Top 5 baits for the Fall Transition

The late fall to early winter is one of my favorite times to fish. This season is one of the few times I have the lake all to myself. Sure, there are other fisherman on the water but they aren’t fishing like I am. No matter where you are in the country, as winter approaches anglers begin to slow down their presentation. Whether that mean throwing a worm, flipping a jig, or spooning, just depends on where you live. Sure you could give in to the trend and fish like everyone else but why?

Why not break away from the pack, fish hard, fish for the active fish, and have whole sections of the lake to yourself? As the water cools most of the bass will slow down and become sluggish and the fisherman will follow suit. Maybe this is your year to break out of the mold and find the feeding fish in and around the shallows. Here are my top 5 baits for fishing that transition between fall and winter.

You’ll notice the only bait on the list that isn’t a pure reaction bait is the football jig. At certain times the active fish are completely keyed on crawdads and that is when the football comes in to play. The rest of the time however, I’ll be fishing shallow, fishing fast, and putting the remaining 4 baits to work for me. If you want to catch a big bass in the fall that hasn’t been pressured like all the smaller fish be the last guy to leave the shallows, the last one to set down the topwater rod, and never, ever set down that swimbait.

Are these the baits you like to throw in the fall/winter? Is a late-season reaction bite news to you? What are your go-to baits in the fall?  I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Which swimbait should you choose?

Has anyone else noticed that there are 10 or 20 times the number of swimbaits on the market today than there were 5 years ago? Some of the biggest “brand name” baits in the industry have only existed for a year or two.  What is an angler to do? You can buy every last one of them in order to see which ones consistently catch fish and which ones don’t but then there is no money left to put in the gas tank. A boat full of baits and no where to go sure won’t help you get bit!  At the request of several anglers I put this video together to shed a little light on which baits work. Forget the hype, forget all the talk about which bait is better. I’m sharing with you a handful of the baits that consistently help me put big fish in the boat, in every season of the year. These aren’t the only baits I use but these are the baits that are widely available and that I firmly believe will get bit coast to coast, day in and day out.

Has this been your experience? Are you one of those guys that lives and dies with a hardbait in your hand? Feel free to leave a comment and let me hear your thoughts. I don’t claim to be the best or to know it all but these are the baits I love to fish. If you take the knowledge in this video and apply it to your time on the water, big things are sure to come.

Another Swim Jig Option: The Switchblade

First off, thank you all for the great feedback on swimming heavy jigs for bass. I’ve already had readers send in photos of bass over 10 lbs from as far away as Florida! I’m so excited to see the technique working nation wide. I’ve had multiple people ask to see the jigs moving in the water so I finally took the time to video the jigs in action. You’ll be able to see what makes the roboworm EZ shad work so well on the back of that jig… its all in the action.

In this video we also decided to share the Switchblade with you. While this is something I’ve tossed around from time to time it was recently brought back to mind by my good friend Adam Hinkle. Adam is a stud from Southern California and puts a real dent in those San Diego bass.

The Switchblade jig is a modification to the swim jig that involves attaching a blade (my preference is a willow leaf) to the hook of the Dirty Jigs Swim Jig via a swivel. We get many of the same perks of the swim jig (realism, lifelike-movement, unique look and feel) but you also get extra vibration and flash which can make all the difference in murky water. Give the video a watch and let me know what you think.

I know I’m  not the only person to ever fish a switchblade but no one else seems to be willing to talk about it. I know one or two of you have been secretly hammering the fish with this technique. Let’s hear the stories!

How to Skip a Jig

I recently had the pleasure of spending a day on Lake Lewisville with Tim Cline. As the day progressed I realized that I was completely outmatched when it came to pitching and skipping in heavy cover. Tim was gracious enough to let me turn the camera on so the rest of you could see how he does it. Watch closely and take notes, this guy is good!

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