Fall Lure Selection

[rtwvumtneer6]

Prepping for my next outing and quite frankly I'm overwhelmed.  I feel like this time of year the tackle box really opens up.  I like to go with a game plan (or an educated guess) and having 25 rods rigged up has never been a productive strategy for me. I guess I'm finding it difficult to not overcomplicate it.  Suppose the silver lining is I've got confidence in the bulk of my tackle.  

 

Just needed to get that out there ??‍♂️

 

 

[GreenPig]

I wish I could help you. I'm going in a few hours and have 16 rods rigged and an illegal amount of 3700's below deck.

[throttleplate]

i stopped using 98% of my lures 3 weeks ago after i tried for the first time zoom super flukes. I am having super good results with them and will ride them till the lakes freeze over.

[MN Fisher]

Just now, GreenPig said:

and an illegal amount of 3700's below deck.

Sorry - you'll have to ship the extras up here as I'll be confiscating them...for your protection of course...wouldn't want you to get in trouble for being over the legal limit.

 

[PressuredFishing]

3 hours ago, rtwvumtneer6 said:

Prepping for my next outing and quite frankly I'm overwhelmed.  I feel like this time of year the tackle box really opens up.  I like to go with a game plan (or an educated guess) and having 25 rods rigged up has never been a productive strategy for me. I guess I'm finding it difficult to not overcomplicate it.  Suppose the silver lining is I've got confidence in the bulk of my tackle.  

 

Just needed to get that out there ??‍♂️

 

 

It has been tough for me, went out for 3 hours and got around 5 bites but no fish, friend caught 7 fish, long story short the fish wanted flash but not vibration, and wanted moving baits, but where not schooling, lots of learning this time of hard for me, fall+the pre spawn have been most challenging for me

[islandbass]

3 hours ago, throttleplate said:

i stopped using 98% of my lures 3 weeks ago after i tried for the first time zoom super flukes. I am having super good results with them and will ride them till the lakes freeze over.

That motivates me now. I have only caught one bass with the zoom flukes regardless of size and it was pure luck. I simply haven’t been able to give the right presentation.

 

What retrieve(s) do you use and what environments (eg over grass, through grass, rock bottoms, to the side of cover, open water, etc.) do you use them?

 

I was about to tie one on this evening. It was already cold and dark and after I broke off my creature bait, I said screw it. I’m too cold and it’s too dark, lol. 
 

To the OP @rtwvumtneer6: strangely enough, inline spinners and t-rigged creature baits (with 3/16oz bullet weight) have been working for me as of late. I live in the Pacific NW out weather is already turning. As a result, I know my bass window as a shore angler is fast closing. I never caught a bass in October until this season. I need to hurry, lol. 
 

I have tried spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and jerk baits this fall, but my bass didn’t want them. 
 

Sorry I can’t suggest more. 25 rigs? Dang! That won’t fit in my garage, lol. ???

 

 

[ATA]

There is no secret that soft jerk bait and hard jerk bait is on from now up to end of winter. Specially the hard jerk baits, only thing going to change is sound and color and sometimes size. so start with noisy and flashy colors in fall ad end up with silent and pale or transparent colors through the winter.

thats what I learned and so far it works for me since hard jerk baits are my confidence lure all year round. But as most of you might know I am casting out jigs and frogs a lot to gain confidence with the.

[papajoe222]

Decision making, this time of the year, depends mostly on what the main forage of the lake is doing. 

eg. Bluegill will seek out green weeds to feed and hide in. Considering the depth of those weeds, you make your lure choices. No weeds, they will seek out their wintering spots early (normally deeper cover of some sort).

Roaming, schooling forage will move shallow, so your lure selection should focus on mid to upper water column presentations.

Lastly, ALWAYS have a jig and plastic trailer tied on. Even though the crayfish have, or will be disappearing, bass holding tight to cover or the bottom will not pass up the opportunity to feast on one.

[ironbjorn]

I was on a killer spinnerbait bite for the first time in years but that died suddenly. The whole bite died suddenly. Yet the temps remain the same. Frustrating.

[scaleface]

I'm still fishing the same places . Shallow grass with spinnerbaits , buzzbaits maybe toads . Brush with spinnerbaits , buzzbaits , worms . The thermocline is falling so I'll worm  ,  crankbait and hop a Red Eye Shad in deeper water . Toss squarebill around standing timber . All the same lures I use the rest of the year .

[rtwvumtneer6]

14 hours ago, throttleplate said:

i stopped using 98% of my lures 3 weeks ago after i tried for the first time zoom super flukes. I am having super good results with them and will ride them till the lakes freeze over.

I also prefer a light belly-weighted hook (looks like you're using some sort of swimbait hook) with my flukes.  They get bit.  So do spooks, buzzbaits, frogs, worms, jigs, bladed jigs, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, lipless, swimbait, flippin' etc... It's been a different bite the last few times I've been out, though water temps and fish location hasn't changed much. 

 

[throttleplate]

11 hours ago, islandbass said:

What retrieve(s) do you use and what environments (eg over grass, through grass, rock bottoms, to the side of cover, open water, etc.) do you use them?

In the past 3 weeks i have woken up and realized i can catch more fish with less types of lures.

All the fluke conversations on bass resource i avoided clicking on because i didnt care to try or buy another bait. 

Then i seen it being explained on how many ways you can rig it on a youtube video and it just clicked in my head to immediatly go out and buy some as i was tired of using the same things layin in my box that had trebles or easilly caught weeds.

 

The place i have been fishing them is heavilly weeded, the weeds are still green with unusually warm sunny weather and warm crystal clear water in minnesota.

This area is inline with a big road-bridge culvert that has very few weeds in it and has a rocky gravel bottom, I know this because i swam in it last week.

 

I used drop shot, throwing it far as i can into culvert nose hooked and very slowly, inches in fact dragging it out keeping rod tip high and tight as i had 1oz of weight on it.

Worked great and also letting it sit in front of culvert where the gravel ends and the grass starts and jiggin it a bit.

Next i put in on a 1/8 oz keel ewg hook and tossed it into the culvert and swam it back, start stop...... then i throw it out into the grassy weeds 30 yards from the culvert and top water it still on the keel hook, jig it, let it fall into the weeds......Then i t-rig it using a straight shank worm hook just because i could and had an 1/8oz bullet weight pegged and sometimes unpegged and tossed it into culvert and weeds swimming it or lettin fall like any worm or creature bait.

All these ways worked for me, my favorite way with the fluke is the keel weighted hook as i can swim it, top water it, jerk bait it or jig it.

The weather here will get colder coming next week so when the grass finally goes away and the fish go away i will go away.

Come next spring i will bring out the fluke and just maybe i wont have to power fish or throw anymore treble hook lures to catch fish.

 

 

[HaydenS]

18 hours ago, throttleplate said:

In the past 3 weeks i have woken up and realized i can catch more fish with less types of lures.

All the fluke conversations on bass resource i avoided clicking on because i didnt care to try or buy another bait. 

Then i seen it being explained on how many ways you can rig it on a youtube video and it just clicked in my head to immediatly go out and buy some as i was tired of using the same things layin in my box that had trebles or easilly caught weeds.

 

The place i have been fishing them is heavilly weeded, the weeds are still green with unusually warm sunny weather and warm crystal clear water in minnesota.

This area is inline with a big road-bridge culvert that has very few weeds in it and has a rocky gravel bottom, I know this because i swam in it last week.

 

I used drop shot, throwing it far as i can into culvert nose hooked and very slowly, inches in fact dragging it out keeping rod tip high and tight as i had 1oz of weight on it.

Worked great and also letting it sit in front of culvert where the gravel ends and the grass starts and jiggin it a bit.

Next i put in on a 1/8 oz keel ewg hook and tossed it into the culvert and swam it back, start stop...... then i throw it out into the grassy weeds 30 yards from the culvert and top water it still on the keel hook, jig it, let it fall into the weeds......Then i t-rig it using a straight shank worm hook just because i could and had an 1/8oz bullet weight pegged and sometimes unpegged and tossed it into culvert and weeds swimming it or lettin fall like any worm or creature bait.

All these ways worked for me, my favorite way with the fluke is the keel weighted hook as i can swim it, top water it, jerk bait it or jig it.

The weather here will get colder coming next week so when the grass finally goes away and the fish go away i will go away.

Come next spring i will bring out the fluke and just maybe i wont have to power fish or throw anymore treble hook lures to catch fish.

 

 

Have you thrown a swim jig into here? 

[throttleplate]

1 hour ago, HaydenS said:

Have you thrown a swim jig into here? 

yes i did on the last trip, a white swim jig with a 1/2 of a fluke for trailor and had no hits inside, outside the culvert and all around the weeds.

[gim]

The calendar says fall here, but the weather is definitely still more like summer. It was almost 80 degrees and humid here yesterday. I think the traditional “fall” bite has yet to come. I just hope we don’t go directly from summer to winter in like 2 weeks.

[MN Fisher]

10 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I just hope we don’t go directly from summer to winter in like 2 weeks.

Don't jinx us - they're predicting mid-50s for highs by the weekend.

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

The calendar says fall here, but the weather is definitely still more like summer. It was almost 80 degrees and humid here yesterday. I think the traditional “fall” bite has yet to come. I just hope we don’t go directly from summer to winter in like 2 weeks.

80's here this coming week as well.

I'll be gone but do expect it to snow the day I get back.

And here I was hoping Fall would come on a weekend here this year.

As for baits ~ I've been know to toss these things around a little. 

A-Jay

[king fisher]

buzzbait

[gim]

7 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Don't jinx us - they're predicting mid-50s for highs by the weekend.

I just looked. Highs in the 50’s later this week but after that mostly 60’s which is fine. No blizzards or snow or winter weather.

[WRB]

You only need what the bass are striking. Only time on the water can determine what that is. The prey types are narrowed down to baitfish and crawdads.

Tom

[rtwvumtneer6]

5 hours ago, A-Jay said:

80's here this coming week as well.

I'll be gone but do expect it to snow the day I get back.

And here I was hoping Fall would come on a weekend here this year.

As for baits ~ I've been know to toss these things around a little. 

A-Jay

Thanks, A-Jay for reminding me I hadn't packed any A-Rigs.  Adding fuel to the fire ?

[ChrisD46]

On 10/9/2021 at 12:18 AM, throttleplate said:

i stopped using 98% of my lures 3 weeks ago after i tried for the first time zoom super flukes. I am having super good results with them and will ride them till the lakes freeze over.

*If you like Flukes - check out Google for  the sister method : Strike King "Rage Rig" and the VMC "Drop Dead" Senko / Stick Worm  tactics .

[Catt]

I do not have fall lures, winter lures, spring lures, or summer lures...I have bass fishing lures.

 

I change locations as seasonal patterns change.

 

I don't look at the calendar for seasonal changes, I look at the grasses, brushes, trees, & water conditions.

[roadwarrior]

The Rage Tail Menace RULES!

 

[DaubsNU1]

Just back from vacation on Friday...got on the water yesterday and water temps were low of 64 and high of 65 (Been in the 70's and 80's here).

 

This time of year I am normally gearing up for hunting seasons (duck, goose, deer, upland), but this year I'm fishing more.

 

Following this thread and watching more youtube videos on fall fishing.