Cooling waters spark fall fishing

The cooling temperatures of autumn can start fish on a feeding frenzy that can lead to some of the best angling days of the year.

Many game fish species are driven in the fall by the need to feed before winter sets in. This provides anglers with a possible mixed bag on any given day. Fall fish are there to feed and their voracious appetites make them great targets for a day on the water.

The fall feed occurs on lakes, rivers, streams and creeks. Each one provides an angler with great opportunities. These fish will bite a wide variety of baits, allowing an angler to get the most of his favorite style of fishing.

Fish in large, clear-water impoundments of the Ozarks often follow large schools of shad. These shad are also trying to feed before winter sets in and can be found on long points, drop-offs and brush piles.

Small crank baits may work well, but fish might also hit spoons or top-water lures. Perhaps one of the most overlooked lures for fall fishing is a 3-inch paddle-tail grub. Fished on a light jig head, a smoke or pearl grub will catch most any fish in the lake, including bass, crappie, white bass, stripers and an occasional catfish.

In smaller lowland lakes, fish tend to venture toward shoreline cover. Cypress trees and brush piles, especially those that might be in a little deeper water, are often used as ambush points by hungry fish. Smaller lakes provide a little more targeted fishing, so lures like a jig and pig or a spinner bait can produce black bass.

Crappie in these lakes will fall for the standard crappie jigs in a color appropriate for the water. In clearer water, natural colors like smoke and pearl will produce. Dirtier water may call for a red or black with chartreuse. A jig in the 2- to 3-inch range will be very appealing to crappie during autumn.

Rivers offer interesting fishing as the leaves change. Many species of stream fish feed aggressively and often stack in large numbers in the same general locations in their search for food. Grubs, tube baits, buzz baits and in-line spinners are good lures for fall stream fishing.