Report: Freshwater – If you like pursuing Largemouth Bass then this time of year is not to be wasted laying around the house watching football. Get off your hindquarters and dust off those crankbaits and large spinners ‘cause this is prime time for the big girls to bite. As morning temps generally start at the lower to mid fifties the bite can start slow but as the temps warm the bite usually follows with the evening being my most productive. As with any body of water, try to match your lures to the color and size of species preyed upon. If Bream are on the menu a ¾-1 oz. spinner having a skirt mixed with chartreuse, orange and green gets top bill. I favor spinners over crankbaits because of their versatility in retrieval and their less likelihood of hanging up in timber. Personally I like a spinner with one willow and one Colorado blade. The willow gives you a faster, more excited look, while the Colorado offers a slower, more resounding thump for lower clarity conditions.
Coastal Inshore – Fall is one of my most favorite times of the year, for a multitude of reasons, not to mention the fantastic catching that can be experienced. The levels of critters trying to extract blood from you drops, along with the sweltering summer heat, however the bite heats up with Speckled Trout moving into the sounds on their way to wintering creeks. Our larger “Old Drum” have for the most part moved out into the ocean but still can be found outside of inlets. Puppy Drum remain inshore and typically range in length from 18-30”. As the waters clear up sight fishing opportunities abound. Red Drum will hit just about anything from soft plastics on 1/8-3/8 oz. jig-heads, suspending hard baits and topwaters, depending on the time of day, current, and what they’re feeding on. Half the fun is figuring out what and how they want it. Bait stealers such as Pinfish and Lizard fish can be horrendous, all but eliminating the ability to use soft plastics as they’ll go through them quickly. If that’s the case try hard baits like Yo-Zuri suspending crystal minnows, Rapala Twitch Raps or the new Rapala Sub-Walks, a sub-surface walk-the-dog bait.
