Fishing in the fall, like in any season, has a lot to do with water temperature. Turnover is happening, which is when the different water temperature layers all combine and the lake has a uniform temperature throughout it. During actual turnover, fishing is usually poor, but it improves after turnover. Also, it becomes easier to catch fish from the shore after turnover because large fish don't have to remain deep to stay cool. Turnover happens earlier in smaller lakes and in many small lakes may not happen at all. It is usually accompanied by the beginnings of fall - when nights start to get cool and there are those characteristic windy fall days. Many lakes have already experienced turnover in Minnesota.
After turnover, pike start eating a lot to put on weight for the winter. Winter is a period when many of the baitfish and minnows die off from harsher conditions and winterkill (when dissolved oxygen in the water is depleted and fish die). To prepare for this, pike and muskellunge start feeding more aggressively in the fall days. I love to be out pike fishing when other people are all in woods deer hunting. Use larger baits at this time, because they are looking for bigger meals. Remember that pike often prefer food that is a third of their own body length. Weededges are key now, the classic pike habitat. Avoid dying weeds because the process of weed decomposition actually needs oxygen and depletes oxygen levels - whenever possible, find living, green weed beds to fish, the larger the better. Morning fishing doesn't work as well as afternoon or early evening because the fish are more sluggish in the morning from cold temperatures, similar to in the spring.
Like with pike, use bigger baits for bass. Look for them in many of the same areas too, such as live weedbeds and flats with streams flowing into them. A big tip is to follow the shad, which is a favorite prey of bass in the fall.
Valentine is hard to fish without a kayak, there's really no open shore and the college dock is very small and surrounded by algae. Johanna is a little better with more open shore but still not great. Both lakes have bass, pike and crappie, and Johanna also has tiger muskie and walleye but those don't concern me as much.
I can't wait for some hardwater fishing... once the lakes freeze and I can break out the tip-ups, I'll actually start catching decent fish.
