A couple years ago, I took some notes out of the June 2008 issue of Bassmaster magazine on the right lure selection based on the water temperature. As we head into the fall, I thought it would be useful to hit the high points of this article by Don Wirth (“A seasonal guide to lure selection”).
Water temperatures ranging from 55° up to 70° define the fall season for bass. In a few weeks, we should start to see water in this range in the Virginia and Maryland areas. Lure selection is mostly dependent on the clarity of the water with a different set of weapons being appropriate for murky versus clear water .
According to Don, in clear water, small grubs and jerk baits ranging up to 5 inches in length are the right choice. The key colors are smoke, pumpkin and chartreuse for grubs and jerk baits with silver and black as the “go to” colors for top water stick baits and minnows. If you use a floating worm, go larger (up to eight inches) and stick with pink, white or yellow.
Murky water becomes the domain for crankbaits, jig and pigs, tubes and spinner baits. Dark colors rule the day with black, red, blue, purple or brown all being good choices.
In terms of presentation, stick with a Carolina rig in clear water and switch to a Texas rigged approach for murky.
The bottom line remains consistent with what we have heard before. In dark water, stick with dark colors while you need to select more natural choices when the water is clear.
Here is a link to the full article that you can download and print out. I am amazed, that I could Google this up and share it with you! The Internet continues to be an amazing source of information!
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Unless stated otherwise, this article was authored by Steve Moore
