Palisades report..dont bother..lake turning over

[jacksonlaker]

Well we hit Palies early Sunday morning, with no luck. I think the lake is in the middle of the fall turnover. We marked many, many fish on the bottom or suspended from 70 to 120 feet down. Almost no fish above 60 feet, but lots of junk on the Lowrance. We threw everything at 'em, but I knew it was useless. Now as I understand this the water above the thermocline cools off in the fall and sinks to the bottom of the lake. The water at the bottom then rises and warms ( surface temp was 60 ), but the water from the bottom has little oxygen in it until it gets some from wave action. The water that has sunk has oxygen and that is why there were so many fish on the bottom. I'm not an expert but this makes sense and it's my excuse for not catching any fish. !! If anyone else has some thoughts or input I would like to hear about your "lake turnover " expierences.
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[prvrt]

I have fished Palies many times during this time of year and have never done good. I have given up fishing it during September or October. To me the best time is ice off up to about July, maybe early August and then things are down hill from there until it freezes.
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[windriver]

Thanks for the report. I will wait for ice.

Windriver
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[ironrod]

Me too! Thx for the report!
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[MMDon]

Since the fish and the oxygen are at the bottom did you try jigging? I see a lot of guys that just assume that if they don't bite trolling the bite must be off. Most aren't always fishing where the fish are . . .
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[chrome_junky]

jigging for macks up there can be very productive.
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[lucabrasi]

I was there near McCoy tonite and they were definately down on the bottom at 40-50 ft. deep. Although they were on my finder I had no luck seeing one face to face. They are always on the bottom in the channel there this time of year and I know some people do well but my luck is generally spotty at the best. Tonite I had a worm on a jig head and also tried a fly/chrominoid thing I got from a tackle shop up at Flathead Lake that they kill them with up there. Drifting/jigging for a couple hours before dark.
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[ironrod]

I know the exact rig and yes-that thing is VERY PRODUCTIVE on flathead but I've tried in on Palies too with no luck. I've been "bad mouthing" palies for yrs...it really should be a better fishery according to my electronics but I rarely have consistent fishing up there.
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[lucabrasi]

I have been told, and it makes sense to me that Palies flucuates so much the insects can not get a foothold in there as it will be dry or too deep before long. That makes a lot of sense to me to a point. That along with many steep cliff walls makes little good fish habitat. I know they are in there, I know some people do well but someone told me that about the finicky state of Palies. Many people from close by talk about its unproductive nature. Those are the theories that made the most sense to me. Rapalas, spoons, etc. should nail them then? I haven't been fortunate enough to have a great day catching fish there and have many hours/days in.
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[prvrt]

If you want a good fishing day at Palies, go up in May and troll Rapala's between 5'-25'. I have had my limit many times before 9am. It will be Brown's and Cut's with the cut's earlier in the month and then switching over to mostly browns by the end of the month. There are some nice bow's in there, but I only catch them bank fishing and you need to do it at sunrise in shallow water.
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[jacksonlaker]

A couple of years ago I had one of my best days fishing on Palies. It was right after ice-out. You couldn't keep lures in the water. I tried running 4 rods but it too much...many doubles and a few triples !! Everyone was catchin fish. So it can be good. As for the lake, it has a great trout population, good supply of incsects and baitfish. It is the water fluctuation that wrecks the fishing. It's great after ice-out, then the run off starts and the lake fills up very quickly. It is muddy for most of May and by June they are draining it again. If it would stay at one level it could be a fantastic fisherie.
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