Fall Bait
Fast moving baits like crankbaits and spinnerbaits often get the call as water temperatures cool during fall
Bassmaster Elite Series pros carry hundreds of different lures each time they hit the water. While each type of lure has a time and place, fast-moving baits like crankbaits and spinnerbaits often get the call as water temperatures cool during the fall.
Once you've narrowed your selection down to these two different styles of baits, how do you decide which one to tie on?
Oklahoma pro Edwin Evers admits that it's a tricky question to answer, and the correct answer can change on a daily basis.
"I can't tell you why, when or how; it's just one of those things that you have to try yourself," he says, referring to the decision of using a crankbait or a spinnerbait. That being said, Evers typically reaches for a shallow running square-billed crankbait as his first option. "The square bill crankbait is where I'm going to start, because, for me, it's my meat and potatoes," he says.
"During fall in Oklahoma, I'm usually targeting shallow water in the backs of pockets and creeks with stained or dirty water. "A square-billed crankbait, like a Bomber BB5, is an awesome bait because it's so erratic.
I can burn the bait down a log and it will hit the wood and deflect off to the side and trigger a bite." If he is able to generate some strikes on a crankbait, Evers will experiment with different sizes to find the best possible option. Often, he'll increase the size of the offering to entice a bigger bite and match the prevalent forage. "I like a bigger bait in the fall because the shad have had all year to feed," says Evers.