Few states offer anything like the diversity of top-quality fishing that's available in our state -- especially in November. The many species thriving in Alabama waters provide nearly every type of fishing imaginable.

It's interesting, however, to observe the variety of effects that, depending on latitude, the impact of November's cooler weather can make on the angling. Along the Tennessee River, cold-water saugers begin to congregate beneath schools of shad; at Lake Martin, trophy striped bass move into the shallows. Meanwhile, declining baitfish numbers in the Mobile Delta drive redfish into willingly attacking artificial lures, and at Lake Eufaula, crappie are still in a summer feeding pattern.

All very different, all offering their own sorts of exciting prospects. Let's have a closer look at each of these highlights of the Cotton State's fall fishing.

JIGGING FOR WHEELER'S SAUGERS
A challenge to catch, and delicious beyond belief, saugers (a.k.a. "jack salmon") are native to the Tennessee River drainage. Mottled brown to golden olive, with dark blotches on its sides, the sauger has a cylindrical body and a large mouth filled with sharp teeth. But it's the savor of its white, flaky fillets that most distinguishes it from all other fishes in Bama.

Saugers scatter during warm weather, so it's difficult to catch them consistently. Fortunately, November's cooler temperatures bring predictable fishing patterns, though discovering the right combination of location and presentation can often prove puzzling.

One angler who can readily find and catch saugers is Hazel Green's Alex Rawleigh, who has fished the Tennessee River near his home for more than 23 years. For most of these years he's kept a log of his catch. His accumulation of data -- water temperature, time of day, weather conditions, barometric pressure, current flow and depth -- have revealed how saugers respond to changing conditions.

"Sauger hold at different depths according to water temperature, current flows and the availability of forage," Rawleigh reported. "In November, with the cooler weather and greater demand for electricity, the dams usually generate from early morning to 12 noon or 1 p.m. The current positions the baitfish, and then the sauger form in large groups under their prey.

"My data shows sauger stage between 30 to 35 feet deep in November. There are many variables, so this is not 100 percent accurate -- but I've found it produces 85 percent of the time."

On good days, Rawleigh has used these predictive depth ranges to catch a limit of 10 fish in two hours. An average sauger weighs from 1 1/4 to 2 pounds; Rawleigh's biggest weighed 3 pounds, 9 ounces.

The angler says that the surface temperature in November averages between 50 to 56 degrees. The colder the water, he's determined, the deeper the fish, with saugers staging at depths between 38 to 40 feet in December and at 40 to 60 feet in January.

Like many sauger anglers, Rawleigh finds the most profitable fishing below a dam -- but he doesn't target the tailrace proper. Instead, he works riverine sections, where the narrow banks create the current flows required to position prey and predator.

A favorite stretch of the Tennessee River for Rawleigh is the 15 miles above Ditto Landing at U.S. Highway 231 on Wheeler Lake. Within this stretch, he concentrates on creek mouths and bends in the river -- places where the current changes direction. Additionally, he looks for changes in the shoreline, which often also indicate a change in depth.