Was I in the fish not to catch a dang one.
Pulled into this cove after not much happening all afternoon. Bass started busting shad.
I had 5 blow ups on a white ribbit but none took it.
Then I caught one on a swim bait. Got him right to the boat and he come unpinned. I'd fished 3 hours already and the pressure was on and I horsed him.
Then I caught one on a squarebill. Thought erroneously, this bitch ain't getting off. He came completely out of the water and shook and came unpinned.
Threw right back and the fish of the day, a 5 or 6 pounder, followed the square bill back all the way to boat and never bit.
It was a thrilling afternoon not to do anything. Any advice y'all want to give on baits and tactics for these bass busting shad will be welcome.
I'm fixing to camp in this cove. Saw a deer, heard squirrels and saw woodies too.
The odd ball of The afternoon was my brand new Berkley Lightning Shock. Threw a spinnerbait a few times with it and it absolutely shredded my line. First time on the water with it. The top guide was cracked. AC is done buying junk. I welcome rod recommendations too. I like a flexible tip, medium or medium heavy action. I like throwing moving baits like those mentioned above for the most part.

As fun as autumn can be, to me it also can be quite frustrating at times because the fish are so doggone keyed in on eating the real thing. Have seen it too many times on the lower end of Wheeler and a few years ago at Kentucky Lake while fishing with James Niggemeyer. We threw shallow cranks, swimjigs, chatterbaits, walking baits, popping baits, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits. Caught a few but not what you'd think seeing all the busting bass and shad ... which is all they wanted.

Busting on top is a fun game but you gotta get way back off them and sling something in there. I like spooks cause I can cast them a country mile. If they are spots I throw a fluke on a spinning rod. It's light but a can cast it a long way.

I've caught my PB spot on a Berkeley fluke style bait that was clear with green flake. I fought her for at least 3-4 minutes on light tackle and drag just tight enough to take up slack while she was coming up

I caught a lot of schooling fish throwing a 3" slider on 6lb test. If they got too finicky we'd catch shad and use the real thing.

I like a spook too. Sometimes if they won't commit I will put a feathered treble on the back. I also catch a lot of schooling fish on a fish head spin with a skinny dipper or kietech on it.

Rods come down to what you want to spend. I recently bought a hammer rod. I really like it so far. The Tackle Trap has about 1 of anything you want to look at. They also have some demos that can be bought right. Check warranty

For the money, All Star and Falcon are hard to beat.
I have moved to all 7.5 feet for baitcasting and spinning rods and I can throw a topwater bait farther than I care to reel.

I share that opinion, but would add Castaway to the mix. I own more Falcon rods than anything else.

Try a 3" white curly tail grub on a leadhead.

Fluke is good for this type of fishing. They will hit on a fall, so, if you are throwing a spinner bait, real and then pause. Most of the time, they will grab it.

I second the hammer rod. I don't know how far you are Sheltons in Moulton but I buy all my rods from there and they have a good used ones too!

consistent bite is still deep imo I try to ignore most schoolers this time of year if possible

I'd like a Hammer Rod. They just a little rich for me. Bought a Bulldawg. It threw great in yard and seems pretty sensitive. Hope it holds up. Guy at GTO said they've sold a lot of them. Website says it has 5 year warranty.

Buy you a hammer rod. Best rod out there right now imo.

But if you will stop that crankbait ever so often it will help with getting bites.

Thanks for the tip. I'm trying to get up to speed. A lot of trial and error.

No error in trial. Only learning. The only error you can make is not learning from everything that is or isn't working. If you've thrown that dang crank 100 times and nothing's happened think about it. Where you are, how deep you are fishing, if you've got fish but no bites, if they might hit something that's not a reaction type bait, if you have to go to them instead of calling them up to you. That's what makes all this so dang fun. Pattern finding is almost as fun as tournament fishing. And most importantly, listen to no one. The worst mistake you can make is planing your whole day around what someone told you they are catching them on. Figure it out for yourself and then keep a record of it so you can pick up where you left off. Before long you will be able to track them from January to December.

I wear them out when they are chasing shad with a Rapala lipless shad.Work it in short jerks.

For crank baits a rod that has a slightly slower action with a more limber tip and using mono will help keep them on the hook. You need a rod that will flex with the fish and the stretchy line helps keep tension on a hook.