North Woods Fishing Report: Late November

Guided by Fred Palermo

James Stewart November 13, 2021

If you're brave enough to continue fishing in chilly temps, then this is the report for you.  Late November has taken the swing into the much colder temperatures of fall. Water temps are dropping slowly and are currently 40-42 on the smaller lakes and 44-46 on the large deep clear lakes.
Though the weather has been pretty stable for late fall with a handful of cold windy days, the North Woods could take the turn towards winter snowfall at the drop of a hat.
Bite trends have been jerkbaits and crankbaits worked slow to moderate speeds. Suicks, Red October Tubes, Alpha Dawgs, Medussas have been outstanding along with slow rolling double 10 bucktails such as Spanky's and Double Cowgirls. The Musky Sucker bite has been very good if anglers soak near a weedline or structural edge.
The deep clear lakes have been good however it's getting late in the fall and the bite windows are far more narrow than the summer months. Usually the warmest part of the day and around any moon activities has been the best.
Anglers are also having success in the shallower darker lakes by working any type of edge or ambush point and of course shoreline structure.
Depths can vary a bit now that turnover is complete but fish in any green weeds, edges and off of structure.  Muskies are thought to roam a bit more at this time of year to follow the moving bait pattern.  The general confusion of the fish create a confusion among anglers as we use a spray and pray pattern to try to find a musky that has ventured far from home.
Natural colors such as perch, cisco, sucker, crappie, tullibee are great colors in the clear deep lakes. A bit brighter baits such as black/orange, black, firetiger are great colors in the darker lakes. 
We hope this report finds those anglers brave enough to fish in the cold!!  Happy hunting and tight lines!

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