Story by Hunter Baughman | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
I hope y’all are happy to see this cooler weather starting to show up around the South. I know I am. It should start to improve the fishing as the water temps begin to drop. Fall fishing is nothing short of tough nearly anywhere you go. Anything that helps the bite is always welcome.
I just spent four days on Bull Shoals Lake. Dad and I had a club championship. This was my last scheduled local tournament of the year. And what a great timing it was for me to be there. Bull Shoals is in northern Arkansas in the Ozark Mountains. As a crow flies, it’s only about 100 miles south of Lake of the Ozarks. We leave this Saturday headed to Lake of the Ozarks for stop #5 of the NPFL. While the fish at Bull Shoals generally set up a little deeper than LOZ because of the water clarity, they’re much the same apart from Bull’s extensive smallmouth population. There was plenty of fall topwater action, and, of course, fish on wood and on bait balls. Those three techniques dominated, and I expect the same things to be going on next week in the NPFL.
Regardless, in my opinion, there’s no place better to be fishing in the fall than somewhere in the Ozarks. Growing up in Arkansas, lots of regional tournaments and championships are held in that Ozark region. The two lakes mentioned above plus Table Rock and Beaver come to mind. Something about those cool foggy mornings with the huge rocky bluffs and pea gravel points make it special. Plus, that plopper and buzzbait bite sure is hard to beat!
As you get ready to fish this fall remember that it’s all about the shad. Regardless of which style of fishing you prefer, you need to be around the baitfish.
As the water cools the shad will start coming off the main lake making their way into the creeks. A lot of times I go to the back of a major creek and start fishing my way towards the lake. Sometimes in early fall the shad will make a big jump to the back of the creeks ahead of the bass. Start working your way toward the mouth until you begin catching fish. If it’s a large creek, you’ll just have to sample areas. Fish for an hour or so then run a ways toward the lake and start fishing again. Repeat the process until you have a good idea how far back into the creeks the fish are staging. At that point you should be able to run the same type areas in every creek. This will help you narrow down which creeks are holding the bigger fish.
Keep it simple on baits. Throw a jig in deeper brush on secondary points. Flip a light Texas rig or throw a squarebill crankbait to visible wood. Try ploppers and buzzbaits on wind-blown transition banks and points. Dropshots, Damikis and spoons work around deeper bait balls you find on sonar. That should be plenty of different options to catch some bass this fall. And remember that fish will be spread out all over the water column. Plan on catching them from 2 feet deep to 30 feet deep every trip.
I hope these few tips help you land more fish this fall. And please keep Florida in your thoughts and prayers. Next week I’ll check in from Lake of the Ozarks and give you an update on how I think the tournament will shake out!
