Fall may be in the air but boating and fishing season are far from over! Fall provides plenty of opportunity for a variety of gamefish such as, sunfish, crappies catfish, walleyes, and bass. Due to the cooling water temperatures and shorter daylight hours, it will have the fish moving from their summer locations to where they will set up shop for the winter. Jerkbaits will be the lures to utilize in this crispy season so, here are some of our favourite Rapala lures to use along with some awesome fall fishing tips that will help you reap the autumn harvest!
X-Rap
Many anglers will tell you that “covering water” is the best option for fall fishing and the best fishing lure to use for this tactic would be the X-rap for long-casting jerkbait. The struggling baitfish action of this lure will have fish seeking it out. In early autumn you may want to use this lure to fish fast and erratically as opposed to later in the fall where you will want to slow things way down as you reel in.
Cooling shallow water temperatures will cause baitfish and predators to leave the shorelines and head to deeper water. On lakes and rivers that are full of weeds, you will find bass and walleye near bays, tributaries and flats. By retrieving a jerkbait over top of the weeds or simply on the outside edge, you will be sure to catch both smallmouth and largemouth bass as well as walleye.
RipStop
This fishing lure has a tail design that creates a fast-ripping swimbait action. It has a strike-triggering power that has a hard-stopping, forward motion that stops extremely fast with just a subtle shimmy before coming to a rest. It then slightly lifts its head with a super low-rise that predators won’t be able to resist.
Bass and walleye have been known to hang out in deep portions of a point in early morning. As the sun and temperature rises, they may move a little further up on the point. Deep-diving jerkbait is the bait to use in this case. In the mornings, you will want to work the bait along the ledges and make some casts away from the point into open water for the chance to hit a suspending fish. Later in the afternoon, sun-hit rocks are the target you will want to aim for.
Husky Jerk
This fishing lure is perfectly balanced and can be cast or trolled at any speed. The rattle chamber transmits sound waves that amplify through the water. They can suspend on pause which is an important feature when experimenting with different pause lengths. In early fall, quicker pause lengths are more ideal while later in the fall season you may want to consider have a 10 second pause before retrieving.
A tip that can help land that trophy fish is the tactic of “strolling”. Leave the bait behind the boat and let out another half or full cast of line. Slowly troll your jerkbait using the wind and the boat motor as you quickly pull the rod forward then slide it back to imitate a dance-like movement for the jerkbait. Weighting the jerkbait in the late fall will increase its running depth as the fish will be deeper at this time of year.
Ensure you don’t leave the dock without a variety of jerkbait, depending on the time of the season. By putting these tips and lures into practice, it can help you have the best fall fishing adventure yet!
