While my earlier advice has been to chuck square bill crank baits, this time of year also offers some great transition fishing. Rattle baits seem to be transition bait that is many times forgotten by most fishermen. I'm here to tell you an old fashion rattle trap can load the boat while other are focusing on crank baits.
This time of year when your hunting the baitfish, no bait does it better than a rattle trap, you can cast them a long ways and fish them over the grass fairly easily. The best news is when the bass are feeding on the bait; no lure catches them faster than rattle baits.I like using a oz. trap, it represents the size of the bait and is fairly easy to work in a burning retrieve or yo-yo retrieve and connects often with Guntersville lunkers. My suggestion is to be rigged with a soft tip rod and braided line. This allows you to pull the rattle bait through the grass, cause a deflection and hence a bite; monofilament line just has too much stretch for this time of year! I have always believed that this set up fits rattle baits best, as you need give in the rod tip not the line to catch these Guntersville bass. A stiff rod in my opinion pulls the bait out of the bass mouth to quickly with braided line and you lose to many fish. Some folks like it rigged with fluorocarbon line, it works, I just personally do not like this line it breaks to easily and has too much memory for me.
I typically look for fish with rattle baits, in shallow flats, channel flats, and mouths of the creeks where the bass seem to hold this time of year. It also seems to really be productive after a cold night where the shad has died off from the cold and the bass are looking for an easy meal. Come fish with me, I have days available to put you on a rattle bait bite!