Without a doubt, this is my favorite time to throw topwater baits such as Zara Spooks and Ricos throughout the entire day. While bites may be harder to come by compared to the summer months, they are normally better quality fish than you will catch on plastics.

A variety of topwater baits will work very well and it seems like everyone has their favorites. My top bait is a clear Super Spook with a white tail feather. I like to sand the finish off a baby bass patterned Super Spook, replace the hooks with a pair of #2 Super Line Gamakatsu trebles on the front and back and a #4 on the center of the bait. I also like to add a white feather on the back hook. The same bait with a small black line painted straight down the back is another favorite of mine.

As for crankbaits, I stick to just a few basic lures and colors. A Bill Norman Deep Little N in any of the shad patterns or a chartreuse/blue have been very productive year in and year out. Speed Traps or Rat-L-Traps in chrome/blue, white or baby bass are excellent choices. Rip baits are also a valuable tool at this time of year. My favorite Rattlin' Rogue is a Super Rogue in chrome/black back/orange belly or clown. Some of the new Lucky Craft Pointer Minnows and Flash Minnows have also proven to be incredibly effective. Of course the old stand by Shad Rap in SR07 or SR08 should be a part of everybody's arsenal.

While this is one of the best times of the year to find shallow water fish, this is also one of those times when fish can be found in extremely deep water, especially if you're targeting spotted bass. Remember, when the lakes turn over, the fish have a wide range of a comfort zone and can basically hold in any depth they want to.

Lake Shasta is probably the best example of this. Fall patterns can vary from chasing surface feeding fish with topwater baits to spooning creek channels as deep as 100 feet deep. I've had many memorable days catching fish on spooks during the first hour of daylight, then rigging up Hopkins Spoons and jigging big numbers of fish in 60 to 80 feet of water. At this time of year, you quickly learn it's all about figuring out where the bait is and finding out what time of day the fish are feeding on bait at that depth.

Deciding where to fish at this time of year can also be a tricky issue. The most obvious place to start is any of the main creek channels or coves. Shad migrate into creek channels in the fall and you know the bass are going to be there with them. For quality fish, my favorite pattern is targeting large flats that are close to major creek channels. Fish love to suspend on flats at this time of year and I have taken some of my best fish throwing crankbaits and rip bait far offshore on shallow flats.

Basically, the biggest challenge to patterning fish this time of year is that at no other time are the fish more scattered and feeding at such a wide variety of depths. The best way is to approach things with an open mind and try a wide variety of techniques and depths. More often than not, if you put that trolling motor down and cover as much water as possible, you're going to stumble into some active fish.