by Paul Tyre
Water temperature: 88 degrees, lake level: 6″ below full pool, clarity: stained and clearing.
Lake Seminole has been as hot as the weather this summer! As we enter into fall, the bass are starting to move into their fall feeding grounds. The shad are starting to run on the Flint River, Spring Creek and the Chattahoochee River where they form Lake Seminole, so we are seeing them everywhere. There are some key baits and patterns I like to utilize in the early fall when this happens.
Topwater lures like a Strike King Pro-Model Buzzbait in chartreuse and white is a great search bait when fished along the edges of the grass beds on the main lake. Fish this bait at a steady pace and keep a lookout for shad in the area. If no bait (shad) is present, keep moving until you find some. This technique works really well early and on cloudy days.
Fall on Lake Seminole is great time for crankbaits! As the sun gets up in the sky, one of my go-to baits is a Strike King 1.5 Squarebill in any shad color. This bait deflects off the grass and has a great hunting action! I like to throw this bait with 14-pound fluorocarbon line on a 7′ medium action rod with a 5:3:1 gear ration reel.
Flipping can be awesome on Lake Seminole in the fall. As the days are getting shorter, the thick grass on Seminole is starting to dissipate under the mats of hydrilla, which creates holes and tunnels for the big bass to gather in. Flipping in this area requires heavy tackle. I like to use a 7’6″ to 8′ extra heavy action rod and braided line. The braided line I prefer is Cortland’s Master Braid 65-pound test. Tungsten is a must for this approach, so I use Strike King 1 to 1 ½-ounce, depending on the thickness of the grass. When flipping and punching thick hydrilla, a quality hook can be the difference between a bite and big bass in the boat. The Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover flipping hook can handle the task. I like to thread either a Strike King Rage Bug or a Strike King Rodent on the hook to land the big ones!
We’ve started to see some crappie coming across the docks at Wingate’s Lunker Lodge the last couple of weeks. They’re being caught on jigs and minnows in 10′ to 12′ of water. We have been having lots of campers in Bass Island Campground who stay for the month just to fish for them and take a freezer full home.
The bream and shellcracker bedded all the way into September, which was phenomenal. We had a late Mayfly hatch, and they were gathered all around for their fall feed.
We have seen numerous teal coming in on Lake Seminole and the hunters had great success in the early teal season. Make your early reservations at Wingate’s Lunker Lodge for your duck hunting! They love dogs and have no problems with you bringing your hunting dogs along for the trip!
Gator season in late August and September was a nice one for the hunters and the residents on Lake Seminole. Several giants were taken with the biggest being over 13 feet!
For current information on Lake Seminole or to schedule a fishing excursion, please give me a call at (850)264-7534 or email me at paultyrefishing@yahoo.com.