(Editor's note: Here's another quick feature from industry rep Alan McGuckin.)
Longtime Bassmaster Elite Series roommates Terry Scroggins and Gerald Swindle agree on a lot of things – brand of tow vehicle, the SEC being college football’s strongest conference and that nothing makes for a better evening than a marinated ribeye grilled among friends.
They also agree on three basic rules regarding fall bass fishing.
> Fast retrieve: “Fish seem to want a lure that’s moving quickly through the water in the fall,” says Swindle. “Even the jig I have tied on is going to be used mostly as a swimjig. Of course, if I come to an isolated shallow dock or laydown, it’s gonna be handy to skip or pitch. But again, mostly, I swim a jig horizontally in the fall.”
> Small, fast-moving lures: Scroggins agrees that speed is the answer to autumn success, but the lures need to be relatively small. “Use lures you can fish fast, but maintain a compact profile like a 1/4-ounce spinnerbait, a Zell Pop on the surface or an XRK50 XCalibur One Knocker lipless bait.”
Adds Swindle: “For the most part, you’re trying to mimic the schools of shad that hatched this previous spring. They’re not that big, so keep your lures relatively small, too. You can’t hardly go wrong with a 1/4-ounce double-willow spinnerbait in natural shad colors."
Swindle uses a 6.6:1 Quantum Smoke baitcasting reel built with a sizeable 150 spool in order to make long casts and maximize speed of retrieve when fishing spinnerbaits.
> Shad in the creeks: You’ve likely been told to follow the shad migration toward the backs of creeks in the fall more times than your momma told you not to chew with your mouth open. Mom was right, and Scroggins and Swindle both say the follow-the-shad theory still holds true as autumn’s bassin’ gospel.
“Bass are going to be eating shad toward the back of a creek somewhere on whatever reservoir you’re fishing, but it may not be the first creek you choose, so move around from one creek to another and burn a little gas until you find the creek where they’re actively feeding,” said Scroggins.
“I usually start looking about one-third or halfway back into the creek, but I ain’t making the first cast until I see the shad on the surface or spot them on my Humminbird,” said Swindle. “You ain’t never seen Peter T. hanging around an empty buffet, have ya’? Well, I ain’t fishing in the fall if I don’t see shad.”
