What are your top early fall/late summer bait choices?

[papajoe222]

You see a lot of YouTube videos and articles about pro's top bait choices for this time of year. I'm curious if your choices mirror the majority that you see or hear about, or do you take a different route? I pretty much ditch slow/finesse presentations in favor of faster moving ones unless I'm faced with tough conditions.

My top choices are a short arm/single blade 1/2oz. spinnerbait (it's a killer drop bait), white swim jig with an action trailer, 3/8oz. blade bait, tube jig and a buzzbait, or Spook for topwater.  I may switch the blade bait for a lipless for fishing vegetation. If I feel I need to slow down, I can work the jig on the bottom, or go with a lighter tube that i can swim slower, or switch to a Colorado blade on the SB.

[Cbump]

Water is still 80 degrees here and fish are in summer pattern. Which means I’m throwing creature t-rig, some squarebill shallow, big worms, or c-rig lizard/brush hog. That’s my go tos. Maybe a deep diving Crank. 
 

Once the turnover happens and they go into fall pattern I’m still throwing creature shallow, more squarebill, and white Chatterbait. 

 

As the water cools more I’ll add red crankbait and Finesse jig. 
 

That’s about It until 40 degree water. 
 

 

[scaleface]

The thermocline is already starting to drop . Sooner or later There will be a   concentration of bass on the points . I'll just have to check it every time I go fishing . Worms and red Eye Shads are my two favorite lures out there but I will experiment with other baits . Then sooner or later there will be a lot of bass in the back of coves . Top waters , buzzbaits , spinnerbait and crankbaits  will cover water for me and texas rigs in the cover . So its pretty much like fishing during the summer but I'll probe quite a bit deeper and spend a bit more time in the extreme reaches of the creeks .

[Jar11591]

Early fall is spinnerbaits, poppers, walkers and creature or craw style soft plastics. 

[Munkin]

Spinnerbaits and a shad colored texas rigged worm are working for me right now. 

 

Allen 

[Bankbeater]

Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, chatterbaits, and swim jigs.  Kind of like fishing in the spring.

[Phelptwan]

For me, this year has been lipless.  Specifically a Blue Chrome Rat-L-Trap.

[galyonj]

40 minutes ago, Phelptwan said:

For me, this year has been lipless.  Specifically a Blue Chrome Rat-L-Trap.

 

I don't have an explanation for why, but of all the lipless I've ever fished, I have the least success with a Rat-L-Trap.

 

Weird. I love fishing them.

[LrgmouthShad]

Spinnerbait good

[Phelptwan]

33 minutes ago, galyonj said:

 

I don't have an explanation for why, but of all the lipless I've ever fished, I have the least success with a Rat-L-Trap.

 

Weird. I love fishing them.

 

Never really had luck with them before this year.  I could get bites on them, but I always seemed to pull them off.  Switched to a moderate action rod and I rarely loose them now.

[Darth-Baiter]

i start eyeballing smaller swimbaits about this time of year.

 

keitechs on jighead, underspins.  i will buy a few smaller topspins to try as well.  i need to figure out a few more weedless options.  

[roadwarrior]

Switch to the Red Eye Shad. The forward fall and shudder is superior to the dead fall

of the Rat-L-Trap.

 

Regarding alternatives:  Fish Head Underspin/ LFT Live Magic Shad

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Fish_Head_Spin_Underspin/descpage-SHFHS.html

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lake_Fork_Live_Magic_Shad_Swimbait/descpage-LFLMS.html

[A-Jay]

My local early fall/late summer bait bite has been going on since Mid-August.

Effective bait choices for me are primarily driven by where the bait & the fish are. 

Best deal for the biggest brown bass has by far been shallow; less than 10 feet.

 For Topwater it's been Walkers & Poppers, Spinnerbaits in the wind, & Vibrating Jigs almost any time.

As the days get shorter and the water cools, Rattlebaits, Flatsided Cranks and Swingheads see a lot of action, as does a Swimbait on a jighead.  Vibrating jig is still an excellent option, just need to fish it slower.  And don't forget about that jerkbait   #donkeybuster

A-Jay

 

[papajoe222]

8 hours ago, A-Jay said:

.  And don't forget about that jerkbait   #donkeybuster

A-Jay

 

Almost included it in my list, but that doesn't mean it's forgotten.

[FishTank]

My usual are a black spinnerbait 1/2oz in the morning and white later in the day, 4in Easy Shiners, 3in Spark Shad, small crankbaits, jerkbaits and poppers, lipless cranks, and a few creature baits.

 

If I fish one particular lake, throw the above out the window. The fish on this lake go numb and suspend away from the bank. They won't chase a fast moving bait until spring. I go with....slow fishing 12-15ft diving crankbaits in bright colors, drop shot, spoons, and dragging/popping a jig or tube on the bottom.

[Spankey]

On 9/21/2022 at 11:24 AM, Phelptwan said:

For me, this year has been lipless.  Specifically a Blue Chrome Rat-L-Trap.

Great bait all the time.  Sometimes I like to play around with patterns but my favorites are these. 
 

Chrome w/ Black back

Chrome w/ Blue back

Gold w/ Black back

*** Firetiger if you spend time on the river ***

[BigAngus752]

On 9/21/2022 at 11:05 AM, galyonj said:

 

I don't have an explanation for why, but of all the lipless I've ever fished, I have the least success with a Rat-L-Trap.

 

Weird. I love fishing them.

It's the sound.  I keep some Rat-L-Traps, Red-eyes, Tungsten 2 Taps, and Cotton Cordell Super Spots in the boat all the time.  Totally different presentations.  Interestly, the Super Spots outfish the others by a large margin.  I believe it's because they have much smaller rattles and no one else fishes them on my lakes.  But if they won't hit a Spot they may hit a different lipless.  

[KP Duty]

On 9/20/2022 at 8:01 AM, Jar11591 said:

Early fall is spinnerbaits, poppers, walkers and creature or craw style soft plastics. 

This, along with a fat shad colored squarebill like a bagley b2...and a trap.