Fall bass fishing peaks when cooling water pulls fish shallow to chase baitfish. Topwaters, spinnerbaits, and crankbaits cover the widest range of situations, but the right choice depends on species, structure, and how aggressive the fish are. Buzzbaits and walking baits excel early in the season. Squarebills and lipless crankbaits take over as water temps continue to drop.
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Fall is a great time to target all species of bass. Toward the end of September and into early October, bass move from their summer hangouts to shallower water to chase baitfish. This leads to more aggressive fish near the bank, where they are easier to target and dial in. Depending on the species you’re targeting, the location, and the time of year, your lure choices will vary. Spotted bass might smoke a topwater, while a smallmouth will crush a spinnerbait. Squarebills are also a great choice for largemouth in the fall. With that in mind, I compiled my favorite fall bass lures into different categories. Below are my top picks for chasing autumn largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass.
Topwater Baits
- Damiki Noisy MTB Buzzbait
- Heddon Zara Spook
- Lucky Craft Sammy
- Storm Rattlin’ Chug Bug
- Berkley Swamp Lord
Spinnerbaits
Crankbaits
Best of the Rest
Topwater Baits
Fall is the best time of year to catch a lot of fish, including some big ones, on topwater baits. Everything from a popper to a hollow-body frog can mimic baitfish, such as shad and bluegill, struggling or feeding along the surface. And when the bass spot these baits, they absolutely explode on them. Here are some of my favorites.
Damiki Noisy MTB Buzzbait
Damiki Noisy MTB Buzzbait
Buzzbaits are great fall lures because they mimic baitfish well, and they can be used to cover a lot of water. The Damiki Noisy B Buzzbait is versatile. Fish it around grass, wood, docks, rocks, and more. I like this bait because its clacker contacts the prop each time it turns, creating a unique sound.
Heddon Zara Spook
Heddon Zara Spook
Walking-style topwaters have long been associated with fall fishing, and none more so than the Heddon Spook. This bait is also used to mimic shad primarily, with its wide, side-to-side swipes across the surface. Spooks aren’t ideal for covering water, but they work better when fishing specific areas, such as brush piles, treetops, and docks. If you can be patient and fish slowly, you can bring up good ones while working these baits across vast points and down long seawalls and rip-rap banks.
Lucky Craft Sammy
Lucky Craft Sammy
The Lucky Craft Sammy is another great walking-style topwater. It is more of a finesse bait with a subtle rattle and more realistic color schemes. I prefer the Sammy when fish are less aggressive, or when the water is clear or calm.
Storm Rattlin’ Chug Bug
Storm Rattlin’ Chug Bug
A long-standing fall staple, the Storm Chug Bug crushes as the leaves start to fall. An old-school popper, the Chug Bug gulps up a nice, dull splash each time it’s twitched, which is often exactly what a fall bass needs. These fish spend months chasing shad all over the place, and when they finally find one that appears to be injured and moving slowly, they pounce.
Berkley Swamp Lord
Berkley Swamp Lord
These slow-moving topwater frog lures can be skipped into places other baits can’t go, and they can cross terrain other baits can’t cross. The Swamp Lord is great for both of these techniques thanks to its wide and flat belly.
Spinnerbaits
Spinnerbaits are perhaps the best baits for fall fishing. These conglomerations of wire, blades, and rubber are well-suited for targeting largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass in heavy cover, open water, and everywhere in between. Another stellar bait for mimicking baitfish, the flash and thump draw bass in, regardless of water clarity. Here are the best spinnerbaits you can buy.
Z-Man Sling BladeZ
Z-Man Sling BladeZ
The Z-Man Sling BladeZ is relatively new, but it has become one of my go-to baits over the last couple of years. The 5/0 O’Shaughnessy bend VMC hook is my favorite feature, but other details also impress me, such as the hand-tied silicone skirt, wire trailer keeper, and wire arm that is thin enough for good vibration but doesn’t wear down or break over time.
War Eagle Spinnerbait
War Eagle Spinnerbait
The War Eagle is the gold standard fall spinnerbait in many ways. There are some awesome skirt colors and blade combinations in this bait that mimic baitfish well and pair perfectly with fall water colors. The lone drawback is that these spinnerbaits traditionally don’t hold up over time. You can catch a lot of fish on one of these baits, but you’d better take it off and tie on a new one every few trips, or you’re likely to break the arm on a big one.
Crankbaits
Crankbaits can target all species of black bass from inches of water out to 25-plus. Several of these baits can cover the ideal 1- to 10-foot fall-depth range. Here are some of the best.
Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap
Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap
Rat-L-Traps and other lipless crankbaits are perfect fall baits because you can fish them easily from inches of water out to 10 feet. Burning these baits across a shallow flat is one of the best ways to catch fall bass that are relating to bait. You can also yo-yo a Rat-L-Trap a little further out along the drops by letting the bait sink towards the bottom and then ripping it back up, over and over.
Bandit 100
Bandit 100
Squarebills excel in the fall. These baits can maneuver through shallow wood, scale over rock, and bump stumps like no other. The Bandit 100, in particular, is a great fall bait because it’s smaller and more subtle than many other standard squarebills. Reeling one of these baits through a shallow laydown in the fall is a great way to catch a giant largemouth.
Rapala Shad Rap
Rapala Shad Rap
As the fall wears on and the water starts to cool, a Rapala Shad Rap becomes a big player. As the water cools into the 50s, the fall bite will wane a little, but a Shad Rap can fire things back up. The fish will start to move a little deeper and relate to rock and wood this time of year. Slowly crawling a Shad Rap through this 4- to 8-foot depth range should trigger bites.
Best of the Rest
Other great baits work well for fall fishing. While this still isn’t an exhaustive list, here are a few more baits that imitate the shallow baitfish bass often target in autumn.
Hopkins Shorty Spoon
Hopkins Shorty Spoon
A Hopkins Shorty Hammered Spoon has likely caught as many fall bass as any other bait over the decades. Anglers use these baits to target fish vertically in deeper water as they migrate up shallow in the fall and then back out. You can also use them to target schooling bass along the surface. And there’s no other bait that can be thrown as far as this little chunk of metal, which is a huge deal when chasing fall schoolers.
Wordens Original Rooster Tail
Wordens Original Rooster Tail
If you’re fishing from the bank, a big boat, or literally anywhere in between, a Rooster Tail will catch fish for you in the fall. You can target smallmouth way up shallow creeks with this bait; you can catch schooling largemouth on flats, and you can catch spots around rocks. The little spinning blade and the feathered hook, paired with the hefty metal body, give you the perfect combination for long casts and low-maintenance fishing.
Megabass Ito Vision 110
Megabass Ito Vision 110
Jerkbaits are fantastic lures year-round, but are especially effective in the fall. Capable of catching all species of black bass from Okeechobee to the Great Lakes, the stop-and-go action of the Megabass 110 is ideal for mimicking a struggling shad. While this bait excels throughout the fall, it becomes even more critical when the water cools and bass become more lethargic.
SPRO Zero Minnow Wakebait
SPRO Zero Minnow Wakebait
Wakebaits wobble to create a small wake as they swim across the surface. This bone or chrome lure is ideal for fall fishing, and the three sharp trebles ensure you’ll make contact with bass, even if they just swipe at the bait.
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