Is There A Late Season?

PHOTO: Tim Moore says fun fishing, beautiful scenery, and having spots all to yourself make a braving cool morning worth it.

By Tim Moore
Contributing Writer

October is a month when many people have written off any type of fishing until things become a bit more solid, especially freshwater fishing. Many anglers hang up their rods and turn their attention to hunting season, firewood, or any of the many other fall activities here in New England. Many anglers assume fishing season ends when trout and salmon season closes. It doesn’t have to be that way though. If you can stand the weather, there is some really good freshwater fishing to be had in the fall. Warmwater species such as crappie respond predictably to falling water temperatures, triggering crappie to move into deep water and feed aggressively. With a little ambition and a few tricks, it doesn’t take long to catch enough for a meal.
What defines deep water is relative since all lakes and ponds are different. In a body of water that isn’t very deep, yet still has crappie, find the deepest part and that will be your deep basin. The ideal situation is a water body that has 30’ to 40’ distinct basins. On a chart the basins will look like a bowl or depression. These types of basins are home to plankton that attracts baitfish, which will hold crappie and keep them from straying too far, making it easier to stay on schools of fish. You will usually find fish suspended over these deep basins 12 to 20 feet down, but that may change as the water temperature drops further. If you have a Vexilar or other fish finder you can use it to determine the depth of fish. Sometimes your jig may be just below a school of fish. Because crappie usually feed from below their prey, presenting your jig below a school might cause them to miss it.

You can catch crappie on tackle as simple as a Swedish pimple tipped with worm, but if you really want to experience a good crappie bite, try using a 1/8-ounce jig head with a Live Baby Shad (LBS) by Lake Fork Trophy Lures or Bobby Garland Baby Shad SwimmR. The soft plastic LBS has a segmented body and whip-like tail that bounces when jigged and has an excellent swimming action if you want to cast and retrieve it. One great technique on windy days is to drift without jigging the lure. This keeps the lure at a consistent depth and gives it the appearance of a swim-bait.
Crappie are hungry in October. They know that food, light, and oxygen are going to become harder to come by once the ice forms. For this reason they feed more aggressively making them much easier to catch. An extra layer or two of clothing can make all the difference, and after you catch a few fish, it’s doubtful you will even notice the temperature. If that doesn’t work, a few bites of fried crappie fillets on a crisp fall evening sure will. Besides, most of us hope to be walking on hard water next month anyway, you might as well throw on your ice fishing clothes now and get an early start. Then when things freeze up you’ll know exactly where to start.