During the cooler months: a gradual cooling of air and water temperatures will benefit bass anglers as conditions will become more comfortable and, in turn, fish will become more active. For those bass anglers who want a chance at some good fishing opportunities, vegetative communities (knotgrass, maidencane and hydrilla) associated with Little Grassy Island, Lanier Point, North Steer Beach and Goblet’s Cove should be high on the list of likely locations. Also, offshore hydrilla near channel marker 24 should be holding good numbers of bass. Both live and artificial baits should be very effective utilized within these areas. Golden shiners will be the live bait of choice, although many anglers will opt to using spinnerbaits (white or white/chartreuse skirted), crankbaits (shad imitation), top-water propeller baits and Carolina- or Texas-rigged plastic worms (black grape, black/blue and Junebug colored). Both live and artificial baits should account for some outstanding action.

Even with cooler water temperatures during this time of year, good numbers of bluegill and shellcracker can still be found for those anglers using worms or crickets fished just of the bottom at North and South Steer Beaches, Lanier Point, Makinson Island or around channel markers 24 and 26. However, most anglers on the lake during the period will spend their time looking for concentrations of black crappie (specks). Live bait (minnows) drifted at varied depths within open water near the mouth of Shingle Creek, Little Grassy Island, Brown’s Point and Goblet’s Cove should give anglers a good chance at filling their limit of 25 specks. For those anglers who favor artificial baits, jigs or beetle-spins (green, white or yellow in color) used in shoreline vegetative communities (bulrush, hydrilla or cattail) should also account for some fine stringers of fish.