In the summer, shad and bass like to hang out in deeper water around thermoclines because it’s cooler and the dissolved oxygen content is better. So you spend most of your time fishing vertically for deep fish. Now it’s time to start reversing the approach.

Surface water temperatures start dropping again in fall weather, and the shallows cool first. That means shad are beginning to make their way back onto the flats and into shallow pockets, and you need to put those areas back on your list of places to fish.

One of my best fall baits is the Strike King Red Eye Shad. It’s a lipless crankbait that lets you cover a lot of water in a hurry, which is good because the fish are likely to be scattered out and roaming. If the water is 2 1/2 feet deep or less, I like the 1/4-ounce size because it matches a young-of-the-year shad of about 2 or 2 1/2 inches. If I’m fishing deeper, say from 2 1/2 to 6 or 7 feet, I’ll go with the 1/2-ounce size.

The Red Eye Shad comes in a lot of colors that will catch bass, but my two favorites are chrome-and-blue and chrome-and-black, in that order. When bass start stocking up on shallow shad before cold weather arrives, head for the flats and be ready to do a lot of casting and winding.