Hey guys, being a big crankbait fishermen in the fall I wanted to transition into some soft plastics fishing in the fall to complement my crankbait fishing. What kinds of soft plastics baits do you guys fish in the fall weather? I have fished senkos and only had the occasional strike and they didn't produce as I would have hoped. Would something like a soft jerkbait work? Thanks  

one thing you have to understand about the fall is that the bass are gonna begin to migrate following shools of shad into pockets near productive main lake points. My usual game plan is to start early with a fast moving topwater like a Zara Spook. from there ill start throwing a fast moving crank like a Rapala DT4 or DT6. Remember this is the time when the shad will be schooling on top and the bass will be suspending of the bottom around cover waiting for a school to come by. Also one very producive way to target Fall bass is a white swim jig. Plain and simple There is no need for plastics untill we get to late fall where bass are deep in pockets and cove tight to cover just before theyre move back to deep water for the winter. HOPE THIS HELPS

4" pumpkin seed berkley powerbait power worm with a 1/16 oz. split shot weight on an owner EWG 1/0 hook. You can either fish it like you would normally fish a worm or you can use a slow steady retrieve working it like a swim bait giving it an occasional twitch. The tail make a vibration that makes the fish hit.

Plastics that looks like flukes and shads.  Soft jerkbaits

Maybe there is no need for plastics in TX but here in FL they rule in the fall! As soon as the sun gets high the fish either go deep or in the slop! There is no better way to target them than with a soft plastic worm or fluke!

Beaver

very true but florida especially south florida is a huge exception as far as seasons go. you really dont have what most would call a fall transition period. at about this time you should be throwing stuff into the thickest nastiest stuff you can find your waters are still in or near the 80 deg mark and the bass are sick of it so they go and find santuary in THICK STUFF. if you havent tried these you are dead worng and just plain sick.

http://www.***.com/descpagePAYSK-PBPS.html

Berkley 10'' power worm !!!!  

Beaver

+1

That or a tube.  I'm actually favoring the tube right now.  

I've had some good results with a Zoom 6" black lizard,fished slowly,weightless or carolina rigged.G/L

one thing you have to understand about the fall is that the bass are gonna begin to migrate following shools of shad into pockets near productive main lake points. My usual game plan is to start early with a fast moving topwater like a Zara Spook. from there ill start throwing a fast moving crank like a Rapala DT4 or DT6. Remember this is the time when the shad will be schooling on top and the bass will be suspending of the bottom around cover waiting for a school to come by. Also one very producive way to target Fall bass is a white swim jig. Plain and simple There is no need for plastics untill we get to late fall where bass are deep in pockets and cove tight to cover just before theyre move back to deep water for the winter. HOPE THIS HELPS

Very good info.

rage tail anaconda

+1 on tube.

Rage Tail Shad. Been getting crushed with this color.

Favorite lures will vary from season-to-season but they also vary according to geographic latitude.

For instance, fall fishing in central Florida is very different from what we knew in New Jersey, so the key is flexibility.

Today (September 26), mom & I fished down the afternoon and witnessed a massive mayfly hatch

and oppressive heat. Although shad is the traditional focus during fall, our most productive lure by far

was the Gambler 8" Flapp'n Tail worm. Ironically, we fished many baitfish imitators

including the Spro Aruku Shad, Bandit 100, Berkley Hollow Belly Swimbait and Huddleston Weedless Trout.

This is not an anomaly, and even during topwater activity, the worm profile will commonly outproduce the baitfish profile.

Stay flexible.

Roger

The waters here in FL may still be HOT but we are starting to see lots of schooling fish! Today they had shiners pushed into a shallow flat and it was an amazing site to see! The top water bite is really picking up hard(Rage Tail toad).

Here in the middle of Illinois, unstable weather warm days and cool nights have made working for the bite the norm.  Was getting limits on T-rigged creatures and jigs early, big C-rigged baits in the middle and now those are not as productive for me.

Always comes back this time of year to the small stickbait weightless. 3&4" Sticks, Senkos or Dingers. Even my beautiful 9year old daughter was catching them on a smoke 4" dinger last night free-falling down a short ledge.

Twitch

Went out in the rain last night. Had one of those rare outings where they hit everything I threw. Jig with a Rage Tail trailer, tube rigged weightless and a Rapala Husky Jerk. It was a numbers night, no toads but still fun.

Weightless Flukes(shad colored)

I agree with donbeatya.