During the fall months, the common thinking is to follow the baitfish and move quickly. It's a simple approach but works great every year like clockwork as bass feed up and prepare for the cold weather that's right around the corner. Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brandon Card follows the same rulebook each year because it's the best way to put your baits in front of fish.
While he may seem to be doing the same things as everyone else this time of year, he's learned that there are a few tricks to catching more fish, including searching for the right targets and picking lures that are the most efficient for the cover and to match the forage.
Shallow Cranking
One of the best ways to cover ground and search for feeding bass is to fish moving baits. There are plenty to choose from; one of the best is a shallow crankbait like a squarebill. It has a great baitfish-imitating profile and can be fished everywhere, as it deflects and bangs into anything in its way. It's also Brandon Card's top tool for fishing during the fall and one thing he looks for, above all, is isolated pieces of cover.
These single rocks, laydowns, docks, and other objects are high percentage areas and fish gravitate to them because they are isolated.
"In the fall, I'm definitely going to have a squarebill tied on," he said. "The Hardcore Crank SR 65 is my favorite one because of the great action and how it deflects; it goes through everything. This time of year, I'll use shad patterns like citrus shad and ghost pearl shad because that's what the fish are eating and those are two great baitfish imitators."
For slightly deeper water, Card chooses the MR 60, a medium runner that will do many of the same things as the squarebill, just in deeper areas. While it doesn't have a square bill, it still works well around cover and Card likes the compact size and action.
"It's a 6-foot diver and works well when I want to cover water and fish stuff that's just a little bit off the bank," he said. "It's the same principle as the SR 65, and I'm going to be looking for isolated things because those are the high percentage targets that will hold fish, especially if they are on flats and places with limited cover."
For both of these baits, he uses a 7-foot medium signature series rod in the iROD Quercus lineup and pairs it with a 7.1:1 gear ratio reel spooled with 14-pound Yo-Zuri T7 fluorocarbon.
Shallow Jerkbaits
Jerkbaits are one of the most versatile lures used today as they have slowly shifted from a traditional winter and pre-spawn must-have to something you can use all year long. Much of the resurgence is because of forward-facing sonar. Because of this technology, Card keeps them in rotation during the fall as they make him more efficient at casting to fish and finding targets.
"A lot of it has to do with my Humminbird MEGA Live and even my Humminbird 360 because they make it easier to locate good cover and see the bass suspending around them," he said. "Even in shallow water, you can fish a jerkbait around stumps and brushpiles and line up perfectly with your electronics to make a perfect cast to where the fish should be sitting."
One tool he uses for shallow water is the Hardcore Flat Minnow 95 in the floating version. "It's a shallow diver and floats, so you can really fish it in any depth you want to, which gives you more options than standard jerkbaits that dive down and suspend," he shared. "The smaller size is another key because baitfish tend to be smaller this time of year. It's a great tool for matching the forage and very effective for catching shallow fish. I use it on the same flats where I fish my shallow crankbaits while also giving the fish a slightly different look in shallow water."
Card likes to use the same rod and line he employs for his shallow crankbaits but goes to a faster reel. "I'll use an 8.1:1 reel to help keep up with the slack because I'm usually working the bait quickly," said Card. "I'll use heavier line than I normally use for jerkbaits. I like 14-pound Yo-Zuri T7 fluorocarbon line instead of the usual 12-pound test to keep the bait a little higher up in the water column since I'm fishing shallow cover."
Shallow crankbaits and jerkbaits are nothing new for fall bass fishing, but Brandon Card has learned that fishing them around isolated cover and using a jerkbait around shallow targets can put a few more fish in the boat for him. These baits allow him to fish quickly and hit the high percentage areas, making him as efficient as possible each autumn.
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