OCTOBER
Smoky Mountains: Trout
Although the idea of visiting the nation's most popular national park during the prime leaf-peeping month may not sound too appealing, the truth is that most folks don't like to do much walking and an angler who doesn't mind hitting a trail can find surprising solitude in the Smokies, even during October.

One major reason to fish in Great Smoky Mountains National Park during October is that the big brown trout become a little less cautious than normal as they prepare to spawn. A bushy attractor pattern laid in a back current along an undercut bank, or a Woolly Bugger stripped through a deep pool, is apt to connect an angler with a jumbo-sized brown.

The October appeal of fishing in the park goes beyond trophy trout prospects, though. Always-abundant rainbows, browns and in places brook trout become more aggressive as days and nights cool, and the weather tends to be delightful. In addition, there is good reason for all the crowding along the main roads and on short, easy-access trails. The Smokies truly are beautiful during October.

NOVEMBER
Mississippi River: Catfish
The mighty Mississippi is a serious big-cat destination, and November is prime time for catching heavyweight flatheads and blues -- at times from the same holes. The river tends to run at moderate levels in late fall (although there are never any guarantees about seasonal river flows on the Mississippi), and the fish feed hard in preparation for tougher days ahead. The flathead bite generally will fall off as the month progresses and the temperatures fall; however, as the flathead fishing slows, the blues tend to feed even harder.

For either kind of big cat, deep holes with moderate current beside riprap banks can be very productive during the first part of the November. As the season progresses, the blues will move into very deep water -- often on outside bends or below wing dams -- where they'll stay through the end of winter.

Cut shad or skipjack works best for coaxing big blues into biting. Live gizzard shad or other live fish are the ticket for flathead catfish. Either can be fished on three-way rigs or Carolina rigs with enough weight to hold bottom, heavy braided line and rod-and-reel combos that provide plenty of backbone and torque. To learn more, visit www.bigcatfishing.com

DECEMBER
Cumberland River: Striped Bass
The skipjack that folks string on their hooks as bait for striper fishing in the Cumberland River are bigger than some game fish that other anglers target in many places. Foot-long baits are at the small end of the scale used here, and it's not uncommon for an angler to sling an 18- to 24-inch bait for Cumberland River stripers. The striped bass grow to mammoth proportions in the Cordell Hull and Old Hickory pools of the Cumberland. Cordell Hull, in fact, produced the Tennessee state-record striper, a 65-pound, 6-ounce giant caught by Ralph Dallas in 2000.

The Cumberland produces fine striper fishing throughout the year, but during the cool months the action becomes extra predictable because the baitfish and consequently the stripers pile up in the warm waters in the vicinity of the Gallatin Steam Plant. Located just northeast of Nashville, the steam plant's discharge warms the waters of Old Hickory.

Within the artificially warmed waters near the steam plant, the fish will actually attack big topwater lures, like 7-inch Red-Fins V-waked across the surface, in the middle of the winter. If the fish won't take artificial lures, the best way to get the attention of a giant striper is with a great, big, live skipjack fished on a free line.