5 Great Baits for Fall Bass

11/11/2005

Pack this arsenal when you head to the lake this fall, and you’ll be ready to put your share of autumn bass in the boat.

BOOYAH Blade Spinnerbait, ½ ounce, snow white, double willow – Shad congregate in creeks during the fall, and where the shad gang up, the bass usually are nearby. They hang on every available piece of cover and feast on the abundant baitfish. A ½-ounce BOOYAH Blade spinnerbait allows an angler to work quickly from one piece of cover to the next. The snow white head and skirt and twin willowleaf blades suggest a school of baitfish.
Heddon Super Spook Jr., white chartreuse – Topwater fishing can be terrific during the fall, especially on gray, misty autumn days. A Super Spook, Jr. is just the right size to match a lot of shad, which are half a year old. Watch for surface activity just out from matted grass, over vegetation that doesn’t grow quite to the surface. Also look over points within major creeks in the vicinity of where shad are stacked up. Whether or not you see fish breaking, keep a Super Spook, Jr. tied on and ready and walk it across the top of a point from time to time.
Cotton Cordell Super Spot, ½ ounce, chrome/black – A Super Spot is an ideal bait for covering a lot of water when the bass are cruising flats or holding over points, humps and ridges. A chrome and black Super Spot suggests a baitfish and draws reaction strikes when it races by with its tight wobble and loud rattles. It can be fished extremely shallow or over several feet of water with equal effectiveness by an angler raising or lower his rod and varying his retrieve speed. A spot also is a great lure to cast past breaking fish that don’t want a surface lure.
Bomber Fat Free Fingerling, pearl shad – A Fat Free Fingerling runs 8 to 10 feet deep and is ideal for bass that are holding a little deeper, which often is the case on bright, sunny fall days. Pearl shad once again imitates a shad, with fish-attracting chartreuse highlights. Look for baitfish over humps that rise to less than 10 feet of water and bump the bottom with the lure as often as possible. Hold on tight every time the bait makes contact with the structure.
YUM Houdini Shad, 5-inch, glimmer blue pepper – One of the best ways to work a weedless and weightless Houdini Shad during the fall is to cast it around shoreline cover and work it with fairly quick twitches and pauses. Darting just beneath the surface, it will draw strikes from fish that are buried in the cover. Another terrific way to fish a Houdini Shad is to use it as a follow-up bait. When a bass hits and misses, fire a Houdini Shad to the spot where the fish hit and let it fall through the water column. Watch the line and be ready to set the hook.