Inquiring minds want to know: when is the best time of the year to catch speckled trout on the fly? The answer is “now”. So stop inquiring and go fishing!
A game plan for putting a nice mess of snaggletooth trout into the box starts off with poppers around sunrise, switching to weighted flies like Clouser Minnows and Charlies under a VOSI later in the morning. Late in the afternoon, bring out the popper again.
My favorites poppers for trout are the longer versions, like the Skipping Bug and the Foil Pencil Popper. Skipping Bugs in red/white or chartreuse work best, while foil poppers in gold, copper and silver work best (by next month, darker colors will be in vogue).
Looking for topwater action for redfish? Great popper action can be found this month after a cold front. Wait 2 or 3 days, when water levels are still low. Reds will feed on bait pulled from the shallows. For reds, the short poppers are better, like Dinks and Pete’s Perch Float Popper in sizes 2 up to 1/0.
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 pink/white Crappie Candy, the black/chartreuse Fluff Butt, The Gray Ghost and the pearl Coma Minnow.
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.
