Fall crankbaiting for bass

Monticellobigbass.com

The nights are getting cooler and even the daytime temps are not too bad. Fall is on the way! Along with the change of season comes a great time to be a bass angler in Arkansas. The fall strongly rivals the spring as the best time to chase bass. In the fall bass are getting ready for the winter months by feeding up. This includes eating as many shad as possible. One of the best shad imitators is the crankbait. There are several different basic types of crankbaits. They come in shallow square billed varieties, deeper billed baits, and vibrating plugs like the Trap.

Squarebills are generally round wooden shallow runners with short bills that dive from 2 to 5 feet. These baits thrive in the shallows around stumps, logs, and standing trees. The square bill helps the bait come through the cover like a four-wheel drive. In the fall of the year these baits are deadly for bass that are moving shallow and eating shad. Squarebills like the Basshunter Big Boy Series are hard to beat when hunting bass on shallow stump flats. Make sure to use heavy enough line to handle the meanest bass because depth is not usually an issue but line breakage can be.

Deeper diving plugs can come in several different configurations, but for this discussion we will lump them together. The deeper divers used during this time of year a lot of times are more of a mid-range type plug. This can be fished around wood and rock such as bridges and riprap banks where bass tend to hang out. Baits like the Bandit 200 and 300, along with Basshunters flatsides like the BH4 and BH5 fill the bill in this situation very well. Early in the fall the Bandit shines and as the fall gets cooler the flatsides do their job of imitating the naturally tight wiggle of the shad in cold water. Generally, lighter lines will make these lures easier to cast and work around this lighter cover.

Vibrating baits are lipless crankbaits that usually rattle and can attract active bass. These plugs are good in open water and around aquatic vegetation. Most of these baits are easy to cast for long distances. When fish are munching on shad at the surface this is a great choice that will fool a lot of bass. These baits are commonly ripped through the grass for reaction strikes. Traps account for lots of bass during the fall feed-up! Line sizes and types can affect the way an angler fishes these baits. Heavier monofilament will keep the bait higher in the water column. Lighter mono helps the angler work the lure a little deeper with the same rate of retrieve. Some anglers even use braided line around aquatic vegetation so that the bait can be ripped from the grass.

Cranking is a great technique for catching quality bass during most times of the year, but fall is a time when bass really seem to be susceptible to the bait. Most anglers that are proficient with cranks look forward all year to fall and the crankbait bonanza! As they say, “that’s what I’m talking about, crankbaits baby!”