Down on the coast, it’s prime time for speckled trout. A weighted clouser or shrimp pattern suspended 2 to 3 feet under a VOSI (a fly rodder’s popping cork) will work great over reefs, and in cuts, canals and bayous.
There’s another trout that fly anglers should consider — white trout. They love flies. Identify an area with moving water, such as a cut or channel. Cast a heavily weighted fly upcurrent and let it drift down for several seconds, and then start stripping. Often the strike comes the moment the stripping begins.
As the water cools, it clears and sight-casting opportunities greatly increase. After a cool front, fly anglers fishing from kayaks and canoes should look for exposed flats where fiddler crabs, cocahoes and other bait have been pushed out of the grass. The reds will be cruising those areas.
A variety of flies work this month for reds, including poppers, charlies, crab patterns, Shwimps and the always-reliable spoon fly.
Barring a hurricane, streams in the Florida Parishes and Kisatchie hills should have excellent spotted bass action this month. Try poppers and woolybuggers around fallen trees and cutbanks.
Shad will be schooling in lakes, so look for bass and white bass to converge on the baitfish late in the afternoon. Crease flies, Clousers and shad patterns work best.
Stocking of rainbow trout renews this month in two tail-water rivers just north of Shreveport: Mountain Fork near Broken Bow, Okla., and Little Missouri near Murfreesboro, Ark. Early in the season, olive or black woolybuggers are all you need.
