Speckled trout on fly? To quote Si Robertson, it’s on like Donkey Kong! A game plan for putting a nice mess of fish in the box starts off with poppers around sunrise, switching to weighted flies like clouser minnows and charlies under a VOSI around mid-morning, then finishing the day with poppers near sunset.
Popper options include dinks, perch float poppers and Skipping Bugs in hook sizes 2 through 1/0. Best colors will be gold, black/chartreuse, green/white, red/white.
Some of the best redfish action will come 2-3 days after a cold front, when water levels in the marsh are still low. They’ll be feeding on minnows and crabs pulled from the shallows. Look for exposed tails and backs. Also watch out for Redzillas swept in by Tropical Storm Karen. You might want to bring that 9 or 10-weight rod just in case.
Crappie action revs up with the colder weather. Look for active feeding in shallow water until it gets too cold. Best fly choices are the Crappie Candy, Fluff Butt, Pink Nightmare and Pink Charlie in sizes 10 through 2. When fishing near structure, try suspending weighted flies 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.
