High Rock crappie fall fishing report

Find the bait, find the crappie

Shane Walser of Yadkin Lakes Crappie Guides (336-978-3737) loves fishing High Rock Lake in October.

“It’s a great time to fish, for numerous reasons. The weather is ideal, the summer lake crowds are gone, and the crappie really pick up the bite with the falling temperatures,” he said.

Electronics play a big role in his fishing this month.

“I usually scan three or four creeks before I’ll even begin fishing this month,” he said. “And I’m not necessarily looking for crappie, but for balls of baitfish.”

And when looking for those baitfish balls, Walser said he wants to see things a little differently than most anglers.

Broken bait balls

“A lot of anglers, when they see a huge, perfectly-formed ball of baitfish, they think that’s the best place to fish,” he said. “But what I’m looking for is smaller groups of fish in what appear to be a broken up pod of baitfish. That’s how I know fish are actively feeding there. I don’t like seeing a huge school of baitfish that looks untouched.”

He also said there’s no magic section of the lake to find the crappie day in and day out this month.

“Some creeks are better than others, but this month, the crappie will really start following bait. And when those first cooling fronts hit, they’ll move into the creeks, kind of like a spring pattern, and then some will set up in the creek mouths.

“So you really need to be tuned into your electronics,” he said.

Walser uses 10-foot Precision Jig – Double Cork Handle rods by Catch The Fever and a small spinning reel spooled with Slime Line Super Stretch. ■