The warm days of this week will give way to much cooler temperatures, with a good chance of precipitation over this weekend, especially in the high country.

With falling water temperatures, largemouth bass and flathead catfish have started feeding more heavily in preparation for winter. Top baits during early morning can include Rat-L-Traps (great for colder weather) in silver, spinnerbaits, and, during late mornings, 1/4-ounce Texas rigged brush hogs. Jigging spoons is a technique that has picked up and will continue to be an effective way to hook bass in deeper water through the winter. These spoons mimic falling shad. Bass will be feeding relatively heavily until water temperatures fall into the low 50s and bass metabolism slows.

Fall is one of the best times of year to fish for trout. Kaibab Lake near Williams is still fairly full after being stocked with 42,000 rainbow trout in the spring. Anglers are having the best success using lures, flies, PowerBait and worms. The campground is closed.

The road to Ashurst Lake southeast of Flagstaff is open and has been stocked with 53,000 trout so far this year. As with Kaibab Lake, anglers are having success using lures, flies, PowerBait and worms to catch trout. The campground is closed.

Oak Creek was stocked with rainbow trout in late October. The campground and picnic areas are open. Beaver Creek and West Clear Creek were also stocked in late October.

For Lake Powell information, see Wayne Gustaveson's latest report (Oct. 28).