During the cooler months: With cooler water temperatures, largemouth bass will become more active in their search for forage and offer anglers a better chance for success. Vegetated communities (maidencane and knotgrass) associated with Philadelphia Point, the Pig Trail, Grassy Island and 7-Palms have been productive choices for anglers in the past. Live bait (golden shiners) fished within these areas has been a popular method employed by successful anglers. Bass anglers who prefer using artificial lures should make spinnerbaits (white skirt and single Colorado blade) a prime choice. Soft-bodied jerkbaits (grass shiner, watermelon and shad colored), crankbaits (shad imitations), minnow-type lures (black/silver) and Carolina- or Texas-rigged plastic worms (black grape, electric blue, red shad and Junebug colored) are also good selections.

A large contingency of anglers look forward to the fall season as the cooler temperatures spark the ever-popular black crappie (specks) into gathering in large groups as these fish get ready for the spawning season. In the past, November has been a very good month for speck anglers on the lake. The most common method anglers employ is live bait (minnows) fished under a slip-cork and weighted with a small split-shot sinker 3-4 inches above the hook. Anglers should find concentrations of specks drifting in open water in close proximity to vegetative communities associated with four large islands within the lake (Bird, Brahma, Rabbit and Grassy). Other likely locations include offshore hydrilla in North Cove or hydrilla/grass mixes between the mouth of C-37 and the Pig Trail. Typically, the two-week period around the full moon phase (one week prior and one week after) will be the best times for anglers to try their luck. Savvy speck anglers understand that a key to catching good numbers of fish is to actively seek the fish until a concentration is located. With this in mind, anglers should move around the lake if their success in one spot is a little less than desired. Proven alternatives to live bait include small (1/8th, 1/16th or 1/32nd oz) plastic-bodied or natural hair jigs and beetle-spins, which fished in and around native grasses, bulrush or water-lilies have accounted for some excellent stringers of fish. The most popular color choices for artificial baits are green, yellow or white.

Even with cooler water temperatures, bluegill and redear sunfish (shellcracker) anglers will still be able to have some success using worms (red wigglers) and crickets. Popular locations that should still be holding concentrations of these fish include Brahma Island (lily pads and knotgrass), Philadelphia Point (lily pads and knotgrass) and the Pig Trail (lily pads and hydrilla).