This Is The #1 Lure For Fall Fishing (For Redfish, Flounder, Trout & Snook)
- By: Wyatt Parcel
- on
Note: This blog post on the #1 lure for fall fishing was originally published on October 1, 2020, but it contains super useful information that can help you catch fish right now! There are also a TON of comments below that have been added since this post was first published. We hope you enjoy it!!
Want to catch more redfish, flounder, trout, and snook this fall?
These fish are hungry and aggressive this time of year and although they’ll hit a variety of lures, there’s one option that stands above the rest.
Since they’re looking for big baitfish, it mimics those, plus it’s versatile.
If the weather is warm, you can fish it shallow, and if the weather is cool, you can fish it deep.
Check out the video below to see what the best fall fishing lure is and how to catch fish with it.
P.S. This is the go-to lure for all the Salt Strong fishing coaches now and we’ve all been having great days on the water with it!
#1 Lure For Fall Fishing [VIDEO]
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Mentioned Lures:
Here are four reasons why a big paddletail is the best lure to catch inshore fish this fall:
Reason #1: Baitfish are biggest in fall
You want to match the hatch with your lures and since baitfish will be biggest in the fall, you want to use a bigger lure.
Reason #2: Predator fish are keyed in on baitfish
There are lots of baitfish in the inshore waters this time of year so that’s what predators are looking for.
This makes a paddletail, which imitates a baitfish, a much better option than a crab or shrimp lure.
Reason #3: Hunting down one meal is easier than hunting down several meals
Fish want to conserve energy and they’d rather have one big meal that gives them a lot of calories than have to expend a lot of energy chasing down dozens of small meals.
Reason #4: Paddletails are versatile
You can have big temperature swings in the fall, which can change where you’ll find fish.
If a cold front just came in, fish will be in deeper water, so you’ll want to rig a paddletail on a jig head and bounce it along the bottom.
If there’s been several warm days in a row, fish will be in the shallows, so it’ll be best to rig it on a weighted swimbait hook and fish shallow.
Conclusion
If you want to get tight lines this fall, tie on a big paddletail and hold on.
Fish are keyed in on big baitfish right now, so these lures are working really well.
You can get my two favorite paddletails here:
Have any questions about fall fishing lures?
What’s your go-to fall lure?
Let me know down in the comments!
And if you know someone who wants to catch a lot of fish this fall, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Can I rent you for a day? I always learn so much watching the videos but I don’t know the basics about how to retrieve or even setting the hook. Two giants literally had my bait in their mouth but lost them on the reel on the way up.
Wyatt, it looks like you have some sort of stick on measurement tape on your rod. Where did you find this.
Hey Jim, it’s a Fish Rul-R! You can pick them up here: https://www.amazon.com/Full-Limit-Products-Rul-R-Black/dp/B004CGDJSS
Wyatt
Understand that the bait has grown all year and is now at its mature size of 5-7 “.
When do the bait start leaving ? Specifically I am in Port Charlotte Florida and want to understand approximately when I should stop using the imitation baitfish and start using the wintertime favorite – shrimp.
Thanks and appreciate the effort you put into these videos.
It’s usually around late November I make that transition, but if you notice little to no baitfish in an area that they have been frequent in, and a lot of shrimp popping, I’d switch then!
Thanks Wyatt. I heard you ask the question in the inner circle. I understand seeing no baitfish is an indicator, but I am deep up in Charlotte harbor, in the alligator bay area and I only get back to Florida early November so its more difficult to tell when the baitfish “fall off”.
Late November sounds about right so I’ll keep an eye out in that timephrame.
What to use for triple tail tournament Venice, La.
Hey Butch! We just published a tip on triple tail and the best lure we found was a small paddletail on a jighead!
How To Catch Inshore Tripletail (Under Sailboats!)
Great video, Wyatt. Just got 3 packs of the Bombers in the mail yesterday. I grew up fishing plastic worms for largemouth and am a little stumped at how to retrieve these. Do you let them sink and bump along the bottom like a worm, or begin the retrieve as soon as they hit the water? How do you decide whether to do a straight retrieve or twitch the retrieve? Thanks!
You can fish paddletails every way you mentioned it just depends on the fish. I usually let them sink for a second or 2 and start with a straight retrieve. If I know fish are in the area by either seeing them or seeing boils and aren’t hitting on a straight retrieve I go with the double twitch or more depending what species I’m fishing for. Try them on a popping cork it works well too. I’ve used them as close to the surface as I can get them if I see fish rolling over. Paddletails are a great lure you really just have to get out there and play with it and see what works best for you at the end of the day.
Of coarse a saltstrong instructor is going to say the new slam shady 5 inch is best you guys sell this lure!! Na I’ll stick with my spinnerbait until the water gets to cold then break out my chasebaits flick prawn plastic shrimp and maybe a gulp swimming mullet has worked for me for years and I catch plenty of fish besides for paddletail I like the reasonably new live target slow roll shinier they make it in the big 5 inch size as well not as tough as the zman baits but extremely life like with a great side to side action I do like the slam shady 2.0 though but unlike the original zman ones the 2.0 I can dye the tail chartreuse the zman baits don’t seem to take to the spike it glo dye I use wich is great for the murky water I fish
Hey Steven!
As I made clear in the video, the #1 Lure for Fall is a 5″ Paddletail, and there’s a lot of great companies that make awesome paddletails with lots of colors for you to experiment with. But I would like to clarify that I did not say that the #1 lure was ONLY the Slam Shady paddletail. Rather, I highlighted that a 5-7″ baitfish imitation (specifically a paddletail) would be the best choice.
The coaches here at Salt Strong take pride in the fact that the claims that we make have real science and evidence behind them. Aside from matching the profile and size of bait that’s most prevalent this time of year, the reason I reccomend the Slam Shady over other lures is the white color is the most versatile color available. In fact, don’t just take our word for it. Sport Fishing Magazine interviewed 44 professional guides about their #1 choice of lure color, and the clear winner was white. In addition to this, they also did a scientific analysis of why the color white is the best choice overall (here’s the article – https://www.sportfishingmag.com/how-and-what-fish-see/).
Tackle selection is a nightmare for most anglers, and we created the Slam Shady paddletail to be a go-to choice for any situation, regardless of water clarity or other external factors. The 5″ Slam Shady won’t be the go-to bait all year long, but in the Fall, it’s a tough lure to out-preform.
Wyatt: Great presentation as always. Appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us. I like knowing the science and reasons behind why you use specific lures or take specific actions. I believe you have shared the tackle you use- but could you again please. I make my own rods from mud hole as I really like the action of their SJ842 and other rods. Please let me know what you use for a reel, # test, and rod specifics. Keep the great vids coming and thank you very much. My best, Jon Kaplan
Jon, I’d be more than happy to create a video addressing this topic. Stay tuned and I’ll have it up soon! Thanks for watching!
Regarding this video and the plastic Z-Man in the Reds mouth, what’s up with the aquamarine/turquoise color? I waited the whole video to hear all about the “New” color and nothing? It was like a TV Teaser and then nothing but it got me to watch what I already knew from Salt Strong. Further review indicates a colored over alter-job on the paddle tail.
Aside from what ever that was, keep up the great work and thanks for all you people do for us!
Hey Mark, sorry for the confusion! We colored over the lure in the video to add a layer of “suspense” to the actual answer. I apologize for the mix-up.
I think Mark might have been joking.
Thanks salt strong staff, answered question I posted yesterday!😀
No problem Guy! Thanks so much for giving us great questions to answer!
Got mine in the mail today, put one on threw it a few times. That thing goes a mile and skips like crazy, can’t wait to hit the salt water with it.
Sweet! Can’t wait to see some awesome reports from you in the Community soon! Good luck Tripp!