Lake Santa Fe

Panfish can be found around docks and cypress trees scattered around the lake. Target those fish using crickets, earthworms, and grass shrimp. If you are targeting black crappie, focus your efforts offshore, either in open water or around any submerged structure, including marked fish attractors. A good fishfinder will help in locating offshore structure and suspended fish. With water temperatures cooling, crappie may begin to make their way closer to shore. Troll or drift crappie jigs or minnows and try to cover as much water as possible. Pay attention to water depth, lure depth, lure color and boat speed if you start to catch fish. Use this information to try to pattern these fish on a given day. Experiment with different combinations of speed, lure color, and lure depth to find what the fish want. Lake Sante Fe has shown some impressive bass tournament bag weights this year. Numerous trophy bass were reported during the spring and summer months, most from Little Sante Fe Lake. Anglers can find scattered largemouth bass in near-shore maidencane beds, under docks, and around cypress trees. Look for bass to move closer to shore near the end of the fall and into winter as they prepare to spawn. Soft plastics either flipped, pitched, or dragged near structure should draw strikes. As the water cools, anglers should try slow-trolling live golden shiners parallel to the outer grass edges. Precipitation is predicted to be below normal this fall, which may decrease water levels and limit access to shoreline habitat. Keep an eye open for roving schools of feeding bass offshore. Look for birds diving or surface commotion to find these feeding fish. Approach these feeding schools with stealth, and you should be able to catch multiple fish before the action stops. Effective lures include anything shiny, white, or minnow-shaped. Be prepared for either schooling largemouth bass or sunshine bass, as they can both display the same feeding behavior offshore.