October Tackle Warehouse Staff Picks

The Keitech Shad Impact is always super effective in October as bass actively feed on baitfish this month. During the fall, small baits closely match the new shad that fish often feed on. The Shad Impact has an attractive baitfish profile and a soft composition that gives it a lot of lifelike movement in the water.

I fish the Keitech Shad Impact on a drop shot and typically run a longer leader of 18–24 inches to help keep the bait elevated and visible above any vegetation. I’ll fish this rig using a combination of twitches/shakes, slow pulls, and pauses during the retrieve while maintaining bottom contact the entire time.

I like to keep it natural with realistic shad patterns in October. A couple top colors in the Keitech Shad Impact include TW Pro Blue and Smokey Shad.

I’ve spent many days float tubing with my buddy at Lake Kaweah in California where we could sit in one area and drop shot the bass for hours in October. We never caught anything big, but we had some days where we easily caught 100 fish.

My standard drop-shot setup includes a 7’0” Shimano Zodias spinning rod with a medium power and fast action. For a reel, I like a Shimano Stradic 2500 filled with 16-pound Seaguar JDM PEX8 Braid mainline attached to an 8-pound Seaguar Tatsu leader. I rig the bait on a #2 Gamakatsu Aaron Martens G-Finesse Drop-Shot Hook with a 3/16-ounce Voss Drop-Shot Weight.

The rattle bait has always been a killer choice in the fall. A lot of lakes have miles of unproductive water in October, as bass are often scattered and ganged up in just a few key spots. The bass are schooling, chasing bait, and can be heavily reactive, and a lipless crankbait offers a quick way to find and catch them. Honorable mentions in the lipless crankbait category also go to the Lucky Craft LV 500 and classic Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap.

The Jackall TN 70 is very efficient when fished around hard bottom or grass from the bank down to 12 feet or even deeper—prime depths for fall schools of bass. I don’t find fall fish to be overly oriented to hard structure like wood or brush, so a lipless crank is effective for quickly searching through the areas they want to be.

Speed and action is key during retrieval, as you want to cover water until fish are located. Once a school is found, I alternate between steady slow or fast retrieves, yo-yoing with big sweeps, quick jerks, or small lifts, and ripping off the bottom or through grass. Along with switching baits and colors, trying different retrieves will help you find out what the fish want and how to keep them firing.

I usually carry several colors of the Jackall TN 70, including Ghost Minnow for clear water along with Chartreuse Shad, Black/Gold, or craw colors for stained water. I’ll also bring an old Chartreuse/Blue or Chartreuse/Black. Sometimes, that bright color makes the difference in getting them to react.

I’m so glad I was chosen this month because if there’s one bait I associated with ANY month, it’s a lipless crankbait in October. My #1 catch on the Jackall TN 70 is an 11-pounder I caught in a Tournament of Champions at Clear Lake about 10 years ago. I was yo-yoing a Chartreuse Shad TN 70 in about 12 feet of water and she smoked it down in her crushers.

I love the old Powell 7’11” composite deep-cranking rod for fishing the TN 70, unless the grass is so heavy that I can’t clear it. The lengthier rod facilitates longer casts, good hooksets when yo-yoing, and has plenty of bend to keep fish pinned. Otherwise, the 7’5” Megabass Orochi XX Braillist also works well and makes it a bit easier to pop the bait and clear grass from the trebles. For a reel, I often use a Shimano Chronarch MGL 150HG filled with 17-pound Seaguar Tatsu, though I’ll go to a high-speed reel if fishing heavier grass to make ripping and clearing the bait easier.

The bait’s action along with its chunky profile make it an ideal yellow perch imitation. While it can be set up with the included dual-pronged belly hook, I’m a huge fan of the single-hook option. With either configuration, the line-through design lets the bait disconnect from the hook during the fight to freely slide up the line, basically eliminating any leverage the fish has to throw the hook.

I simply cast the bait out and reel it back at a slow or slow-medium pace to bring out the best action and keep it at the right depth. I might incorporate a little twitch or speed change here and there if I’m not getting bit.

One of the biggest reasons I chose the Swag LT was simply because of the outstanding yellow perch color it comes in. I throw this bait at a clear-water lake containing a sizable population of yellow perch, so I prefer to use perch colors that are more subtle and realistic looking. Perch-colored baits are often bright and vibrant, but the Swag LT has an absolutely perfect muted tone for where I'm fishing.

My most memorable and largest fish on this bait so far is a 6.01-lb largemouth caught last October from shore. It was getting dark, and I was nearing my last cast of the evening when she bit on the first couple of handle cranks after the bait splashed down.

The 6-inch version I throw weighs just 1-1/4 ounces, so specialized swimbait tackle isn’t necessary. My current setup includes a Phenix Feather 7’3” extra-heavy casting rod. This rod fishes lighter than its ratings but works well for the Swag LT, though I wouldn’t say it’s the optimal stick for this bait. For a reel, I’m fishing a 2019 JDM Scorpion 150 MGL 7.4:1 filled with 40-pound PowerPro Super8Slick in Moss Green. I tie this to about 7 feet of 18.4-pound Defiant 100% Fluorocarbon Shock Leader.