With the best crank bait bite time of year just around the corner, and the grass dieing off I thought I would spend some time giving you some tips on fall crank bait bite. First of all there are about 3 crank baits that I really like in the fall of the year, all run 3 to 7 feet in depth and all float up. The first being the Shad Rap #5 series, the Lucky Craft 1.5 series and the Rapala DT Fat 3 all move a lot of water and are especially effective in muddy or stained water like Guntersville.
Fishing these baits in cover, around grass edges and wood requires good strong tackle; I like to use a 6 1/2 foot medium action rod with 15 to 20 pound monofilament line. Abrasive free line is a very important part of the proper rigging as the new fluorocarbons get nicked to easily to fish around cover.
On Guntersville where the fall is full of dieing grass edges, I like to work the bait in a couple of ways. One is to work out off the grassy points and retrieve the bait back to you on 3 areas of the points, the two sides and the point it self. The bait needs to dive quickly and if you feel it catch the grass just stop your retrieve and let it float up. The next way is to parallel the edges; if your working long edges with a lot of grass points down the edge you can actually guide the bait around the edge. All you have to do is move the rod tip and the bait will move with the rod and you can maneuver it around the points and depth changes.
The best thing about the fall crank bait is it generally catches good fish and with today's hooks you can put the good ones in the boat.