I almost decided not to post….after last Thurs I thought I would need to find a website on knitting…..the fishing gods haven’t been too kind to me…. for the past two weeks after the success I’ve had on my maiden trip to Les Arends back on the 6th of Oct….my catch rate has been marginal at best….since the 6th I’ve been back to Les Arends on several more occasions, waded from rt 38 to the tracks in Geneva, waded the area near Saw Wee Kee park, Indian Trail, and from Rt. 30 all the way down to Troy park….(oh no, not all at once) and on each of those outings I caught only a handful (6-8) of smallies and they were small ones to dinks…..(the bait I’m using is primarily the twister on a 1/16 oz jig and a shallow crank bait) course I’ve never fished a jig, hardly ever fished the river and this is my first serious attempt at the art of wading…..so simply put…I’m a rookie…most likely making all those rookie mistakes…….casting in the wrong spots, fishing too fast, and basically not knowing what the hey I’m doing….to name a few….still I can’t help feel a bit disheartened…..but I’ll plug on....Last Friday I decided to check out the area from the crap plant down to the electric wire towers…..I went out about 730 am and only managed to catch about 5-6 fish…mostly near the flats….I then went to Indian Trail and only fished the east side from bridge down to ripples and managed 10-12 fish….I’ll say one thing, I definitely appreciate the info that you have put out Ken……it’s introduced the river to me ..and oddly enough, even tho my fishing has been lame…there’s something about river fishing that I really like that I can’t put a finger on……oh well…till next time…..

Ed, it takes time.
There are times when all I'm doing is standing there letting the lure swim around in front of me not reeling at all. Just move the rod tip around so the lure looks like it's swimming. The fish will come right up to you and use you as a current break.

I think it's pretty much minnow time with the cooler weather.

Octopus hook, I think #4 or #6 size, small split shot about a foot up and toss it out there. You can swim it slow or just let it sit on the bottom. I have more success doing it that way then floating it under a bobber. But then, like along the water plant wall at Indian trail, you can't beat having it on a bobber so you know you're right up against thet wall.

For a rookie, you're doing fine. Just got started a little late in the year.

Saw someone out fishing the flats 7:30 Monday morning. Sure looked like they were holding a walleye. That area holds a fair amount of them and I would think this cooler water is perfect for them.

It's all a learning experience.