Swimming jigs can be used to take cold water northern pike, like this one caught and released by Howard Wagner.

Last week’s weather reminds us that fall is here.

Rain, wind and cold change fishing conditions, sometimes for the better. Elevated flows and cooler water force gamefish that live in flowing waters into identifiable locations, basically deeper, slower pools where they don’t need to fight the current. It can also force them closer to the bank, where they are more accessible to anglers.

Northern pike and muskies — fish that often elude us when the water is low, clear and warm — become much more catchable under present conditions. Here are three tactics to put to work now.

Swimming Jigs (active to neutral muskies — The past few years have witnessed the creation of medium to heavy-weight skirted jigs designed for muskie fishing. I’ve found them to have a definite place fall river muskie fishing.

Jigs such as these are available from half-ounce to an ounce-and-a-half. Basically, they resemble a flippin’ jig used for bass, with a bullet-shaped head. Besides the rubber skirt, a plastic dressing of either a twister tail or boot-tail grub is added to the bait. Dressings run from five to six inches in length.

I like to use a swimming jig when covering depths from five to 15 feet or so, working from shallow to deep (when fishing from a boat). Cast up to the shallow side of the pool, and begin swimming the jig back. Bottom contact isn’t necessary or even preferred most of the time. A stop-n-go retrieve allows the bait to dip and rise on the way in.

On occasion, allow the lure settle on the bottom, and then drag it a short distance. Swimming jigs fall into that “can’t work them wrong” category, so you can feel confident experimenting with various retrieves.

I prefer to work a swimming jig with a heavy action 7-foot spinning rod, the reel spooled with 50-pound test Gamma Torque braided line. A 50-pound test Gamma fluorocarbon leader protects against bite offs.

Bucktail Jigs (active to neutral muskies) — Few jigs are as versatile as bucktail jigs. They work in most freshwater situations, for most species of fish. Late fall river muskies are included on the list.

Bucktail jigs in the quarter to half ounce range, when coupled with the same heavy spinning equipment and leader previously mentioned, can be used for jigging along the bottom in a horizontal manner. Cast the bucktail up in a creek mouth and jig/drag it back to shore or the boat.

One can do the same when working the perimeter of a slow-current wintering pool, especially in ones that bottom out at 10 to 12 feet of water. In depths greater than this, it becomes difficult to work the bottom with a jig.

For boat anglers, a bucktail can also be worked vertically. Lower the bait to the bottom, crank in just enough line to lift the bait a few inches above the bottom, and begin a cadence of lift drop that allow the bucktail to “breathe” as it rises and falls. This method is good for working the deeper zones of a hole.

Blade Baits (inactive muskies) — Many anglers (especially the ones that brave the cold late-fall conditions) know the effectiveness of blade baits on gamefish like walleyes and bass. Blades also work on muskies, particularly ones sulking in the depths of a large river or creek pool.

Like the vertical jigging of bucktails, blade baits are fished vertically, in much the same manner. It takes a sharp upward snap of the rod to lift a blade bait, though, due to the natural resistance the shape of the bait delivers.

Keep in touch with the lowering of the bait, both for signs of a strike, and to prevent the lure from fouling of the line.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.