Lake Sam Rayburn’s showing her true fall colors today, y’all. With the chill settling in, anglers hit the water this morning greeted by a crisp southeast breeze and patchy clouds. The sunrise was at 6:39 AM, and we’re looking at daylight fading out around 8:04 PM. Temps started off near 52°F, warming into the mid-60s by lunch, while last night’s cold front left the water a bit stained—perfect for November bass action.

Solunar tables give us major activity from 1:45 to 3:45 AM, then again from 2:17 to 4:17 PM, with minor feeding spurts around 7:17-8:17 AM and late at night. The moon’s in a thin crescent, which means bass are less likely to feed all night and more likely to get hungry during the high sun. Low water levels—almost 7 feet down from pool according to local reports—mean fish are holding tight on creek ledges and the deeper sides of structure with easy nearby access to shallow cover.

Recent catches from tournament crews show big largemouths pushing past 8 pounds coming from grass edges and submerged timber. Crappie are stacking up around brush piles in 18-25 foot water. Folks dropping minnows and small jigs are pulling limits before noon. Bass fishing is definitely still hot, with several boats hauling double-digit limits just yesterday in pre-practice for the winter trail. Word around the ramp is that the best action’s happening mid-lake, close to Harvey Creek and Five Fingers, as well as north end pockets off the Black Forest.

Best lure choice this week? The pros and most locals have relied on half-ounce chrome or sexy shad lipless crankbaits, bounced off hydrilla points and ditches. If the bite’s slow, switch to Carolina rigs or a big, dark-colored jig—brown or green pumpkin with a Sweet Beaver trailer is the all-day favorite for skipping and pitching under docks and around blowdowns. Reaction Innovations or Strike King plastics are good picks, and most folks are running at least 20-pound fluorocarbon to muscle those chunky bass out from heavy cover. If you’re after crappie, go with small white/pink tube jigs or live minnows.

Keep an eye on winds picking up later, maybe pushing some baitfish into coves. Afternoon sun has warmed shallow flats just enough to draw in roaming bass, so target anywhere near the main creek channels with quick drop-offs and some living grass. For bank or kayak anglers, the Buck Bay and Mill Creek areas have given up good numbers of schooling sand bass and occasional hybrids with jigging spoons and small swimbaits.

Hot spots today are:
- Harvey Creek: steady bass bites at grass lines and standing timber.
- Five Fingers: productive for crappie on brush, good largemouth up against the creek channel turns.

Big bass roam these waters and with the lake down, the fish are relating tight to cover—bring your best skipping cast for dock fish and don’t be shy throwing that jig into the thick stuff.

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