When it comes to catching specks on the fly, November is as good as it gets. The ideal conditions are a) a light south wind, b) overcast or foggy and c) a falling tide. If those conditions exist, work poppers along points, shorelines, cuts and the back of deadend canals for quality trout. If not, put a weighted clouser under a VOSI and cast anywhere there’s a little current and some bait activity.
After a cold front, switch to working flies in deeper water. Using an intermediate fly line or adding a 3- to 5-foot sink tip to the end of your floating line, will get to suspended trout.
Great flies for these days are LSU Clousers (purple wing, yellow body), weighted Seaducers and Whitlock Baitfish.
Some of the best redfish action will come two to three days after a cold front, when water levels in the marsh are still low. They’ll be feeding on organisms pulled from the shallows. Look for exposed tails and backs.
Small crab patterns, Charlies, Spoon Flies and poppers will get strikes.
If reds are holding on oyster beds, use a fluorocarbon tippet instead of mono as a measure against abrasion. Check the tippet often to make sure it’s still in good shape.
Until it gets too cold, you can find crappie feeding next to shallow structure. Try Crappie Candies, Fluff Butts and Gray Ghosts from sizes 10 up to 4, suspended under a tiny float.
Rainbow trout stocking is now on a two week cycle for the Little Missouri River (Murfreesboro, AR), the Mountain Fork River (Broken Bow, OK) and the Sipsey River (Jasper, AL). For now, black or olive woolybuggers sizes 10 and 12 remain the best option.
