Fall Feeding Spree Creates Superb Smallmouth Fishing

Fall Feeding Spree Creates Superb Smallmouth Fishing Bill Cooper

As late summer wanes into the early stages of fall an itch develops deep in my soul while an insatiable instinct erupts in the smallmouth populations of the Ozarks. Brown bass begin gorging themselves in preparation for winter and slower metabolisms while I dream of catching one more big brown bass. Tom Gallagher, of Sullivan, is a smallmouth fishing guru when the summer time heat fades away to the cooler temperatures of fall. He has been chasing his favorite fish, the smallmouth, on the Meramec River for over 40 years. “There is nothing in the outdoors quite like catching a big, chunky smallmouth bass,” he said. “They are a powerful fish, period. Their long, slender, muscular bodies are perfectly built for the environment in which thy live. And they are the apex predator of the fish world in the Meramec.” “I’d hate to be a crayfish in the Meramec,” Gallagher laughed. He well knows that smallmouth bass feed heavily on crayfish in his beloved Meramec River. Anytime you check the business end of his rods they are rigged with crayfish imitators. A black and blue jig ‘n pig rig is his favorite bait. “Imitates a big crayfish perfectly,” Sullivan said.” I catch more smallmouth on a jig ‘n pig in the cool weather months than on all other of my baits combined.” Gallagher says, with a grand grin on his face, that deer season is the absolute best time to be on the Meramec River for smallmouth. “I generally have the river to myself. Everyone else is deer hunting. However, the river has calmed down, the fish are settled into regular fall patterns. But, the best part of all is the fact that smallmouth are on a feeding binge, making that last big effort to feed up before the really cold weather sets in and slows their metabolism rates.” If you want to give up your deer season to hunt big smallmouth bass, you can find Gallagher on the Meramec River somewhere between Sullivan and Pacific. Dale Goff, of Rolla, lives to catch big smallmouth bass and is quick to state that fall is the magic time of the year. “I catch smallmouth all year long,” he stated without bragging. “Fall is my absolute favorite, though. I catch good fish throughout the summer when their metabolism is very high and the fish are aggressive. But, as fall approaches, the fish can sense the changes that are coming and they go on the feeding spree of the year to get ready for winter. I look forward to that window of opportunity more than any other and I always take time off work so that I can spend several consecutive days on the water.” Goff’s favorite smallmouth bait is a pearl colored Fluke. “Smallmouth hate those things. They attack the bait with a vengeance. It’s like they can’t help themselves. It’s a reaction bite. The Fluke drifts downward with a dying minnow action that a smallmouth bass cannot ignore.” I made a trip recently with Goff. I paddled the canoe and photographed his catch. I have never seen so many three and four pound smallmouth bass caught on one trip in the Missouri Ozarks. He caught every fish on his beloved pearl colored Fluke. Goff spends most of his smallmouth fishing time on the habitat rich Gasconade and its tributaries. Corey Cottrell, of Huzzah Valley, is one of the best known smallmouth fishermen in the state. Cotrell grew up on the banks of the Huzzah and fishes it regularly, as well as the Courtois and Meramec. Cottrell has never failed to astound me with the shear numbers of smallmouth he catches on every trip we make. He stays “in the zone.” Cotrell agrees with the two aforementioned smallmouth gurus that the fall feeding spree is one of the best times to chase big smallmouth. “I generally head to bigger water when fall arrives,” Cottrell began. “However there is one stretch of the Meramec I like to fish in the fall that is still small water. The stretch of trophy trout water from Highway 8 to the Maramec Spring Branch really gets hot this time of year.” Cotrell fishes the stretch with a Sammy 65 in chartreuse/shad or American shad colors. On the bigger waters of the Meramec, from Steelville to Stanton, Cottrell throws the bigger Sammy, number 100, in the same colors. “Topwater action can be tremendous in fall,” he stated. “Another bait I like to use is a frog bait, either in the buzzbait style or the regular frog with wiggly legs.” Cottrell sticks with topwater baits until November.”Smallmouth turn onto crayfish big time as the temperatures begin to cool,” Cottrell explained. “That is when I turn to crankbaits in crawfish patterns. I like the Storm Wigglewart and Bomber’s crayfish crankbaits. I use them up into December.” Anytime the water gets high and muddy Cottrell switches to a white spinnerbait. “White spinnerbaits are killer baits in December and January around the spring holes.” Cottrell stays on the water all winter. “When the water temperature drops below 48 degrees, I break out the jerkbaits. The Pointer 98 is my favorite.” Cottrell knows the Huzzah, his home stream like no one else. “Going into the fall feeding spree, I use the same baits which I use on the Meramec. I also use a 4-inch Senko in green pumpkin or watermelon. For the deeper water I add a 1/8 ounce jighead.” I would trust my smallmouth fishing life to these three gentlemen. In fact, most of the big smallmouth I have caught in my life I can credit to one of these guys. My next move is to coax one , or all three of them, to take me smallmouth fishing during the fall feeding spree.