is to draw them to the surface.
Lee S., I was in the very first group to fish Wignes. It was memorable because a bear tried to come in through the window of the cabin. They have upgraded the facilities since I was there but I bet the fishing is the same. It is a superb lake but I do not consider it to be a pike lake. It is most definitely lake trout water. There are lots of them and some very big ones. There are pike too but pike are secondary and I would not choose Wignes for a pike trip. You will catch them and maybe some big ones but that lake is very rocky with few areas suitable to hold numbers of pike. Scott lake which is connected to Wigness has better pike water. You can reach it by boat from Wignes but it is a bit on a ride as I remember.
Bruce
Bruce,
The ride ain’t too bad, about an hour, seems we have heard. And we did hear that Scott was more tuned to pike.
Wignes really appeals to us with it’s “do your own thing” boating and cooking. And being of little or no experience, we are quite content with 30-50 fish/rod days, though only a few were over about 40".
The lakers can be a hoot too, even if limited to sub-surface for them…pretty much.
…lee
Lee,
Wignes is a great lake. I fished it in late June for two weeks. At that time, the pike were in the shallow back end of the bays. The trout were also in shallow water and were more aggressive and willing to bite. We caught lakers like crazy. The pike were tougher but we did catch a good number, especially when we fished Scott. Wignes has some giant lake trout as does Scott.
To get the trout, we trolled type v full sinking lines with big flies until we found numbers of trout. Then we drifted and cast to them. Sometimes the trout would be mixed in with pike in the bays but most often we caught them off points or islands in the main lake. If you get decent weather and can range over the lake, you will have a blast up there.
Bruce
Last year we were pestering lakers right between the point to the right and the slot you exit for several early AM’s. We also found several bays with the “mixed” fish you speak of, balling ciscoes and very receptive to “waking” (lakers) and top-water (pike) bugs.
We ARE returning!
This year will be a July trip, so we will have a bit more to learn. As of yet, we cannot get enough of that place.
…lee
Sounds like you have Wignes figured out. July should be great for pike. The trout might be a little deeper but they might not if the water stays cold.
I’ll be heading up to one of the camps on Nueltin Lake next summer. We had a great trip on Munroe Lake this past summer. Lots of big pike and big trout in late August/early September. Munroe has extensive weed beds for pike and some mid-lake reefs for lake trout. My biggest trout was a 38 incher that took a dahlberg diver right off the top of the reef in 3 feet of water.