Fall report: shad balls, jerkbaits and the best topwater bite of the year

Surface temps on Norfork dropped into the upper 60s last week and the fish responded immediately. Big balls of threadfin shad are stacking up in the major creek arms — Big Creek, Pigeon, and the back of Brushy. The bass are right under them, and they are eating.

What's working

1. Walking topwater — Spook Jr in bone or chrome/black back. Cover water fast. The schools are mobile.
2. Jerkbaits — Megabass Vision 110, slow cadence on the cooler mornings.
3. Spoons — When you find a school deeper than 25 ft, drop a 3/4 oz flutter spoon vertically. Hold on.

Where I've been finding fish

Main-lake points adjacent to creek mouths in the upper third of the lake. Look for surface activity at first and last light. Mid-day, drop down to 22-30 ft and graph for shad clouds with arches under them.

Conditions outlook

Cold front coming through this weekend should drop water temps another three or four degrees. That'll just push the bite even further into prime territory. Mid-October through Thanksgiving is my favorite stretch of the year.

Book before the dates fill up — I'm running roughly 75% capacity for November already.

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