Fall lures

Fall Fishing Essentials: Six Lures to Catch More Bass

Fall
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Fall lures
Denise Dill’s top three picks for fall bass fishing are (left to right) a jig, swimbait, and topwater prop bait.

Whether taking out clients or competing in tournaments, Jim and Denise Dill must make smart lure choices to catch bass in the fall consistently.

The husband-and-wife team runs Dill Guide Service (James 573-204-9005, jdillbass@gmail.com; Denise, 314-226-3099, ddilllakegirl@hotmail.com) at the Lake of the Ozarks and competes in regional tournaments. They know the primary bass forage in the fall on their home waters, and other Ozark highland reservoirs are shad, bluegill, and crayfish, so they select lures that mimic the bass' prey.

Here are six lures the Dills opt for when bass want a fall feast.

Topwater Prop Bait

Denise Dill favors this topwater bait because it triggers a reaction bite and is versatile enough that she can throw it in tight shady areas of cover or run it along open chunk rock banks. 

Lure:  Berkley Choppo 90, 105, and 120. Denise throws the larger 120 most of the time. 

Colors: Black back/white belly.

Structure and cover:  Open chunk rock banks and backs, sides, empty boat slips, or fronts of floating docks where baitfish are present.

Depth: Less than 15 feet.

Retrieve:  “You can definitely vary that,” Denise says. “You can speed it up or slow it down. You can also create more disturbance by stopping it sometimes.”  She notices a lot of bites occur right after the cast close to the bank. 

Tackle:  6-foot, 10-inch Falcon Topwater/Finesse Jig medium-heavy rod, Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier 7.5:1 gear ratio baitcast reel, 15-pound monofilament or fluorocarbon line. 

Swimbait

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Fall lures
Bass fall for this topwater prop bait Denise Dill throws when the leaves turn color. 

Denise suggests this lure is most effective because it resembles nearly the same size as the baitfish bass are munching on in the fall. “It also has a very realistic look," she says.

Lure: Megabass 6-inch Magdraft.

Colors:  Bone shaded with chartreuse marker on the back tail and sides of the lure. 

Structure and cover:  Backs or corners of docks, laydowns, and shallow brush piles along any banks where shad are present. 

Depth:  Bank out to 20 feet. 

Retrieve:  Denise casts the swimbait to the bank and reels at a steady, moderate pace, keeping the lure visible throughout her presentation.

Tackle:  7-foot medium-heavy action Halo rod, Lew’s 7.5:1 baitcast reel, 15-pound fluorocarbon. 

Jig

 Denise opts for a jig to primarily imitate bluegill, although it can also be used to mimic crayfish. The lure's versatility allows her to pitch it to specific targets and work it fast or slow. 

Lure:  1/2-ounce Croc-O-Gator Zapper Jig with a Bait Cave Customs Cave Cricket trailer. 

Colors: Ozark Craw on the jig and juicy color (green pumpkin/purple/ burnt orange) on the Cave Cricket.

Depth: Less than 15 feet deep.

Structure and cover: Laydowns, brush piles, boat ramps, and docks along rock banks on the main lake and in coves. 

Retrieve:  Denise pitches the jig to a target and lets it fall to the bottom. Strikes frequently occur on the initial fall, but if the jig fails to attract a taker, Denise either crawls, hops, or swims the jig along the bottom back to the boat.  

Tackle:  6’-10” Jewel Bait Company Virtus finesse jig rod, Shimano Core 7.1:1 baitcast reel, 12-pound fluorocarbon line.

Topwater Walker

Jim employs this shad imitator to work slowly along the bank or at a fast pace to trick schooling bass suspended over deep water. He also favors the surface bait because of its reputation for triggering strikes from big bass. 

Lure:  Heddon One Knocker Spook

Color:  Bone or foxy momma.

Depth:  6 inches to 60 feet or deeper. 

Structure and cover:  Shallow brush along flats in coves or docks on creek or main river channels. 

Retrieve:  Twitching and reeling the lure to create the traditional walk-the-dog presentation. When Jim slowly works the One Knocker, it makes a faint clicking sound, and when working the Spook at a fast and erratic pace, it makes a popping and rattling noise that triggers bites. “You can change its sound along with its action,” Jim says. “Depending on whether you are seeing big shad and they are real active, you can work it fast, but if you are seeing shad that are 3 or 4 inches long and they are just kind of bunched up and not real active, then you can work it real slow to imitate them." 

Tackle: 7’-2” Falcon crankbait rod, Lew’s 8.0:1 baitcast reel, 12- or 14-pound Berkley monofilament

Buzz Bait

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Fall lures
Jim Dill depends on a buzz bait to cover water quickly in pursuit of fall bass. 

Jim starts in the morning with the buzz bait, allowing him to cover water quickly. "Bass are so scattered out, and you just need to cover a lot of water," he says. "I also don't lose a lot of fish on a buzz bait compared to a Spook or a Choppo or Whopper Plopper."  

Lure:  3/4-ounce Croc-O-Gator Head Knocker buzz bait with a number 3 trailer hook.

Colors: A black skirt with a gold blade.

Structure and cover:  Moss-covered rocks and boat ramps, concrete dock pillars, and any other shallow cover such as brush piles along points and flats on the main lake and in coves. 

Depth:  Bank to 6 feet. 

 Retrieve:  Steady retrieve with occasional stops to change the lure’s action enough to get followers to react to the buzzer. 

Tackle:   7’ Falcon medium-heavy rod, 7.5:1 baitcast reel, 50-pound Power Pro braid.

Glide Bait

Jim selects this magnum-sized lure when larger gizzard shad start bunching up in the shallows during late fall. 

Lure:  Spro KGB Chad Shad 180

Color:  Bone, gizzard shad, and ghost trout. Jim chooses the bone glide bait for most weather and water conditions, but he will switch to the shad pattern on sunny days or the trout color to show bass something different. 

Structure and cover:  Large ledge rocks on the main channel and in coves.

Depth:  Bank out to 25 feet. 

Retrieve: Jim casts the lure close to the bank and reels it quickly for about 2 feet, then slows it down to a steady pace or occasionally stops it. When he sees a school of shad on the bank, Jim casts the glide bait into the middle of the forage to break up the shad ball so the bass will hone in on the lone bait coming through the scattering baitfish. Jim tries to keep his lure in sight so he can control its action throughout the retrieve. 

Tackle:  7’ Falcon Eye Crosser heavy rod,  7.3:1 Daiwa Tatula baitcast reel, 17-pound fluorocarbon.