Story by Hunter Baughman | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
I hope everyone is enjoying some cool weather. Water temps should be dropping, and fish should be starting to feed.
I really appreciate everyone that has frequented my column over the last 60 or so weeks. As you know, I like to share what life on the road is like for myself and my family along with a few fishing tips. Starting now, I’m going to do more fishing tips—especially during the fall and winter when we don’t have tournaments. And to support the column, I will be making videos as often as possible to give you a more “hands on” look at the tips I write about. You will find the links to those videos in this column.
I’m still going to tell you about life on the road as it happens, too!
To begin, I’d like to do a four-part series on having the right equipment for the job. This includes choosing the right lures, choosing the right reel, the right rod, and the right line size.
I’ll start with the right lures.
First, you must consider the time of year and expected water temperature of where you are headed. For learning purposes, I will use a fall trip to the Arkansas River. This will give us a wide variety of baits to look at, plus I’ve got a river tournament coming up so it’s a win/win!
We had some rain over the weekend followed by some of the coolest air we’ve seen this fall. I expect the river temperatures to be in the low 70s or maybe even upper 60s. The water should be considerably stained or slightly muddy with some current. There should be fish in the water willow and on rocks on the jetties (wing dams).
I will have a finesse jig tied on for flipping grass and dragging the rocks, a spinnerbait for fishing the grass, a square bill crankbait for fishing the current breaks on rocks, a walking-style bait to throw on certain places fish tend to group up or for schooling fish, and a shaky head with a worm in case things get tough.
Now that we have the bait selection lined up, we can move forwards choosing the action and length of each rod. The ratio of each reel and the type and size of line we will use for each bait. Make sure to watch this week’s video for a more in depth look at the bait selection and check back next week for rod selection!
Hunter Baughman – Angler Profile
