Best Fall Bait & Pattern

[lovecranking]

What is your best fall bait and what way do you fish it? With crank baits, what are the colors you use in the fall on clear and on stained lakes? I fish a clear lake & I've tried many soft plastics, cranks & jerk baits but I can't get any bass to respond.

[BassFishingMachine]

Is there any cover? Like small lillypad patches or stickpiles? If so try a small jig either black/blue or a green color, and flip it to the cover, thats how Ive been gettin em lately. With this rain the water should be murky, so I'd use a black jig. Another thing you can try is a spinnerbait, or a softjerk bait like a Super fluke, or Powerminnow rigged weightless/weedless.

[Tin]

Depending on the water temp. throw a jig was back into some lilly pads and swim it on top, when it gets to the edge let it drop and give it a few pops. The fish will usually hit it when its going on top of the pads though.

[Guest avid]

Generally speaking,

a ratltrap.

[5bass]

Cranks are most effective when they are bouncing or deflecting off cover or rocks, dock posts or even the bottom, just bang it against something.

I like a #5 shad rap (chrome) in the fall and I fish an extremely clear lake. The small shad tend to migrate into the major creeks this time of year and the #5 shad rap matches those small shad real well. I dont like rattles in my cranks unless the water is at least a little off color.

In stained water, I'll go firetiger or reds or blacks.....with a rattle.

[basspro48]

I'm killing em right now on a 1/4oz chrome/blue back rat-l-trap burned across grass flats and parallel to laydown trees. Finesse jigs and texas rigged sweet beavers inched through shallow cover have also been consistent producers lately.

[Bream Master]

I've been killin' em' lately with a Bomber Pearl/White Fat Free Guppy.  My fishing has never been this productive and I'm fishing off the banks.  

The chrome and blue rat-l-traps are working good for me too.

Occasionally, I pause on the retrieve and have caught a few during the pause.  I don't know, it gives the bass a chance to catch their breath.   ;D

[Senko4life]

I do a lot of bank fishing too and ive been slaughtering the bass on a small white spinner bait.  Burn it around any where that the bait is holding.  Also burning a Chrome rattle trap hase produced some awsome hits.  When the conditions are right ive had great luck on a buzz bait too.

[luckyinkentucky]

Right now with the cold weather coming in.  I like to stick to something that is going to cause a reactionary bite, or even something that finesses them into a strike.  On sunny days Bass are going to stick tight to cover, so their strike zone is a lot smaller.   You want to pitch your bait into the exact same spot 3 or 4 times before you move on.  Also, add a trailer hook if you are using a spinner.  The fish will be biting shorter!

Jerkbaits are also a good cold weather bait.  Add more action to them by putting more flutter, jerks, and twitching.  

Whatever you do use eratic actions since they trigger reaction bites in slow biting bass.

On cloudy days I like to use dark colored baits that give off a good profile.  On sunny days I like to use baits that give off a lot of flash like gold, silver, or metalic colored blades or baits.  

[roadwarrior]

Minnow profiles:

Jerkbaits, standard crankbaits, lipless cranks, swimbaits and blades.

[Crestliner2008]

For smallies around this neck of the woods, I rig 3 rods; one with a hard jerk such as an X-Rap, one with a blade bait (Silver Buddy or Sonar), and one with a drop shot. The med action spin rig used with fluoro for the X-Rap will be interchanged with a watermelon tube from time to time. That's an excellent arsenal - IMO.

[roadwarrior]

Well, I was trying to address artificial presentations, but "The Best" bait for smallmouth is a big, fat shiner on a split shot rig!

[Shadcranker]

Find the bait, and the fish are near.

best lures:

rattletrap, 3/8 oz spinnerbait, 1/4 oz cb (Banbit 200), and a peral fluke.

Also, I love fishing a buzzbait early around wood, and if the fish won;t chase the shiny stuff, I'll pitch a jig all day in stained water around cover.

Primary pattern for me is to find baitfish.

[Bankbeater]

Generally speaking,

a ratltrap.

X2. Also having pretty good luck with jigs.

[lovecranking]

Shadcranker, I fished yesterday & I tried a rattl trap and didn't even get a bump. The conditions were:clear skies, sunny & windy, water was clear & water temp was 56. Now is the rattl only used when it's windy? I fished it over shallow, over weeds, open water & deep water. How would you fish it? I'm thinking of heading out tomorrow for the last time for this year.

[FivePoundBluegill]

I have been haveing great luck with rattletraps. I have not been useing the actual Rat-L-Trap type of rattletrap because they seem to be to heavy for the shallow lakes I fish and catch too many weeds. I have been useing these baits.....They are a pretty expensive type of rattletrap bait and are usually about $9 each. However they cath loads of fish. I have both this one and a baby bass pattern one

[FivePoundBluegill]

I have also been haveing luck on the rapala version of the rattle trap. This is the one that has been catching the fish for me. I think they like it because it looks like a bluegill with the stripes....

[lovecranking]

But how are you using them?

[FivePoundBluegill]

But how are you using them?

Just cranking those baits I posted pics of in at a average speed. I seem to get reaction strikes. The water in my local lakes is very murky right now so the rattleing cranks are working. I have also caught a few on the black and silver rapala X-Rap and roboworms. These baits are not working as well at the rattletrap crank baits though.