My three go-to baits for this time of year are a Brian’s Bees prop bait, a small Yamamoto buzz bait rigged with a Zoom Horny Toad instead of a skirt and a Yamamoto Chikara 100 square-bill crankbait. One of those might produce better than the others on any given day, but all of them will catch fish in the fall when you’re fishing the bank or shallow points and really wanting to cover water.
We’re starting to get a lot of fronts coming through, too, and that kicks up the wind. I don’t mind fishing where there’s some wind, but not too much. I want it to be on the breezy side, but not too rough. If it is a bit windy, I’ll fish points or shorelines with a 1/2-ounce War Eagle Screamin Eagle tandem willow-leaf spinnerbait with what they call a firecracker skirt, which looks like a shad. Anything that looks like a shad now is going to outperform any other color you tie on. If it’s a crankbait or prop bait, use something with a light belly and sides with a black or dark back for when the water is normal color, or chartreuse sides and belly with dark back for dirty water.
Otherwise, I don’t do anything special. I use the same sizes I would use any other time, with the exception of right after a front passes through, which is liable to happen a lot now. Then, I’ll downsize, maybe going to a 1/4-ounce spinnerbait instead of a bigger model. This early in the fall, though, that’s usually not necessary. Late October and on in to November is when the big changes will come.
