COLUMN: Driftwood Outdoors: October in the Midwest

October is arguably the best month of the year to be outdoors in the Midwest. Archery deer seasons are open across the region. Upland hunters are stretching their legs across the plains. And anglers have so much opportunity they don't know what to do with themselves. If you like catching largemouth bass, now is the time—they're feeding aggressively. The same goes for toothy predators like northern pike and muskie. Panfishing is hot across the region, and anglers are busy filling freezers with bags of bluegill, crappie and perch fillets. With a little planning and calendar management, sportsmen can have it all in October. Now if only the month were a little longer.

Indiana – Cagles Mill crappie

Cagles Mill, also known as Cataract Lake, is located in the west-central part of the state near Cloverdale. The 1,400-acre impoundment is well-known for its crappie fishing. October is a top month for putting limits in the livewell. The reservoir is used for flood control, so conditions vary, but at normal pool, wise anglers focus on fishing standing timber or sunken brush in depths of four to six feet near creek channels. Crappies are caught on jigs or under a bobber with a minnow. White crappie are usually found a little deeper than blacks. In October, crappie are also biting below Cataract Falls at Lieber SRA. Night fishing is popular around boat docks with artificial lights.

Michigan – Archery deer

As the home of Fred Bear, Michigan is often regarded as the birthplace of modern archery hunting. Perhaps no destination in the country has the potential to transport one back to the early days of archery deer hunting like the Upper Peninsula. With a strong deer population spread out across millions of acres of public land, hunters have the opportunity to hunt forests where they'll likely not encounter other hunters. Camping is free on most federal lands, so traditional deer camps pop up all over during the season, which opened on Oct. 1. In the Central UP, Delta and Marquette counties are known for record-book bucks. In the western reaches, Ontonagon and Iron counties produce lots of big, old bucks. The Hiawatha and Ottawa National Forests offer more land than any group of hunters could need. Brook trout fishing and grouse hunting are solid add-ons to an October archery deer hunt in the UP.

Missouri – Pomme de Terre muskie

Pomme de Terre is a premier muskie lake in a part of the country where muskies aren't expected to be found. Located at the southern edge of our country's muskie zone, Pomme is well regarded as the place to go in the Show-Me State to tangle with one of these toothy predators. When the water temperature drops into the 60s in October, the fish feed aggressively in the shallows. Focus on water less than 10 feet deep. With 8,000 acres of surface water, this big reservoir is clear with a rocky bottom. If you can find a distinct weed line along a drop-off deep in a finger, you'll want to fish it with a large in-line spinner or big, shallow-running stickbait. MDC first stocked muskies in Pomme de Terre in 1966, and they have thrived there ever since. Quarry Point Public Use Area is a good starting place.

Ohio – Fall turkey

Fall turkey hunting is nowhere near as popular as spring turkey hunting. This is good news for those strong souls venturing out into the October turkey woods. For the hardcore turkey hunters out there, fall can be a great time to pursue these magnificent birds without much competition. Fall wild turkey season opens on the second Saturday of October. This year that date is Oct. 12. A top tactic in the fall is to locate a flock of turkeys and purposefully break them up, then work on calling them back together. Blue Rock State Forest and Fernwood State Forest are two public properties where you may be able to break up a large flock and call one back to you.

See you down the trail...

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