Wake Baits for Fickle Fall Bass

Terry Bolton with proof of how effective wake baits can be for fall bass. Photo by Colin Moore. Angler: Terry Bolton.

October 12, 2015 • Terry Bolton • Archives

Once in a tournament I found some fish in the back of the creek and tried a Zara Spook to catch them. For the most part, the bass would come up and swirl at the walking lure or bulge the water under it, but not take it. Finally I switched to a wake bait and that did the trick; I caught every fish that showed an interest.

Sometimes fish just don’t want to break the surface to get a lure, but will go after it when it’s just below the surface. Wake baits are great for such times. They have a reputation for being good lures for the spawn and post spawn, but I fish them a lot in the fall when the bass want something a little different.

Basically, they have two applications:

1.Search

When you want to cover a lot of water quickly, especially on the edges of grass mats or over big flats where there’s a lot of grass that doesn’t quite make it to the surface, a wake bait is a good choice. You just cast it out as far as you can and wind it back in. I’ve found that on cool mornings, or after cool nights, bass want it moving a little slower. Then, when it warms up during the day, you can bring it in a little faster.

2. Follow Up

On those days when bass will show an interest in a topwater, but won’t commit, a wake bait usually will change their minds. If you miss fish around wood cover such as a shallow laydown, cast a wake bait in there. The same goes when you’re fishing buzzbaits and the bass aren’t connecting – put a wake bait in there.

My two favorites are the Storm Arashi and the Rapala BX Waking Minnow. The Arashi is short and fat, while the Waking Minnow has a longer, more slender profile. I fish the Arashi and the Waking Minnow on 20-pound-test Suffix Siege Mono with a 7.5:1 Team Lew’s Lite baitcaster. The rod is a Lew’s 7-2 Magnum Bass Rod II in medium-heavy action.

A lot of times it’s very important to “match the hatch” in terms of using a bait that’s about the same size as the forage the bass are chasing, and these two pretty much cover that. As far as colors, I’ll use a bream color when the fish are feeding mainly on them, or a shad pattern. In the fall, the shad color seems to work best.