Fall Cranking

Crankbaits are excellent for catching bass, walleye, pike, panfish and other fish in the fall. Here are five must-try crankbait techniques to use from summer’s end to late fall.

As water temperatures begin cooling in early fall, the squarebill bass bite heats up on many Canadian lakes. Shallow-running squarebills like the BX Brat, OG Rocco 5 and OG Big Rocco 6 feature a square-shaped lip designed to deflect off of obstacles. This characteristic makes these lures great for working shorelines and shallow flats with rocky structures, logs and other kinds of hard cover. A fast retrieve with a squarebill is an effective way to cover water and trigger reaction bites. To learn more squarebill tactics, see this blog post.

Top locations: Inside weedlines, open lanes within weedbeds, shoreline points, sunken logs, stumps, laydowns, isolated boulders, riprap shorelines, sand bars and docks.

The Ultra Light Minnow is a slow-sinking crankbait with a 2 to 3 foot running depth ideal for catching crappie and bluegills suspending high in the water column. Perch swimming in skinny water will also eat up this lure like candy.

Use 05 and 06 size Shad Raps when panfish are feeding in 4 to 10 feet of water. The Shad Rap’s profile and natural swim do a good job appealing to the hungry appetites of panfish in autumn.

Serious panfish anglers should also own the original CountDown or CountDown Elite. Cast one out, let it sink to feeding depth and then work it back using a swim-pause retrieve.

Top locations: Large weed beds in 6 to 15 feet, pockets and inside turns along weed edges, sand flats with grass and rock, sunken trees, laydowns and docks.

Shad Raps in 08 and 09 sizes are deadly for catching walleye, smallmouth, largemouth and pike in autumn. With a 8 to 15 foot running depth, these models work well when predator fish are holding in shallow to mid-depth habitats within lakes, rivers, and reservoirs.

Also be sure the new Shad Rap Elite (SRE75) is in your collection this fall. Keeping all the benefits of the original, the Elite version is slightly heavier for its size, allowing for longer casts. It also has a forged, flattened, one piece through wire construction for improved durability and comes in premium, high-def patterns with a metallic gilded face for a standout visual.

Top locations: Outside edges of large weed flats, isolated cabbage clumps, shoreline points, drop-off ledges associated with food shelves, sand bars, grass-sand flats, rock reefs, wing dams, current breaks and tributaries.

With an enticing side-to-side action and incredibly accurate running depths, DT (Dives-To) crankbaits are must-haves. The 04 and 06 models perform well in similar shallow locations as squarebills. The other four models are better suited for precision cranking bass, walleye, and pike feeding in 8 to 16 feet.

The DT is also easily cast 150 feet, and quickly dives to a specific depth. These attributes help keep it in the strike zone longer.

The DT is also designed for all-day cranking, which means you can use them to catch tons of fish without feeling the strain commonly encountered from fishing with many other deep diving crankbaits.

Top locations: Deep weed beds, points, sand bars, offshore rocky reefs, the edges of weed-covered humps, mid-depth flats, drop-off ledges and open-water zones holding schools of baitfish.

Tip: Read about the many benefits gain from using a crankbait-specific rod setup in this blog.

A discussion of autumn crankbait tactics is incomplete without mentioning the Rippin’ Rap, Ultra Light Rippin’ Rap, Rattlin’ Rapala and Slab Rap. Lipless crankbaits have many benefits. They’re great for covering water, have distinct swimming actions and produce ample vibration.

A hopping retrieve with a lipless crankbait is a particularly reliable technique in the fall. Simply cast a lipless crank out, let it sink to the desired depth, and then use a lift-fall jigging cadence to bring it back in over a weedbed canopy or along the bottom. Experiment with letting the falling lure make contact with cover or the bottom. However, on some days, a steady, pumping cadence is all it takes to get fish to bite.

A hopping retrieve with a lipless crankbait is a particularly reliable technique in the fall. Simply cast a lipless crank out, let it sink to the desired depth, and then use a lift-fall jigging cadence to bring it back in over a weedbed canopy or along the bottom. Experiment with letting the falling lure make contact with cover or the bottom. However, on some days, a steady, pumping cadence is all it takes to get fish to bite.

Top locations: Weedbeds, soft-bottom flats, drop-offs, points, sand bars and various mid-lake structures, like humps.   

When bass, walleye, pike, perch, crappie and other fish ramp up feeding in autumn, it’s hard to go wrong fishing a crankbait. The specific lures and five fishing tactics discussed above represent some of the best options for catching more fish casting crankbaits in the fall. Give them a try and be sure to share your crankbait catches by tagging us on our social channels.