October Bass Fishing: The Top Lures to Tie On This Month

October is arguably the best month of the year to bass fish. Summer's deep-water grind is over, the spawn is a distant memory, and bass are feeding hard before winter. The catch: everything keys on the baitfish migration. Shad and bluegill move to the backs of creeks and shallow flats, and bass follow. Fish the migration, not the map.

1. Chatterbait — the October workhorse

If you tie on one lure all month, make it a 3/8 or 1/2 oz bladed jig. White or chartreuse-white matches dying shad, and a trailer with some undulation (a swimming-style craw or a small swimbait) adds the flash bass are keying on. Burn it over shallow flats, slow-roll it along dock posts, and crash it through sparse grass. It catches numbers and it catches the biggest fish of the day.

2. Squarebill crankbait

When bass are chasing shad into the backs of pockets, a squarebill deflecting off wood and rock is the fastest way to get bit. Target seawalls, laydowns, and riprap in 1–5 feet. A deflecting squarebill triggers reaction strikes even from fish that have already eaten — October bass are often overfed, not underfed.

3. Spinnerbait with double willow blades

On windy days — and October has plenty — a 1/2 oz double-willow spinnerbait burned just under the surface over bait schools is devastating. Add a single Colorado blade for stained water or when you need lift over grass. Keep contact with cover: the blade flash plus vibration imitates a fleeing shad better than anything else on windy banks.

4. Topwater — the morning and evening window

First light and last light are prime time all month. Walk-the-dog baits (Spook style), plopper-style prop baits, and frogs over remaining matted grass all produce explosions when bass are corralling bait. Don't leave the topwater too early — on overcast, drizzly October days the window can last all morning.

5. Lipless crankbait for schooling fish

When you see bait flicking or hear bass busting offshore, a 1/2 oz lipless crank in chrome or a shad pattern, yo-yoed through the school, fills the boat quickly. It also excels on windy main-lake flats where bass are ambushing shad in 3–8 feet.

6. The finesse follow-up

Every October flurry has a lull. When the chase dies, drop down to a 3.3–3.8 inch swimbait on a jighead, a small swim jig, or a wacky-rigged stickbait around the same cover. The big females that chased the school often sit just under the feeders — the finesse bait picks them off after the chaos.

Where to fish in October

• Early October: Main-lake points and flats near channel swings — bait is still moving in.
• Mid-October: Backs of major creek arms and mid-pocket cover. This is peak feeding.
• Late October: Follow the bait deeper — flats adjacent to deeper water, and start mixing in suspending jerkbaits as water cools through the 50s.

One rule beats all the lure advice

Find the bait and you have found the fish. If your spot has no shad or bluegill activity on your electronics or on the surface, leave. October bass are not holding on tradition — they are following food. Log every catch with bait presence, water temp, and wind direction in StrikePoints, and by next October you'll know exactly when your home lake's migration fires.