By Jonathan LePera
Special to BassFan



Todd Faircloth is known for his consistency and skill on the Bassmaster Elite Series and once the season shuts down, his focus remains on fishing during his favorite time of the year, autumn. As many anglers make their way into the woods to hunt, bass receive considerably less pressure as they feed for winter. Here are some of Faircloth’s pointers when targeting bass in the fall.

Where To Look

Faircloth fishes expansive flats in a major creek or off the main lake as they’ll hold the biggest populations of baitfish and bass. Whether it is fish busting or shad coming to the surface, any type of surface activity is a positive sign.

“Fall time is historically all about the shad,” Faircloth said. “From September to November, when you find the shad or baitfish, you’ll find the bass.”

Early in the fall, the main lake flats are better and as it goes deeper into the fall, the backs of the creeks and the flats towards the backs of the creeks get better as the water cools down and surface activity is visible. He’ll seek out cooler water or where it mixes with warmer water.

“A lot of times, the mouth of the creek is 65 degrees while in the back it is 55 degrees and in the middle it is 60,” Faircloth said. “Usually it goes down where you have that mixture of warm and cold water at 60 degrees.”

5 Must-Haves For Fall

Faircloth always has these 5 baits on the deck of his boat after the leaves have turned.

> Strike King Red Eye Shad: “I like it so much because I can cover a lot of water, and I spend a lot of time in 3 to 7 feet and it works great in that depth zone. With all reaction baits, the clearer the water, the more translucent the bait, with the exception of chrome. Sexy Shad is a great dirty water color.”

> Strike King KVD 1.5 Square-bill crankbait: “It’s a great search bait that I can fish around wood, rock, or grass.”

> Strike King Sexy Dawg and Strike King HC KVD Splash Popper: “Usually when I’m fishing expansive flats, I’m not going to target fish so I prefer the Sexy Dawg walking bait. If I’m fishing stumps, docks, or laydowns on a flat, I prefer the popper because I can fish it slower around targets.”

> Strike King Denny Brauer Structure Jig: When the reaction bite dies, he’ll work shallow targets with a finesse jig. He’ll trim the skirt a quarter-inch past the bend of the hook and trailers so they don’t extend ¾ inch past the skirt. To get a smaller profile with a quicker fall rate, he’ll hand tie skirts using much thinner silicone on ¼- and 3/8-oz. Structure Jig heads. Muddy water means a black/blue jig with a green pumpkin trailer best matches a bluegill while clear water calls for brown or green pumpkin paired with a watermelon or green pumpkin trailer, preferably the Rage Tail Menace Grub or Structure Bug always match the trailer to the forage base. White/shad patterns can be productive.

> Strike King Pure Poison Bladed Jig: Paired with a Swimming Caffeine Shad, anywhere there’s gizzard shad, the bladed jig will always draws quality bites because the lure mimics the shad so well. Follow the same color rules as with the Structure Jig.

Geared Up

Faircloth fishes quickly to find active fish, especially after the first major cold front. It acts as a triggering mechanism for those fish as they realize they need to get up and feed. By the third front, the water has temperature has dropped substantially and started to stabilize and fish will grow lethargic waiting for the arrival of winter.

Here’s a breakdown of the gear Faircloth uses when throwing the baits mentioned above:

> Jig: 7’ mag/medium-heavy Castaway Skeleton casting rod, casting reel with 7:1 gear ratio, 10- to 14-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line. “I want a rod with some backbone but some give as well as I’m using fairly light line,” he said.

> Square-bill and lipless crank: 7’2” medium-action Castaway Todd Faircloth Shallow Cranker casting rod paired with 16-pound Sunline Super FC Sniper fluorocarbon line. “It’s very parabolic but enough backbone to rip baits out of the grass.”

> Bladed Jig: He’ll opt for a 7’3” rod with 20-pound fluorocarbon line. “The stiffer line the better,” he said.

> Topwater: He prefers 16- to 20-pound Sunline Super Natural monofilament, but he’s been experimenting with a braid to monofilament leader to prevent line from tangling with the front hook and to impart a snapping motion to the bait.



In the embedded video below, Faircloth talks about how he goes about prepping a jig for action.