been dyin to get out and try the fall crappie fishing in missouri.help what lake do you think is the best in the show me state for fall fishing,please give me some tips for fall fishing,best water temp to try and catch them in shallows bulking up for winter,love to fish with long pole but guess i need to go bk to casting friends of mine have been catching fish at mark twain and i just went 10/18/08 and only caught two,guess im not the fisherman i thought i was,please help me any way you can sincerely steven luhm

When the water gets cooler in the fall, the crappie actually move back into the shallow water and start feeding actively. You just have to find the areas where structure holds warmth, food, and shelter, and you will find the crappie there as well. Try under the docks, in brush piles, and other structure areas where the crappie will shelter waiting to ambush their prey. Basically, you can also look in any summertime hotspots, but the crappie will be much slower, so you have to adjust your technique for that. In the fall of the year, try a much more slower falling type of lure than you would use in the warmer months. Use a very light jig such as a 1/32 marabou jig, and fish under a bobber. Use a four to six pound test and give the micro rods and reels a chance if you can. You might like them. As far as bait is concerned, try tube jigs or minnows and little grubs. Now, something else I want you to consider is crack fishing. You already know that the crappie like the areas under docks, and if you can find an area with a missing board or something like that on a dock, you are going to catch some crappie. The algae grows well there, and there is going to be some bait fish swim up to feed, and the crappie are going to lie in wait there. Just be sure that you look for a place big enough to pull a crappie through, such as a missing board or something similar. Set your bobber about half a foot deep, and just let your bait down through the gap. You are going to love this kind of fall crappie fishing!