by Clay Cunningham
October is finally here and time to get out the artificials for some topwater explosions here on Lanier. As the surface temperatures continue to drop, look for the fish to feed close to the surface. If you like to cast, October is your month. Many times the schools will be large enough to see from a rather long distance. Often the stripers will look like cannon balls falling from the sky as they crash into schools of herring on the surface.
Be prepared with numerous types of topwater lures and swimbaits with the Cotton Cordell Redfin in chrome and blue being an all-time favorite topwater bait. In regards to swimbaits, be sure to have Sebile Magic Swimmers in the 110 and 125 sizes. The newest Sebiles have recently been released. Some days the topwater baits will be best and some days the swimbaits will be best. Throw the topwater baits on a Fenwick seven foot medium action spinning rod spooled with 10 or 12 pound Trilene Big Game line on a Penn Conflict 3000 reel. The ten pound line usually being the better choice due to a longer casting distance and less visible.
Freelining live herring out a hundred feet behind the boat is also a great choice. To rig up the freeline, take a Shakespeare striper rod and pair it with a Penn Squall 20 Linecounter reel. Spool the Penn Squall with 15 pound Trilene Big Game. Then attach a Spro 50 pound Power Swivel to the 15 pound Big Game and a seven foot leader of Berkley 100 percent Flourocarbon finished off with a Gamakatsu 1/0 Octopus hook. The Gamakatsu hooks are small but incredibly strong. The small hook allows the bait to swim more freely increasing your number of bites.
In short for October, look for schooling fish and be ready to cast. October is the most exciting month of the year.