where do I fish in the fall?

[working man]

I,ve been springtime crappie fishing for several years with a couple summertime trips sprinkled in but have only taken one fall trip. I hear the fall can be quite good but have no idea where to fish (deep, shallow, creeks, channel bends...). I work all the time but have managed to get time for a one day trip at the end of october. I will be fishing the Glaize arm of lake of the ozarks or anywhere within a ten miles of hwy 107 boat ramp on Mark Twain lake. My wife is going with me which is a rarity for us anymore (she normally stays at home with the kids while I go with my buddies), so I would really like to be able to put her on some fish. I have casting rods, dipping rods, and spider rigs, but only prefer whichever one is best suited for the conditions on any given day. I have a twenty foot mod v jon with a 115 hp motor. I don't mind trolling shallow as The trolling motor is relatively cheap to repair when compared to the outboard, but would prefer not to have to run on plane in super shallow unfamiliar water with her in the boat. Any tips, advice, or good stories relating to this matter would be greatly appreciated.

[CatFan]

There is a big difference between early fall and late fall IMO. Fishing is better in my experience in late fall, say Thanksgiving until you can't stand to be on the water.

The lakes I fish have shad as the primary forage. As the water cools in the fall, the shad begin migrating into bays and the crappie follow. How fast they migrate depends on temperature and rainfall. My strategy when I don't have advance info is to idle around looking for bait on my electronics, or even near the surface, and then to look for predator size fish hanging around. I'll often drop a Kentucky rig with two minnows to see if they'll hit if they are deep.

It often ends up being a lot like prespawn the time of year I go, with the fish hanging out on the deeper creek channel banks outside the bays.

My biggest problem with fall fishing is I keep thinking "Man it's beautiful out here. Oh crap! It's almost winter!"

[beagle man]

I fish till the water freezes over, as the fall progresses I move a lot, shallow 5ft.or less close to brush,big bluffs dropoffs... nov, start looking deeper, and close to any trees I can find, lots of open water fishing also, just cruse arround till I find a big school of shad and start working the bait ball,,,, Dec real deep at times,,, once in awhile after a couple warm days the fish will somewhat move up in the water and they will hold half the water depth,,,, boat dock when the sun gets high in the January sky and the docks in deep water, start looking at the end and work my way out till I find the school,,,,, also back up the back of coves is good on Table Rock Lake, but on Stockton Lake seems like the fish in the cold weather like 25 to 55 ft of water, depends on the shad and where they want to go..... so search out the bait,,,the fish will be close by,,,, like I said me and a bunch others fish year round....It dont get to cold,,, to windy yes to cold no

[SLAB MASTER]

What Catfan said. See if someone can clue you in on where the forage fish are in your lake. At this time of the year as the water temps start dropping the crappie will be looking for the forage fish. Generally speaking as the water continues to cool the forage fish, Shad, will move shallow and the crappie will follow them. If you can't find someone to tell you where to go I think you would be well advised to idle around until you find schools of forage.

[PIGINTHEPIGPEN]

I fish till the water freezes over, as the fall progresses I move a lot, shallow 5ft.or less close to brush,big bluffs dropoffs... nov, start looking deeper, and close to any trees I can find, lots of open water fishing also, just cruse arround till I find a big school of shad and start working the bait ball,,,, Dec real deep at times,,, once in awhile after a couple warm days the fish will somewhat move up in the water and they will hold half the water depth,,,, boat dock when the sun gets high in the January sky and the docks in deep water, start looking at the end and work my way out till I find the school,,,,, also back up the back of coves is good on Table Rock Lake, but on Stockton Lake seems like the fish in the cold weather like 25 to 55 ft of water, depends on the shad and where they want to go..... so search out the bait,,,the fish will be close by,,,, like I said me and a bunch others fish year round....It dont get to cold,,, to windy yes to cold no

X2 Nice post

[Hanr3]

I like to fish the fall. Fall has two seasons for me. Pre-turn over, and post turn-over. Pre-turn over the fish wil head shallower. During turnover the fish scatter and catching is extremely tough. Post-turnover teh Crappie return to a more normal pattern until the temps really drop. Then you head deep. I tend to stop until we get hard water, and then its another season with new patterns.

[BigMack]

Look at the 6th post up from here.
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...hing-tips.html
already good answers to the same question.