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Crank It Up For Fall

No matter where you fish in fall, the crankbait is No. 1 in the hearts and minds of professional anglers across America.

When the water starts to cool during autumn, shad, shiners and minnows are on the move with bass following close behind. Whether you fish reservoirs, navigational rivers or tidal rivers, the local preyfish species are headed up the creeks or onto protected shallow flats. Largemouth bass soon become consumed with chasing baitfish. There is no better lure than a crankbait to imitate the general shape, swimming action and behavioral aspects of baitfish. Here's how the pros assess the situation and plan their response.

Reservoirs — The Standard For Fall Fishing
Man-made impoundments make up a substantial portion of the bass-fishing water across the United States, particularly in the Mid-South. Whenever anglers speak of classic fall shad movements into the "creeks," they are almost assuredly referring to reservoirs.

Touring pro Frank Scalish states unequivocally that largemouth bass in reservoirs are keyed strictly on baitfish during fall. He says if shad are present in an impoundment, this is the migration scenario to expect.

"This migration extends over a period of weeks, with the baitfish first pulling off the main lake and showing up at the mouth of the creek arms, and then gradually moving farther back as the water cools," Scalish says. "Initially, I may be cranking 8 to 12 feet on long points, channel bends and humps at the mouth. A little later, I'll crank the shorter points and shoreline-connected saddles midway back. And finally, when the shad reach the shallowest flats in the back end, I will likely be fishing less than 4 feet of water."

Scalish generally starts with an Excalibur Fat Free Shad #7 when fish are at the mouth, then goes to a Bomber 6A or 7A when the fish are midway back and finally concludes cranking the flats with shallow-running baits.

"On the back-end flats, I'll throw a Cordell Rattling Spot if there is grass or switch to Bomber Square ‘A' for wood cover," he says. "The Square ‘A' walks through wood nicely and deflects off wood cover like a shad rolling over to eat algae off a log or stump. Time and time again, the Square ‘A' has outproduced a spinnerbait in areas like this."

Although an Indiana resident, FLW touring pro Bill McDonald names Kentucky Lake as his favorite fall bass impoundment.

"On large reservoirs, wind plays a critical role at this time of year because it will position the shad, thereby allowing bass to move in and bust them," explains McDonald. "I focus my efforts early in fall on wind-blown points or where wind is blowing into pockets."

McDonald also watches for shad flipping on the surface. He has pulled up to a point on Kentucky Lake with shad flirting about, cast a crankbait across the point and caught 15 to 20 bass without moving the boat.

"While being alert to possible schooling activity, you should never pass up a piece of isolated cover, especially as you work back into the pockets," he says. "Isolated cover like a single stump, rock or stickup is a big fish ambush point."

McDonald prefers a Strike King Series 3 crankbait in situations where water depth does not exceed 8 or 10 feet. If the water is extremely shallow, he goes with a Strike King Series 1.

"Another good lure is Strike King's Diamond Shad lipless rattle bait," continues McDonald. "I can cover a lot of water quickly with this bait using a rip-and-pause retrieve."

Navigational Rivers — Fall Fishing In The Heartland
In the heart of the United States, the Mississippi River and major tributaries are commercial highways. Each river has a series of navigational dams built to maintain sufficient water for barge traffic. As a group, navigational rivers fish slightly different than reservoirs. With years of experience on the Ohio River, FLW pro Wes Thomas has earned a reputation as an outstanding big-river angler.

"On the navigational rivers, you know fall has arrived when shad leave the main river and congregate in off-river shallows," explains Thomas. "There are two different types of areas that bait and bass move into. One is an actual feeder creek with defined banks. These are found farthest upstream from a navigational dam. These sites lack flats, so the bass set up on stumps, channel bends and washout holes to ambush baitfish that move up the creek.

"The second area is what I refer to as an ‘embayment,' which is more like a shallow lake set off the river," Thomas adds. "These areas are found closer to the navigational dams, but lack the defined creek channel. They are basically big, shallow flats with only a few feet of water. Some will have islands, while others have private homes with docks or occasionally a marina and a lot of natural wood cover. These are the areas I really like to fish in fall."

Among his crankbait choices are the Bomber Model 6A and Shallow "A," depending on water depth, which at times may be less than 2 feet deep. Another one of his favorite crankbaits is the 1/4-ounce Rebel Humpback. Even though the Humpback seldom makes headlines any more, Thomas believes it is an excellent shallow-water bait with a great wobble. Years of experience fishing the Humpback allow Thomas to snake it through heavy cover similar to how other local anglers run a balsa crankbait.

"You don't have to be a professional bass angler to figure out how to fish these river embayments in fall," notes Thomas. "What you see is what you fish. You want to bump cover — any kind of cover, from a stickup to a laydown, from a partially submerged tire to a lawn chair. There could be a bass on any of them."

Thomas advises anglers to work slowly, especially around brush and tree tops. "I get in close and make a lot of pitch casts with the crankbait," he says. "It's really close-quarters combat. I've won tournaments with a crankbait in these waters without ever making a long, overhead cast."

Tidal Rivers — Fall Patterns On The Coast
Coastal tidal rivers present yet another similar but different bassin' situation in fall. Although Bassmaster Classic champion Mike Iaconelli travels the nation to fish, he really feels at home on the tidal rivers of the Northeast, including the Potomac, Delaware and Hudson.

"Like practically every other water in the country, preyfish in tidal rivers are on the move in fall, too," explains Iaconelli. "Baitfish and bass that spent the summer on the main river are now looking for winter quarters to escape the strong currents during the cold-water period. As the lush main-river weedbeds die, baitfish rush into feeder creeks and backwaters with bass on their tails."

The fall vegetation die-off will move bass from "soft" cover to "hard" cover such as rock, wood and pilings. Banging a crankbait off hard cover can often trigger a reaction strike. Because the ebb and flow of tides change the water depth throughout the day, Iaconelli relies on a set of crankbaits with different running depths.

He chooses crankbaits from the Mann's Depth Plus and Minus Series that allow him to cover depths from as deep as 15 feet to as shallow as 1 foot.

In most instances, he selects a crankbait that will dive a little deeper than the water he is fishing. That ensures he bumps or brushes the cover.

"I want the bait careening off hard cover on 90 percent of my casts, compared to simply swimming free on a retrieve," adds Iaconelli. "One thing I learned from Rick Clunn is to hit all the angles. A lot of guys will throw once at an obstacle and then move on. But I throw at that same piece of cover from five to seven different angles. Each time you hit it from a different direction, the bait deflects in a different way. Perhaps the fourth, fifth or sixth time is just the right way to draw the strike."

Running Depth And Color Selection
Since all crankbaits are roughly baitfish-shaped, the pros choose a fall crankbait largely based on two factors — running depth and color.

"Sometimes you'll hear chatter about whether a crankbait has a tight wiggle or wider wobble, but to tell the truth, I'm not too concerned with that," states Tennessee's Emily Shaffer, one of the women on the FLW Tour. "I think some things can be picked to death and made more complicated than need be. However, choosing a crankbait with the correct working depth, now that is a critical factor. You simply cannot use one crankbait to effectively fish the entire fall season on massive reservoirs."

Early in fall when bass are staging on the main body and preparing to move into the creek mouths or backwaters, water depth is substantially deeper than when the bass reach the flats in the back. Fishing 10 to 12 feet is not uncommon at this time. As bass and bait move farther back, key depths may change to 10 to 5 feet, and then finally the water may be 3 feet or less.

"Rather than jumping around different brands, I think it's important to stick with a family of crankbaits that will cover all those depths, such as the Strike King Series crankbaits, so you know exactly how each will behave," Shaffer says. "I start the fall with Series 5 and simply step down in running depth as the fish go shallow until I'm fishing the Series 1 or 1XS."

The pros are in agreement on color patterns for largemouth keyed on shad. "A shad pattern, of course," says McDonald. "Unless the water is dirty, then I throw a firetiger pattern."

Thomas and Scalish concur, offering bass a crankbait with white, gray, silver or chrome sides and a black, green, blue or gray back. "It may be necessary to fine tune the color to the local shade of the shad," adds Thomas.

Scalish notes that chartreuse patterns stand out better in dingy water, but that chartreuse in dirty water appears as bright white to largemouth bass.

Iaconelli also endorses the concept of mimicking the forage with your crankbait color during fall. However, he points out that gizzard or threadfin shad are not always the available baitfish. On some waters, the preyfish may be bluegill, alewife or shiners. Shad colors may pass for alewife and shiners, although many manufacturers offer these specific patterns. In waters where brim or bluegill are the primary prey in fall, Iaconelli suggests a more customized color should be used, such as the Delta Special that helped him win the Classic.

In step with her "keep it simple" philosophy, Shaffer sums it up this way: "If the water is fairly clear, I go with a natural pattern. If the water is dirty, I opt for a brighter color pattern."