Fall Reaction

By Luke Clausen

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The five biggest bites--that's what I go after. And during fall, when bass begin feeding up for winter, I know of no better way to catch high-quality bass than to go for reaction strikes. To accomplish this, I use big baits and aggressive presentations.

When bass get aggressive this time of year they're hungry and in search of a big meal. A reaction bait, therefore, catches them at their "dumbest point." That's what big fish are most susceptible to, so it becomes virtually my only approach. Whether the fish are on the top, on the bottom or in-between--in thick cover or the wide opens--I always use a reaction bait of some sort this time of year.

Fast For Fall

The fall bite can occur from September through November, depending on which part of the country you live in. It seems to hit full gear once the water temperature dips below 60 degrees. Temperatures are relative, though, and you still get a fall bite on lakes in the Deep South that never drop much below that temperature.

I fish almost exclusively with 6.2:1 reels on rods that are at least 7 feet long, and I like to throw a lot of 20-pound line in the fall. I'll also use fluorocarbon in many cases, so I can get baits down a little deeper when needed. More often than not, I'm making long casts and working lures quickly to cover a lot of water. I'm actually using a lure to find that key spot where the bass are piled up.

Important reaction baits for fall fishing include Rat-L-Traps, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, crankbaits and topwater lures, including buzzbaits. The situation dictates which offering to throw. A 3/4- or 1-ounce jig can also fit into the equation. While a jig is not a traditional reaction bait, the heavier jig falls very quickly through the water and draws the same types of reaction strikes as the other lures I mentioned. It comes into a fish's sites very quickly, and forces it to make a decision.

If a lake has grass, my starter reaction bait is usually a 3/4-ounce Rat-L-Trap. It's a true speed bait that can be fished right through the weeds, and you can rip it out when it hangs. That ripping action itself generates a lot of reaction bites. If a lake doesn't have many big fish and I believe it's important to get a limit of 2-pound bass, I might fish a 1/2-ounce Rat-L-Trap the same way.

Close behind a Rat-L-Trap for fishing grassy lakes is a big spinnerbait--usually a 3/4-ounce model with painted double willow-leaf blades. This large profile really attracts the attention of big bass. It seems to make the meal seem worthwhile when compared to the energy a fish has to expend to chase it down. Again, I'll fish it right through the thick stuff and rip it out when it gets hung.

Grass Absent

For desert lakes and other open-water lakes that don't have grass, I usually turn to either a jerkbait or crankbait. Topwater plugs and buzzbaits also work well over open water.

The jerkbait bite gets better and better as fall progresses, and I'll work the bait more slowly as water temperatures drop. Good jerkbaits for fall fishing include the Bomber Long 'A' and Lucky Craft Pointer 128, both of which are pretty large baits. I'll generally stick with suspending baits, unless I'm after smallmouths and the fish are coming up behind baits, then turning away. When that happens, if you switch to a floating jerkbait and let it float all the way to the surface, the same fish will often come up and smash it.

For crankbait fishing, I typically like a bait with a big profile that will get down deep, like a Fat Free Shad, Mann's Stretch 20+ or 30+ or a Strike King Series 6. Those big plugs can really draw the reaction strikes when you bump them along bottom over structure. Late in the fall, especially, bumping a crankbait across a hump at the end of a point, or some other defined piece of structure, can really produce the fish.

For topwater fishing, I keep things really simple. I either throw a buzzbait, which I swim quickly and use to cover a lot of water, or I walk a big Super Spook. Shad patterns are pretty tough to beat for topwater offerings, except when the water is really stained, in which case I like a black buzzbait. At the onset of fall, most topwater bites occur early in the morning or in the evening. Later in the fall, a buzzbait will sometimes bring fish to the top all day long.

Occasionally, reaction-bait fishing will produce big numbers in the fall, too, especially over defined structural features that are close to deep wintering areas. For the most part, however, I don't expect fast action during the fall. Instead, I'm looking for high-quality bass at a time when they're easier to tempt. I'm looking for those five big bites.