Best Baits to Throw in October
When the calendar flips to October, fall is here. Even if you live in the deep South and the daytime temperatures are still pushing past the 90-degree mark, the days shorten, leaves begin to drop, and nighttime temps finally fall below 75 degrees.
Out on the lakes, “fall” is a perfect word for this time of year because things are falling, primarily the water temperatures and the water levels as lakes undergo drawdown. Any time water is drawn down on a lake, bass have less water to use, which benefits bass anglers.
October Bass Fishing Conditions
By mid-October, the summer stratification and thermoclines have mixed back into the water throughout many lakes. With most of the water column oxygenated again, baitfish can roam freely from top to bottom. Cooler water bunches the shad back up again. Summer’s bait balls turn into larger bait swarms, filling creek channels, ditches, and bays. And the bass follow suit.
This fall dynamic sets up perfectly for the open water pingers. Chasing shad swarms with jighead minnows, small swimbaits, and Alabama rigs is a scopers delight.
Small Swimbaits
When bass are chasing little shad, a small swimbait can be just the right mouthful. A roughly 3-inch paddle tail matches the smaller baitfish common this time of year and gives you a subtle presentation when bass pass up bigger offerings. Fish it around shad schools in creek pockets, along grass edges, or over open water where bass are feeding on suspended bait.
Rig it straight on a jighead so it swims naturally. A ⅛- to ¼-ounce head is a useful starting point, with weight adjusted to the depth and retrieve speed you need. Let the bait sink to the feeding depth, then swim it back with a steady retrieve. Experiment with speed until you find what gets bites.
Forward-facing sonar can help you put the bait in front of suspended fish, but you can also cast to visible schooling activity. The 3-inch Megabass Spark Shad is one option for this smaller baitfish profile.
Small Squarebill Crankbaits
Another fall phenomenon you can count on is packs of young-of-the-year shad moving up onto shallow flats and the back ends of creeks. Shad flickering around stumps, shallow wood, and rock is a beautiful sight for those who like to crank shallow. Standard 1.5-size squarebills will certainly work, but going even smaller to the 1.0 versions can make a big difference in getting bites. The 1.0s match the smaller bait profile better, but the 1.0 class of baits don’t dive as hard or as deep. With lake levels dropping, flats will be shallow, so the extra depth is not necessary. The idea is to contact the hard cover with the lure, not dredge it into the mud where the fish can’t find it. Strike King, Lucky Craft, and Bill Lewis all make size 1.0 squarebills. Other small options include the Yo-zuri 3DRX shallow-runner, Damiki BTC-50, Rapala DT-4, and OG Tiny 4.
Compact Spinnerbaits
Another great tool for this scenario is a downsized, compact spinnerbait in the 3/16th to 3/8-ounce size with smaller blades. Pulsing or “hovering” a spinnerbait over stumps or along laydowns may be old school, but it shines this time of year. These smaller spinnerbaits are often listed as baby, finesse, or compact spinnerbaits and feature smaller frames, blades, and thinner skirts.
Lipless Crankbaits
A sneakier option for when the young-of-the-year shad schools are ballooning up in shallow flats is a ¼-ounce lipless rattler like the Original Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap. Traps are typically unveiled in January and February, but getting a jumpstart on the trapping crowd is an old pros’ secret. Plenty of savvy pros pull out the rattlers as soon as the water cools off in October and December. Smaller ¼-ounce traps are perfect for scouring flats with isolated wood, rock, or scattered clumps of grass along the outside grass line. Most hard-bait lure companies make ¼- or 3/16-ounce versions of their traps, which are perfect for this time of year.
Topwater Baits
October is also a golden time for topwaters. Which topwaters? All of them, from walkers to ploppers to gurglers to the sloshing of a frog. If it floats, fish it. Match topwaters to the lake: Walkers and ploppers for highland impoundments, buzzing toads and hollow-bodied frogs for lowland impoundments or natural lakes, and small buzzbaits for everywhere in between.
Of those, ploppers, like the original Whopper Plopper, are excellent for covering water in the fall. The smaller 75 size in a shad pattern is a fish finder. Other options include the Spro Cyclone Jr., Sixth Sense Scramble 80, the Berkley Choppo 75, and the Rapala Claptail 75.
Creature Baits
Finally, for those who like the long rod and the short string, lakes that have vegetation become punching playgrounds in October. As water levels and temperatures drop, grass coverage will start shrinking. The grass dies back from cold and wind, turning huge mats into more isolated clumps. Beaver-style baits rigged with ¾- or 1-ounce tungsten weights become a very efficient presentation.
The peak of fall is a nice pause between summer and winter. October offers extremely comfortable fishing conditions with plenty of fun ways to catch bass.
