This time of year, when the water temperatures fall back into the 60s and high 50s, shad schools in the big feeder creeks of some lakes will move deep before they start migrating on up the creeks. I use my electronics to find wads of shad, and the closer they are to the bottom, the better. Sometimes you’ll actually mark bass feeding in the shad or close by. For these bass in 25 to 30 feet of water, a drop-shot rig with a leader of about 2 feet long really works well. My favorite bait is a 5-inch white Lake Fork Magic Shad on a 4/0 or 5/0 wide-gap hook and fished off a 7-foot flipping rod and 14- to 17-pound-test fluorocarbon.

What’s different about my rig is how I fish it. I let the sinker and the bait get to the bottom, and I just leave the weight there and only pull the bait up and let it flutter back down on the slack leader. The purpose of the weight is just to get the drop-shot rig to the bottom fast. Once there, essentially I’m fishing a weightless soft jerkbait on a 2-foot line. The bass love it.

— Chevy pro Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C.