Finally, finally, finally, the heat is breaking here in the South. Highs still reach the low 90s on occasion, but almost every morning is cool, and a good early freeze is due any day now. The weather is changing throughout the rest of the country as well, with fall finally settling in. And the bass are about as fired up about it as I am.
This is the month when you really want to focus on baitfish. Finding the bass is often as easy as finding the bait. And when you do find the forage, the size and color of the bait you’re fishing around will give you clues as to what to throw. Here’s my take on what to do in the Southeast, and we’ll even throw in some tips from experts in other parts of the country.
Buzzbait
A buzzbait is likely my favorite fall lure here in Alabama, and in the surrounding states. This is a versatile topwater that can be used to fish in and around and even under all sorts of cover. Bass are often positioned around cover in October, looking for an opportunity to ambush a passing shad or bluegill. The buzzbait is the perfect trick to insert into that situation.
I like to keep it light with my buzzbait in the fall, either using a 3/8 ounce Damiki Noisy MTB Buzzbait or even a 1/4 ounce buzzbait. The baitfish are typically a little smaller in October, and the lighter baits can be reeled a little slower. Both of these factors contribute to that selection.
Spinnerbait
A spinnerbait is synonymous with fall fishing. This is a fantastic bait for imitating shad and other baitfish, and it can be used throughout a wide swath of the water column. So, whether you’re targeting bass on stumps in a foot of water or you’re fishing secondary points or humps around deeper water, a spinnerbait is a great tool for the job.
Though I love fishing a spinnerbait shallow year-round, I’ve found that windy days in October are great for fishing them just under the surface out in open, deeper water. This is referred to as burning a spinnerbait, and bass that are chasing bait in these areas see what looks like a small ball of bait running across the surface, and they attack. For burning a spinnerbait, I like a double willow leaf combo. For the shallow water approach, a tandem Colorado/willow is what I go with.
Shallow Diving Crankbait
Any crankbait that dives less than 10 feet is great in the fall. There are a lot of bass scattered shallow, and a crankbait perfectly imitates an injured bait fish as it bounces off cover and flashes in the water. While traditional squarebills are among my favorites, like the Bill Lewis SB-57 and Bandit 100, flat-sided baits that dive a little deeper hold a special place in my tackle box during October.
The Jackall Bling 55 officially dives to 4 feet, but I believe it’s closer to 6 or 7 feet when I fish it. And then there’s the SPRO John Crews Little John MD 50, which dives to 7 to 9 feet. These two baits are fantastic in the fall, anywhere you find bait that’s set up a little deeper.
Swimbait
A small swimbait rigged on a jighead is another versatile bait that can be used at nearly any depth. With a Bassmooch Smash Paddle swimbait on a 1/4-ounce jighead you have the perfect bait to throw all the way up onto the bank and then fish all the way back to the boat, at any depth you choose.
This technique really works well on spotted bass fisheries, keeping the bait in the upper half of the water column. Spots gang up on bait offshore, and around structure, like humps and points. These bass are constantly trying to single out a baitfish. So, when they see one swimming along all on its lonesome, they can’t resist.
Jay Przekurat’s Tips to Get Bit in Wisconsin
“[October] is when the grass first starts to die off, so I’ll look for anything blown up on the bank grass-related. For the most part, this is also the time of year that I like to go shallow. I’ll look for those blown-up dead grass mats, whether they’re around boat docks or a straight bank, or anywhere that you know grass was present and has died off.
“But that’s more of a largemouth deal. The smallmouth will relate to the main lake basins that we have around my house. Come fall, they finally start to slide back up to where they were in the springtime on those shallow, 4- to 8-foot deep flats. They’re really just sunning themselves and chasing bait around. Whether there’s grass present, whether there’s rock, it really doesn’t matter: They just like to get up into that little bit of shallow water because the lake is turning over.
“You can’t go wrong with flipping and punching a Strike King Rage Bug for the largemouth in those mats. For the shallower smallmouth I really like a KVD jerkbait, a shallow one, especially if you have some wind. But if I don’t have wind, I’ll put a little Neko weight in a Strike King Tumbleweed for a really finesse presentation. I’m kind of jumping off the whole dice deal that everyone’s been throwing in the past couple of years. Those will be my two main go-tos for October.” — Jay Przekurat
Brandon Cobb’s South Carolina Secrets to Success
“It’s the time of year for moving baits, but you also gotta slow down every now and then when you find them. So I would say my main bait for covering water is a Greenfish Tackle Toad Toter Buzzbait with a Zoom Horny Toad. I rarely throw a skirted buzzbait; I throw a Horny Toad because I can skip it. And that works pretty much everywhere in the country.
“I’m not going to say it’s the easiest bait to skip, but it does skip. In my opinion, especially when skipping, a buzzbait on braid is the way to go. I use 50-pound-test Cortland braid. A buzzbait spins every time you throw it and twists your line. Even when you’re throwing a buzzbait a thousand times a day, the braid stays manageable.
“Basically I’ll throw that 90% of the day. And, if I find an area where I think some fish are or some isolated cover, then I throw either a Zoom Fluke Stick wacky rig. I always keep that wacky worm when I’m throwing a buzzbait, because a lot of them miss it and then you have something to throw right back.” — Brandon Cobb
