Thinking about going to Knife the last weekend in September, but I saw an old comment here that said Knife can be difficult then because it's a clear lake.

Anyone have experience with that and could maybe fill in some of the reasoning behind it? I'm a novice when it comes to knowing how water color, depths, lures, weather, etc. all play together. Thanks.

Many people don't fish deep enough in the Fall. When I say deep I mean 30'-70'. Shallow fish are nice because they are usually more active and easier to target. In the Fall most bait is dropping deeper to find warmer water. The fish follow. Just the opposite happens in the Spring and early Summer.

And this is more of an issue on Knife because it can get that deep while fish in other lakes are still reachable?

I wouldn't call Knife unique or that there is an issue, unless one is not prepared to fish deep. Of course deep is relative. Some lakes are only 10'-20' deep.

I said issue because I imagine the 70' depth is what makes it harder. I was planning on trolling for the first time and these shad raps and husky jerks I'm looking at only go down to ~15'. Those shallower lakes would be fine then I assume.

Your baits would work fine. Just need to add weights and troll. This is what I use to get baits deeper when trolling.
I wouldn't totally rule out shallow fish. Wind, weeds or current can draw Fall fish shallow, especially at night.

KingKapalone: "Thinking about going to Knife the last weekend in September, but I saw an old comment here that said Knife can be difficult then because it's a clear lake.

Anyone have experience with that and could maybe fill in some of the reasoning behind it? I'm a novice when it comes to knowing how water color, depths, lures, weather, etc. all play together. Thanks."

Being honest here...I'm a novice on those things as well, and just got off Knife a couple weeks ago and was stumped by the fishing.

We did not fish the whole lake (far from it), but anywhere near our campsite you could see the very clear water drop off to God knows where just a couple dozen feet from shore. So then you're out over the abyss and if you're not skilled in figuring out how deep you are and knowing how to use your lures, you'll be lost.

Add to that the wind that inevitably picks up on this lake, even on calm days. It will blow you where it wants to while you try to fish a spot you think you like. Then you're all of a sudden in a spot you don't think you like. It can be frustrating.

I'm sure there are protected bays and things like that, that are different from what we experienced. But I'm just relaying our experience. I know it's a great Laker lake, and known as a great overall fishing lake, but at the beginning of August I think we all know Lakers are much harder to come by. Not sure about September.

We headed to Portage Lake just to the west, which was a much easier puzzle to solve, and hammered the smallies and pike.

Thanks, that probably seals it that we'll go elsewhere. Some of the guys really hate big lakes because of the wind, this goes for the anglers and non-anglers alike.