How To Fish A Spinnerbait In The Fall

Hey, guys. Jason Christie here, I'm with BassResource. We're talking about spinnerbait fishing, and the focus is the fall. If I had to pick a time to go out and throw a spinnerbait and catch the most fish, it's going to be the fall. Okay, here's what the difference is though. Springtime, summertime, wintertime, spinnerbait fishing typically comes down to structure. I'm looking for some type of structure, but you know, whether it be a buck brush, grass, docks, or something like that, fall is different. In the fall I'm looking for one thing, and that's bait. You know, and a lot of times I'll just run into these creeks, you know, and if I don't see bait in the first 15 minutes, I'm moving somewhere else because what happens in the fall, a lot these fish, they're starting to get on these shad, and they're going to follow these shad until it's time for them to go winter, wherever they winter.

So first, let's talk about the setup. In the fall, I want to go to a little bit longer, rod. This is a 7'4'' Falcon Cara, it's a Medium Heavy. The reason in the fall that I go to a longer rod is if they come up schooling and just be able to make a longer cast. I'm not roll-casting around bushes or anything as much. You know, I'm throwing...I'm still probably going to be around the bank somewhere, just in shallower water, you know, but I'm making longer cast and, you know, being able to fight those fish out there a long ways out. Still, I'm 22 -pound Shooter. You know, it's just, you make a long cast with a three-quarter ounce bait, and that bait is rolling. You know, after an hour, blades are hitting your line. I just don't want anything breaking my line. 

I'm going to go to a quicker reel, even though we're fall, it's probably the time of year when these fish are most aggressive. This is a 7.5 Lew's HyperMag, and I want to move the bait pretty quickly.

Let's get into the spinnerbaits. So fall, you know, there's really two weights spinnerbaits that I fish in the fall, a half-ounce and a three-quarter-ounce. And you say, well, if you're fishing shallow, why would you want a three-quarter? This three-quarter War Eagle here, I'm able to throw the bait further, you know, when those fish are around the bait, and I'm able to bring it back a lot faster across the top. If I were to do that with a half, the blades are going to blow out and they're going to come out of the water, so in the fall, it's a half and a three-quarter. 

Opposite of spring, you know, in the springtime, you have a lot of rain, you have a lot of runoff. So, typically, the water's going to be dirtier. In the fall, usually, as a rule, the water is going to be clear, so we're looking at willow leaf blades. And notice the difference, springtime, dirty water. I mean, oranges, blues, greens, fall, as a rule, the water's going to be clear.

So right here, you have a couple of double willow leafs. You know, this is a Covert here, just in white double willow leaf. You know, this is going to be my, just fishing, we'll just call this, just fishing. You know, I'm going close to the bank, couple of feet, three feet below the water, just steady retrieve. This here is my burning bait, okay? There's a time in the fall where, you know, you get this bait up high, you reel it, and you create that wake. Smallmouth, largemouth, spotted bass, they cannot stand that. We call it burning or waking the bait in the fall. 

And even though it can be a little tiring, you know, as much as you're reeling the bait and as fast as you're reeling the bait, I'm just telling you, there's something about getting that bait up high and moving it really, really fast that just triggers them to come up and eat. If you notice, you know, a lot of times they'll bust a shad school up, and when they get a couple by themselves, that's how they swim is up close to the top of the water.

But colors, like I said, is shad and more natural colors in the fall, just because the clarity is a lot better than it is in the spring and in the summertime.

I don't typically use a trailer a lot in the fall, and the reason is it's because I put a trailer on here, it's going to slow that bait down. It's all about being quick, it's all about moving, and it's all about finding the bait in the fall.