5 must-know tricks for landing lunker walleye, brook trout, bass, perch & pike in fall

#4  CISCO SITES

A cisco researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo, Christian Therrien has studied the pelagic prey fish so rigorously he goes by the moniker “Cisco Kid” on social media. He points to a survey of lakes in Minnesota that determined the main reason they produce trophy pike is the presence of ciscoes. A similar study in Ontario came to the same conclusion in terms of producing trophy walleye, Therrien says. “Ciscoes not only buffer predator species from competition, they also have the ability to produce giant fish,” he says. “And that’s something I like to catch.”

Although they are relentlessly targeted by predator fish throughout the year, ciscoes have developed survival tactics to avoid being eaten, says Therrien. Those strategies fall apart in late autumn, however, when the water temperature drops to between 4°C and 6°C and the ciscoes are compelled to come shallow to lay their eggs. That forces them to run the gauntlet of tooth-filled mouths lurking around every corner.

Therrien says the best cisco-spawning sites display several consistent features, including fist-sized cobble. The substrate allows the eggs to settle in the crevices among the rocks—known as “interstitial spaces”—hidden from egg-eating fish and crustaceans. The best sites also feature high levels of dissolved oxygen, typically greater than four milligrams per litre, delivered via underwater springs, upwellings and wave action.

Another thing you want in a prime spawning site is a low fetch, making for little wave action. “You don’t want waves crashing, pulling out the eggs and moving them around,” Therrien says. “You just want a little bit of wave action, like on an island or a point that extends out into the lake.”

When you find a good cisco-spawning area, meanwhile, be sure to drop some accurate waypoints. That’s because ciscoes will return to their same spawning sites, year after year—and so will hungry walleye, yellow perch, northern pike and smallmouth bass.