Bass fishing in October for me is kind of like fishing in the spring of the year. Bass will be found in a lot of the same areas and can be caught on just about every lure you used in the spring. The only difference this year is that normally we go from summer to fall with all our lakes down but this year the lakes are pretty much full or above pool.
Here’s what you can expect on Lake’s Palestine and Fork where I do have my fishing guide service.
Let’s start with lake Palestine, at this time we are about one foot high and the water colors are good. Up north on the river and over in Kick-a-poo you will find the water with a tint to it making the water almost clear with a slight coffee color which is about normal and down south you will find Flat Creek almost clear it will be clear on the main lake section and like the river will have a slight coffee color in the back and as you go further south you will find the lake clear for the most part. When fishing Palestine you won’t find it as clear as some of your deeper lakes but you should like the color because it has the perfect color for working most all the lures you would choose to fish.
Now let’s talk about how you will catch bass on Lake Palestine. Bass up north you will find back up in the creek channel where you find grass and shad. During the fall you will find loads of shad moving up and down the creeks or river which ever you choose to fish and the bass will be right there with the shad and filling their little tummies with all the shad they can eat. Now to catch them you can use spinner baits, my shimmy shaker vibration bait,small shad colored crank baits, soft plastic worms of several types and jig-n-pigs.
The spinner bait of my choice will be my 430 special in a 3/8’s oz. Size and in a chart/white color. This spinner bait I feel puts off more flash in the tinted water than any I have ever thrown I start off in the spring with this spinner bait and go back to it in the fall, next is a lure I build and it is the Shimmy Shaker lure, this lure will put off a shaking, vibrating flashing figure in the water and it drives the bass wild. I build this lure in a regular skirted lure, a skirted swim style lure and my jumbo swim model and they all catch tons of bass. Next will be your soft plastic lures and my choice of soft plastics are the Mr. Twister Thunder worms in a six inch size in a red shad color, another lure they make that I love to throw is the Comeda stick bait these lures will load the boat if you throw them and last but not least is the tube lures that Mr. Twister makes they are great for fineness fishing. Now last but not least is the Jig-N-Pig you can get many kinds and styles of the jig and everyone has one they like better than others and I’m no different I have one that I build and over the years of fishing jigs I have come up with one that I began building last year and like everyone else I feel I have the best jig on the lake today I call it the Diamond Head Jig. This jig has a pointed but slightly rounded head design that makes it more versicle to fish in any water condition, so whether you are casting or flipping this jig beats them all.
I will fish these lures in the creek channel up next to any kind of cover I can find and when ever I come to a bend or slough that may run off into the creek or river I will spend a lot of time in these places because they will tend to hold more fish than other spots along the channels.
Down south I will basically fish the same way as I will up north on the lake, the only difference I will have docks that I can fish as well. When I dock fish I will look for the ones that have brush under or in front of them and at least six feet of water. I will still fish all the lures as mentioned above and I will fish all the way around every dock I find with these conditions.
Now Let’s take a look at Lake Fork, you will find Fork at full pool and clear for the most part. Lake Fork is a deeper lake and will get gin clear at times. When I fish Lake Fork I will fish it a lot like I fish Palestine. I will fish the back of the creeks and I will fish the docks as well. Other places that we have to fish on Lake Fork is the humps and road beds. Lake Fork has an abundance of both roads and humps that will come up as much as ten or more feet and these spots can produce some mighty good bass if you learn to fish them. The old roads and humps are out in the middle of the lake in areas and you will have to use your Lowrance Graphs to find these spots. If you don’t own a Lowrance graph of some kind and you have never fished this way then it would be worth your money to hire a guide to teach you how to use the graph and how to fish these deep water giants that swim in the deeper waters of the lake. These techniques will work on any lake you fish so try out my choice of lures when you come to Lake Fork or Lake Palestine.
If you are coming to Lake’s Palestine or Fork and have never fished them before and want to fish with a guide then give me a call at (903)561-7299 or (903)530-2201 or just email me at [email protected] and let me teach you the things to do and the things not to do when fishing in the fall for big bass. I have worked as a fishing guide on lakes Palestine and Fork now for over thirty three years so hire a guide with experience and you will catch more fish.
Until next month remember to keep only the fish you can use and release the rest so that our kids and grand kids can enjoy the great sport we call fishing and take a kid fishing with you when you can and see the enjoyment it will bring you in times later to come.
Your Fishing Guide Ricky VandergriffBy: Ricky Vandergriff
