10 Ways to Improve Your Fall Fishing

Fish begin to feed more aggressively in the fall as they prepare for winter, so they can be easier to catch than during the hot summer months. Unlike the summer months, when fish are active mostly in the early morning and late evening, you can fish all day long because fish are more active throughout the day. There is also no need to get to the lake before dawn unless you prefer being out then.

Here are some ways to help make your fall fishing even better:

1. Focus on the backs of embayments or heads of creeks on lakes and streams. Because shad move into these areas in the fall, predator fish follow them there.
2. Try different depths until you find the fish. Fish can be anywhere, particularly following the fall turnover.
3. Focus on habitat structure. Fish both deep and shallow wood because bass really like wood during the fall.
4. Fish rocky banks and riprap, because the rocks hold heat as water temperatures cool in the fall.
5. Use baits that match the seasonal size of the forage fish or shad. They are larger in the fall, but the sizes can vary by lake.
6. Try different types and colors of baits until you find the one that best matches what fish are feeding on, such as shad or crayfish.
7. Fish FINs and other lakes and streams that are fall-stocked with trout. Fall trout stocking resumes then.
8. Fish for catfish in state-owned lakes and FINs lakes. Catchable-sized catfish are stocked into many small state-owned lakes and FINs lakes in the early fall of each year.
9. Fish for muskies in shallow areas. They move from deep water, their summer habitat, into the shallows in the fall.
10. Fish for crappie along deeper areas, such as ledges. They move deeper during the late fall.

Check our FINs stocking schedule for great fall fishing near you.