Hey, guys. Bassmaster Elite Series Pro, Drew Cook, here, with BassResource, and I'm going to talk to you about Fall Time Crankbait Fishing. So, this will be, you know, after the summer, ledge schools, and all that stuff's broken up and the fish are you know, migrating closer towards the backs of the pockets.
A lot of times this time of year, the bait gets smaller and smaller, or you know, it seems when you find these schooling fish in the backs of the pockets, the bait's small. And they're really keyed in on the smaller bait, and one thing that I bring back out from early in the year is the smaller version of this SPRO Aruku Shad. So, this is the half-ounce version, and it's just got a little bit smaller profile than the 65 or any of those, and that's going to get you a few more bites. The fish, they're so keyed in on these small baits that a lot of times, they won't bite a big bait. So I'm still throwing this one on a Dobyns Champion XP 764 Crankbait Rod, 6.2:1 gear ratio reel. And I will downsize my line a little bit now.
A lot of times, you'll be throwing in to schooling fish, or fish that are suspended, almost just out there waiting for the bait to come by, to ambush them. I'll throw this on 14-pound Sunline Sniper. You can also cast this thing a really long way on 14-pound line and when they're schooling that time of year, you might be fishing right here, and they come up busting way over there, and you need to absolutely just launch it to them because all you have to do is just get it over there and you'll catch one, that helps a lot this time of year with that. And this is going to be the backs of pockets or depressions in flats, or in big grass areas that a lot of those...the bait's going to congregate in, and in turn, a bunch of bass, all the way up to even just throwing it down the bank.
Once you get further into the fall, the more the bait really pushes up on the bank and into the pockets. And this thing, I mean, you can fish it from one foot to 10 foot, however deep you want it, it all depends on how long you let it sink, and how fast you reel it. So, it's very versatile in that sense, but you can catch a lot just going down the bank, throwing it out there, and reeling it in, throwing it out there, and reeling it in, just keep going on, and then run in to wad them.
My next thing, and like I said, the bait's a lot smaller this time of year. So, this is a SPRO Fat Papa Squarebill, it's smaller than the essential 100 Squarebill, and that's a big deal this time of year. This is going to be something that I'm going down the bank and fishing it really shallow, or around the docks, or anything like that, beating it into wood, making it deflect off of rocks, things like that that is more of like target fishing, so like, I'm fishing for one fish on that stump, or one fish off that laydown or rock, or something like that. But you'd fish a whole bank, it's not going to be something that you have a big school of fish to catch.
But that one, I throw it on 16-pound Sunline Sniper, or if I'm really getting uptide into some nasty stuff, I will actually throw this on mono, but I'll throw it on big mono, 20-pound mono, and what that does is it keeps the bait up. I got big lines so I can get a fish out of something, but that mono just doesn't get banged up near as bad as a fluorocarbon would be, but I mean, that's very situational, that's only something that I'm going to do whenever I'm really getting into something, like, deep into lay-downs, and trees, like, gnarly-looking that...some place where somebody else is not going to throw a squarebill, then what that mono does is it helps the bait float up, so whenever you...you're going to run it into things, that's the whole point, but when you get stuck, you'll be able to pop it, and that line will bring it back up, and I'm still throwing that one on a Dobyns Kaden 735CB. I will go down to a Champion 704 Crankbait Rod, a little bit smaller to help you make as really accurate cast whenever you're target fishing like that.
One other thing that I do whenever I am getting in the absolute heart of something with the crankbait, I will change the hooks to EWGs. Short Shank EWG, and that helps the hook not grab as much of the limbs and things like that, and to be more efficient while you're fishing it out of the treetop.
Another bait that I like this time of year is the SPRO, this is the Fat Papa 55, it's a...I would say a 6- to 8-foot diving crankbait, and this is going to be the same banks that you're fishing the squarebill on. You're going to throw this to get just a little bit deeper out from them, maybe hitting the tops of laydowns that are, you know, further out in the water. And you can fish this a lot of times over, like, the bluff walls that are in 10- or 11-foot of water, but the fish are suspended up that high, and I'm throwing that one on a 764 Dobyns Champion XP, and my line size will depend on what I'm doing. If I'm fishing it, you know, in the actual 6-foot range, I'll throw 16. If I'm trying to get it a little bit deeper, maybe throw it a little bit further, I will go down to 12, but that's very situational. A 6.2:1 gear ratio reel, that's my standard reel, cranking 99.9% of the time, that's mostly what I'm going to crank is a 6.2:1. I really do like a 5.1:1 for deep cranking, but it seems nobody makes a 5.1:1 gear ratio reel anymore, that's worth it, so the 6.2:1 is my go-to.
And, you know, you really want to follow the small bait, and once you find the bait, you're going to find the bass, and don't get frustrated whenever you can't get bites, because when they're keyed in on that little bitty stuff, you have to keep tweaking your colors and your sizes to get those bites. And with these baits, should get you some more bites this fall.
