Gord Pyzer, aka The Doc, was a mainstay of the long-running Outdoor Journal Radio Show hosted by Angelo Viola. Here, in his first guest spot on Fish’n Canada Live, the Doc joins Angelo and Pete to give some insight into fishing transition periods. In particular, he provides helpful tips for how to fish the fall transition.

Fish Talk with the Doc

Much to the delight of the viewing audience, the Fish’n Canada Live co-hosts introduced a new recurring segment, “Fish Talk with the Doc”, featuring longtime Fish’n Canada and Outdoor Journal Radio contributor Gord Pyzer, aka the Doc. Gord has been generously sharing his wisdom through television and radio appearances—and as a longtime contributor to Outdoor Canada magazine—and now hopes to bring his expertise as a regular guest on the weekly Fish’n Canada Live broadcasts.

How to Fish the Fall Transition

Broadcasting on the first day of fall, it seemed only fitting to begin the conversation by revisiting one of Gord’s classic “Fish Talk” segments from The Fish’n Canada Show about fishing during seasonal transition periods. Entitled “Transition Time,” the one-minute piece introduced the topic and set the stage for the in-depth conversation to follow.

Recalling a recent fishing experience, Gord spoke about how he adapts his approach during the fall transition period. “I was sharpshooting. It’s one of my favourite ways to fish on transitions. If you go out looking for heavy concentrations of fish, often you can’t find them. So I go out for crappies on one of my favourite little crappy lakes, I get there, turn on the sonar, and I’m travelling around the lake—oh, one fish here, one fish over there, one fish there… and honest truth, in two hours of looking around, I couldn’t find a single concentration. I knew where they were coming from, I know where they’re going to, but it’s a slow process.”

Angelo remarks that he’s never heard of anybody doing it that way, moving around to target individual crappies, but Gord insists it’s one of his absolute favourite things to do. “It’s too easy when you get on those big concentrations!”

Smallmouth Bass: Faithful for Life

Gord and the Fish’n Canada hosts share a ton of tips for fishing the fall transition. But one of the most important pieces of advice Gord offers is not for catching fish, but for releasing them. Speaking about smallmouth bass in particular, Gord urges anglers to release them right where they’re caught.

“[Smallmouth Bass] winter on a particular spot that they’re faithful to for life,” Gord explains. “And once you move them, they stop feeding. They’ll do everything in their power to find that winter home range. And they will not eat until they find it…

“You can livewell them if you want a few pictures. But don’t take them from where you caught them. Let them go right there. The further you go, the more you’re risking it can’t find home, and the more you’re risking it will spend the rest of the fall looking for home and not eating. Smallmouth are like bears; if they haven’t gained enough nourishment going into the winter, they starve to death.”

Watch the full interview above for lots of insightful tips for how to fish the fall transition.