Fall Cranking Tips: Master the Art of Autumn Bass Fishing

Hey, everyone. Mike McClelland here with BassResource. And we're going to talk a little fall cranking today. And in my opinion, the fall is one of those times of the year that a lot of people...I'm going to say there's a lot of people that just don't look at the fall as being that number one cranking time of the year. And to me, fall cranking is something that I look forward to every year, especially living in the part of the country that I live in. I think the biggest thing that a lot of people don't understand about the fall is what happens when the water temperature starts to cool, and when the whole migration of the baitfish and the crawfish and the brim and everything starts happening, that's to me what makes the fall of the year such a great crankbait time of the year.

Probably the biggest thing that I think happens on a lot of lakes around the country that a lot of people overlook is generally those last couple of full moons before the water temperature really, really falls off. I mean, when the water temperatures are still up in that, you know, upper 70 to mid 70 degree range, those last couple of full moons for some reason, it seems like there is a big migration or something that goes on with crawfish. And to me, a lot of my fall cranking is based around crawfish, especially early in the fall. And that's when I'm going to employ baits like my SPRO RkCrawler. 

And generally, in the fall, I'm pretty much going to use all four versions of the SPRO RkCrawler. I'm going to use the RK50. I'm going to use the MD55. I'm going to use the DD50. I'm going to use the original RK55. And the reason for that is it's all dependent about the type of lake that I'm fishing, and what depth the fish are in, and really what size forage the fish are feeding on. So when I start talking about fall cranking, one of the first things that I'm going to focus on is that crawfish migration, or that state that crawfish go through.

And generally, I'm thinking in my mind, the fish are coming out of their summer haunts. They're starting to move shallower due to the water temperatures cooling off. But I still need a bait that I can get relatively deep to them. So the first two baits that I'm generally going to throw in the fall are always going to be the DD50 and the DD55. I think one of the things that you have to keep in mind about the fall time of the year, unless you're fishing a lake that's got a lot of color, you're fishing a lake that you're getting a lot of rain, a lot of runoff and things like that, I really feel like the fall is the time of the year that you've got to stay really, really translucent and just clear type colors. I don't throw a lot of bold colors in the fall unless, like I said, the water temperature or the water color has got a lot of color to it. So I'm going to go with colors like phantom watermelon, phantom green, phantom orange craw. Baits like this are going to be the baits that I really, really look to throw in the fall of the year.

The biggest thing that I'm going to do in the fall versus other times of the year, a lot of times when we start talking about springtime cranking, fall cranking, or summertime cranking, wintertime cranking, generally you're looking for deeper water and transition areas. There's something about the fall that it seems like those fish really migrate to flatter type water. I'm fishing a lot of gravel points, a lot of sand points, a lot of flatter type water, and the focus is still on transitions. I want to fish a flat gravel point that's got deeper water close, or I want to fish a flat gravel point or a sand point that maybe has a rock transition somewhere close. A lot of times brush and laydowns become really, really key in the fall too. I pay attention to my forward facing sonar a lot when I'm fall cranking. As I'm fishing the contours that I typically like to fish early in the fall, I generally like to keep my boat out there in 15 to 18 foot of water, and I'm throwing it at a 30 to 45 degree angle at the bank, and I'm trying to cover a lot of depth zones.

Generally I'm throwing this bait up into 8, 9 foot of water, and I'm cranking it out through that deeper zone of water out to that 12, 15 foot range. A lot of times those fish will really move around a lot in the fall. You really can't focus on a specific depth, but you want to cover a lot of different depths when you're fishing a bait in the fall. Those are the two baits, the DD50 and the 55 are probably the first two early in the fall that I'm going to turn to. As that water temperature cools off even more, and those fish start migrating a little bit shallower, the crawfish to me kind of start going out of the picture, especially when you start seeing shad really show up on the surface in the fall. That's when I'm going to go to three other baits. You've got to have a square bill fat pop in your boat any time you're cranking in the fall. I mean, if you're cranking dingier water, you're cranking river type scenarios, the backs of the creeks, a square bill fat pop is a bait that I'm always going to have tied on. When I'm fishing the backs of creeks, it got some color, a lot of flat water, and there's a lot of bait fish flickering, and getting schooled on in the backs of the creeks, I'm going to have me an Aruku Shad. I'm generally going to have a 3/8 and a half ounce Aruku Shad always in the boat during the fall months of the year.

And then if I get into those scenarios where there's a lot of bait on more of that style bank that I want to throw a RkCrawler on, that is when I'm going to throw my SPRO RK55 MD. Probably the fall of the year is when I employ that 55 MD more so than any other time of the year. I'll throw it this spring somewhat, but generally the fall is usually when I'm going to throw the MD55 and generally it's going to be shad colored more often than not. There's just something about the fall of the year, the later you get and the shallower those fish get, it seems like they really, really get on the shad, and that's what I'm going to really push to throw that MD. 

When it comes to thinking about the rods and the reels and the selection, it's really pretty simple throughout the year. Anytime I'm throwing a SPRO RkCrawler, I'm generally always going to be throwing it on a Falcon 7 foot medium action 417 cranker in one of the series. You've got the BoCoo series, you've got the Cara series, the Expert series. One of those Falcon rods is what I'm going to be using.

In the fall, I'm always going to be throwing a high-speed reel, always a 6.3:1 because those fish in the fall, I mean, until you get late, late in the fall and the water temperatures really plummet, those fish are really aggressive and they can be really wild when you hook them. So I want a high-speed reel that I can really stay up with them. I want to be able to move my bait fast in the fall because a lot of times those fish just tend to want to eat a bait that's moving a lot faster. 

Line size, anywhere from about 12 to 16 pound test is generally what I'm going to throw on my shallower diving crankbaits, the MD 55, my Aruku Shads, things of that nature. I'm generally always going to be throwing 14 to 16 in the fall. But when I'm throwing my other crank baits, the RK55 and the 55 or the 50DD, I'm still looking at that 10 to 12, occasionally 14 pound test line, still throwing it on that 7 foot Falcon medium action cranking rod.

And that's the big thing about fall. Remember, flatter water typically is more effective in the fall of the year, but you still want to keep the transitions in mind. It might be those transitions that you caught fish on in the spring or the winter, you're just fishing the adjacent flatter gravel, flatter sand, flatter style banks around those transitional areas because that's eventually where those fish are going to migrate back to once you get into the late fall and the winter months of the year. So I hope what we've talked about today helps you take a different look at your fall time cranking.