Late fall transition pushes smallmouth to rock and largemouth to dying grass

Fresh reports are very thin right now. Most of the recent information is leftover from the summer tournament season, which focused heavily on flipping thick milfoil down south near Ticonderoga and Port Henry, or throwing bladed jigs and topwater over shallow grass flats. Since we are now in November, the lake has cooled fast and those summer patterns have faded.

To find fish this month, you have to lean on the late fall transition. Smallmouth are grouping up on main-lake rock, underwater points, and areas with causeway current. You can still target areas mentioned in late summer reports like the Gut, Knight Island, or the Inland Sea, but focus on rock and grass transitions in 5 to 12 feet of water. Jerkbaits, swimbaits, and shallow running crankbaits are the best tools for these rocky areas.

Largemouth are bunching up on the last of the dying weed edges in the southern end of the lake. The creature baits and soft plastics that worked in the thick summer mats will still produce, but you need to slow down and pick apart isolated cover like abandoned train trestles or the deepest remaining milfoil edges.

If you get out this weekend, keep a moving bait tied on for the rock and a finesse setup for the grass.

• Jerkbaits and shallow crankbaits on main-lake rock
• Creature baits flipped to dying weed edges
• Ned rigs and drop shots on hard bottom shoals in 5 to 12 feet