by Keith Hudson 
Bass: GOOD – Thankful to finally see the cooler temps at the end of October! With the cooler surface temps has come much better fishing. As winter approaches, hungry fish head shallow to feed up. This shallow water pattern is fairly consistent now and should stay good unless we get some really cold weather. Top water baits such as buzzbaits, Whopper Ploppers, Zara Spooks and Zoom Super Flukes are effective for shallow fish, especially around shallow cover or feeding on schools of shad. Try targeting areas north of the railroad trestle in the Chattahoochee. Also have a jig handy to pitch into wood cover in these same areas.
Several techniques will work on the spotted bass. Try casting Spot Remover heads loaded with Zoom Shaky Head worms to chunk rock banks. Try dragging a Carolina-rigged Zoom finesse worm or mini lizard around sloping gravel banks. Try a small Texas rigged worm or a pig-n-jig around blow down trees. Try fishing around the bridges and bridge pilings with small crankbaits, and Tommyhead rigs, especially during periods of water generation. By the end of November spoon fishing normally gets into high gear for a mixed bag of spots, white bass, hybrids and stripers. Target 15-20 feet of water near the river channel or in the mouths of major creeks.
Linesides: GOOD – Hybrids and stripes are down lake in good numbers. Expect the down-line bite on live bait to continue to be good from now and all the way throughout the winter. The usual humps and dropoffs should produce. Some fish are surface schooling on the main lake and can be caught on Roostertails, topwaters, pop-n-cork rigs and Storm Swim Shad lures. Trolling with A-Rigs is also normally effective.
Crappie: Good – Try targeting blowdowns and brushpiles in 3-8 feet of water. I like the cuts and coves north of Highland Marina this time of year. Jigs or minnows fished under a float will usually work on these fish when you find them. Some crappie tend to remain deeper even this time of year. Try around structure such as sunken brush piles, blown down trees or under docks. Try dropshotting minnows or shooting docks in 10- 15 feet of water for good results on these deeper fish.