Five Must Have Lures for Fall Bass Fishing

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By Bryan Balshy September 27, 2016 Leave a comment Go to comments

As summer comes to a close and the brutal heat slowly subsides, the best time of the year for fishing begins. Now, those big bass come out of the deep and start cruising the shallows for easy meals. Bluegill, Shad, and Sunfish are the main course for Smallmouth and Largemouth bass. They will still stick to green vegetation due to the abundance of oxygen and structure such as rocks where Rock Bass inhabit. With these bass being overly aggressive in order to eat before winter, you will have success if you include these baits in your arsenal!

Crankbaits

First, crankbaits. Regardless if you prefer lipless or squarebill, both have their strengths. During this time, you need to locate the fish as quick as possible. Lipless cranks do a great job of this because you can make long casts and cover a lot of water in a short period of time. You can also work them through light cover to help draw reaction strikes. When it comes to lipless cranks, I will keep my rod tip high and burn it back through the water. Every so often, I will drop the rod tip to imitate a dying baitfish and then quickly reel up and continue. Inversely, squarebills are great because you can target structure and the deflections cause reaction strikes as well. I try to get squarebills to the bottom quick and once I feel as if my bait might be stuck, I stop and let it rise a little. This is where the reaction strikes come from! If I don’t get a bite, I continue the same retrieval.

Our Crankbait go-tos: BOOYAH Bait Co. One Knocker Lipless Crankbait and Koppers Live Target Baitball Threadfin Shad Squarebill

BOOYAH Bait Co. One Knocker Lipless Crankbait Koppers Live Target Baitball Threadfin Shad Squarebill

Spinnerbait

If you wish to imitate a school of baitfish, spinnerbaits are the way to go. Bass love them due to their appearance and may be one of the most popular fall baits for anglers. You can cast these a mile and either burn them back or slow roll them on the bottom. I will also reel up the slack to get it higher in the water column and then let it drop to the bottom, reel and repeat. If you do notice schools of baitfish, burning it back is the best option.

Our Spinnerbait go-tos: BOOYAH Counter Strike Double Willow Blade Spinnerbait

BOOYAH Counter Strike Double Willow Blade Spinnerbait

Jig Trailer

Going back to the bottom, jigs! Depending on the weight or choice of line, anglers can fish jigs virtually anywhere. Ideally, wood structure, docks, drop-offs and rocks are prime locations to target. You want your skirt color to “match the hatch” and select a trailer based on the forage. Craws are a great choice for a trailer and size is all preferential. Remember, you aren’t power fishing with jigs—you want to slow down and pick your spots well. Slowly hopping and dragging the bait along the bottom will produce well!

Our Jig Trailer go-to: BOOYAH Boo Jig

BOOYAH Boo Jig

Buzzbaits

You’re probably reading this and wondering, “what about topwater?!” Don’t worry, we have you covered! Buzzbaits are another fall favorite. In terms of color, I only fish black on black (black blade, black skirt). I never burn my buzzbaits back, instead—I like to work them slowly through the targeted areas. Remember, buzzbaits are to be fished on top! I can’t emphasize that enough. You can fish these overtop of vegetation or along weed-lines. Buzzbaits can perform in deeper water but they shine in the shallow areas.

Our Buzzbait go-to: Picasso Junior Buzzz Saw

 Picasso Junior Buzzz Saw

Topwater

Finally, my personal favorite, pencil style topwaters. You can bomb these baits and keep them in the strike zone longer than buzzbaits. This is achieved by walking the dog--a technique which the angler pops their rod-tip down with a little bit of the slack in the line. Slower pops gives the bait a wider side-to-side walk and quicker pops make the side-to-side cuts tighter. When it comes to color, I prefer bone for daytime and clear water and black for dirty water and night.

Our Topwater go-to: Evergreen International JT-95 Topwater

Evergreen International JT-95 Topwater

Overall, these baits will put you on the path to catching more fish during fall. While these aren’t all the baits that produce during this time of year, these are my favorite and ones that have a much higher rate of success.

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