By Ronnie Parris
Hey folks hope all is well. It’s finally here, the time you waited for all year. The fall feeding frenzy is on. This is the time for some fast action and mixed bags. You may catch multiple species feeding in the same school of baitfish. The lake level has dropped but the fish are on the feed.
Be versatile you may want to cast jerk baits or throw worms and minnow imitations. You may want to troll or you may want to fish live bait. No matter which way you fish, you’re probably going to come home with a good catch. Usually the fish will be bunched up so pay special attention to your electronics. Depth can vary as far as species goes an may change from early morning to late evening so don’t get stuck fishing where you were catching the day before. They may be deeper or shallower according to their mood that day drop shotting is deadly at this time of year so be sure you got your drop shot rigs in the boat.
Temperature usually is going to start out cold and warmup to a comfortable temp as you hit midday. This is a great time to take kids as they are going to get lots of hits, and it’s not terribly cold yet. Be sure to dress in layers so you can take clothes off as it warms up.
This is a magical time of year on Fontana, so get out an enjoy. And as always, take a kid fishing!
Ronnie Parris is owner and head guide of Smoky Mountain Outdoors Unlimited-Fontana Lake Fishing Guides, headquartered in Bryson City, N.C., heart of the Great Smoky Mountains www.smounlimited.com; (828) 488-9711.