Autumn Colors and Fishing:
What to Throw for Success
by Bruce Callis Jr
Fall is officially here. The temperatures are dropping and the bugs will start to become less of a problem. The leaves will start to change colors before falling off the trees. And the fishing will only get better. But what baits are you going to be fishing to have success?
John Crews
I asked Elite series angler John Crews for his top 3 baits for October so I could where I stood in my choices. His first choice would be a topwater walking bait of some type. His second choice would be a drop shot with a Magic Worm or a Micro D Bomb for those tough bites. And then a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce Missile Baits Mini Flip jig with a Mini D Chunk to round out his choices. Everything also matters as to where you are fishing, but these 3 would work anywhere.
Alex Watts
Alex Watts also gave me his 3 top choices. His first choice is a spinnerbait with a Spunk Shad trailer. He prefers an Indiana Blade with a small Colorado blade. His second choice is a Missile Baits Mini Flip with a Mini D Chunk trailer in 3/8 to 1/2 ounce. The last choice is a Magic Worm. His last choice is a Magic worm on a Drop Shot with a 1/4 weight.
Bruce Callis
All are great choices but I like a few other choices as well. I too love throwing a jig, but I like to throw the Missile Baits Ike’s Micro Football jig with a Micro D Bomb on the back. They are seeing a lot of great baits and I want to offer them something a little different. And this gives them something that matches the size of some baitfish. While a lot of people are throwing this on a finesse BFS system or a spinning reel, I actually go with a medium to medium light bait casting rod and a normal reel. You just have to adjust your release point a little to ensure you are throwing it at your target. And I am using 10 pound Seaguar Abrazx fluorocarbon line. The lighter action rod helps with casting the lighter weight.
My second choice would be a Missile Baits 3.0 Spunk Shad with its slender body and extended tail action on an Owner 5146 Ultra Light Bullet Rig. I prefer an 1/8 ounce with a 1/0 hook for this, but you can go lighter. This option gives me the option to be weedless and fish it in areas where a jig head with it’s open hook would never be thrown. I can fish it around boat docks, laydowns and grass without worrying about the hook point getting hung up. A like this one on a spinning reel when fishing around docks, as it allows me to skip it up under the dock.
And you can’t go wrong with a crankbait. I like to use a SPRO Fat John 60 most of the time or switch it up to a SPRO Hunter Crank 65 SB. Both allow me to throw up shallow and bump off any cover. And I like to throw it on 10 pound Abrazx as well. While the bait normally runs in the 3-5 foot depth range, I can keep it up by holding the rod tip high and get the maximum depth by holding the rod tip down and with line size. And the rod is everything when using a crankbait. A good parabolic bend is a must to fight the bass and not pull the hook free.
And lastly I like to work a Gika Rig with either a Missile Baits 6.5 inch Quiver or a Chunky D. It is a rig that is often overlooked by anglers, but can be deadly. Why the two choices of baits? Each offers something different. The quiver has that beautiful tail action to entice them. When you are dragging or hopping it, that tail flows up and down, wiggling in their face, drawing them in. They can’t resist it. I do like to rig it so the tail waves up and down, not side to side.
The Chunky D has it’s own special action. And it offers a crawfish look to it, which bass just can’t resist. The claws disturb the water with it’s kicking action and really entice bass. While the Gika rig works great on the bottom, both options offer a special action when you swim it over cover. It works great up shallow around cover and out deeper in the 5-10 foot depths. It is a very versatile bait. And you can use it to punch cover if you come across it.
October can offer a lot of great fishing. It is up to you to find what works for you. Remember that the bait is an extension of you. If you don’t have confidence in the bait, no matter how great it is, you won’t do good. Go have fun and gain confidence in something new by using it. That’s what I do, sometimes just using the one bait all day and nothing else. It can be frustrating if we aren’t getting bit, but by doing it, we learn how to make them bite. We know that the bait will work, we have seen others use them! Now it’s up to you!
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