Before we get into this, keep in mind that the weather and the fishing conditions are a lot different depending on where you live in the nation.
This means that different lures and different styles of fishing are going to work better or worse depending on where you live.
With that being said, our bait of the week is the squarebill crankbait.
No matter where you live in the country, you will be able to catch some bass on a squarebill right now.
Right now, the summer is coming to a close and the weather is transitioning into fall.
The hottest days are behind us and the water temperatures will not get any higher for the rest of the year.
The fall transition really begins when nighttime temperatures fall 10-20 degrees from their summer highs.
Grass, weeds, and other vegetation is quickly starting to die off and drop away in the water.
This will spread bass out and signal the baitfish to start moving into the shallow water.
The dying vegetation will also give a bit extra stain or color to the water, reducing visibility by a bit.
Water temperatures are beginning to drop, and the bass can feel it.
A couple thinks are going to happen to bass right now.
First, the dying vegetation will give them less hiding spots and protection, which will spread them out a bit and cause them to look for hard structure like rock and wood.
Next, as the baitfish move up into the shallow water for the fall, the bass will leave their summer depths and follow the bait right into shallower water.
Right now is the time that bass start feeding more on baitfish up shallow, especially around hard cover like we mentioned above.
Because the sun isn’t getting quite as high in the sky and the water temperatures are beginning to drop, bass activity is going up and they are more willing to chase their prey.
Because we are still in the early fall stage, bass are not likely to school up and hunt baitfish schools like they will later on.
But they will be aggressive and willing to chase individually.
If you know much about squarebill crankbait fishing, you probably were reading through that and seeing all the connections.
Squarebill crankbaits are designed to be a shallow water lure that performs best around hard structure such as rocks and wood.
And of course, squarebills are also very realistic baitfish imitations.
One more quality quality of this bait that fits perfect right now is that squarebill crankbaits are awesome search baits that cover tons of water.
This means that you can fish very efficiently and draw those spread out bass in from a longer distance.
The two biggest limitations of the squarebill during the summer time were that it snags a lot of grass and vegetation and that most bass were out in deeper water.
And the shallow water bass were up in that vegetation that the squarebill couldn’t access.
But now that the vegetation is dying off and the bass are moving back up shallow, the squarebill has no limitations and is the perfect lure for catching bass this time of year.
The squarebill crankbait is a very easy and fun lure to fish. All you really have to do is get in some shallow water (between 1-5 feet) and reel that thing in.
The crankbait will do most of the work for you. The wide wobble and rattles within the lure will draw the more aggressive bass in to strike.
If your in a boat, just cruise down the banks very quickly and cover as much shallow water as you can.
If you are a bank fisherman, the water is most likely shallow enough, so simply fan cast as you normally would and fish all the available water.
As you have probably heard before, try to bounce and deflect that squarebill crankbait off of cover such as rocks and wood.
It can be intimidating, especially for bank anglers, to directly reel your treble hooked crankbait into a piece of wood.
A lot of guys think they are just going to snag over and over again.
But a squarebill is actually very snaggless and that wide bill will bounce the body of the crankbait up and over cover preventing the hooks from snagging, and they very rarely get hung up.
If you are still worried about it, there are a few things that you can do to ensure you don’t snag the crankbait.
The first technique to preventing snags is to target thicker cover. And by thick, I mean the actual width of the specific structure.
Rocks are always quite wide so you will really never snag a crankbait of rocks.
And when bouncing off of wood, try to fish thicker logs, branches and laydowns.
Don’t cast into a super thin and dense brush pile that will grab at your hooks.
Instead, roll the crankbait over a thick log or fallen tree that doesn’t have as many thin arms.
Second, you can slightly bend all six of the treble hooks slightly inward.
Don’t bend them in too much that it is difficult to hook fish, but just enough so that the hooks can slide over things without grabbing onto them.
Many crankbait hooks these days come with the hook points already slightly bent in, but if they aren’t you can easily do it yourself.
And the third thing is to actually cut off the forward facing hook on the front or belly treble hook.
This hook is usually the one that is responsible for snagging, and cutting it off will eliminate all of those snags.
And if all else fails, try to keep a plug knocker with you so that you can retrieve most of the lures that do end up snagging.
There are tons of squarebill crankbaits out there, and for the most part, they all do the same thing.
In my eyes, there are 3 qualities about the KVD series squarebill crankbaits, and the 1.5 in particular that set it apart.
First, is that this lure is time and tournament tested. For years now, the KVD series has been far and away the most popular squarebill crankbait on the market.
It has won more tournaments and caught more bass than any other. And with this popularity has come lots of insight and feedback that has further allowed Strike King to improve and dial this lure in to maximum performance.
The second quality is the vast array of very high quality colors. No matter where you live in the country or what forage you are trying to imitate, you can find a paint job that mimics that bait perfectly.
And the third quality is the perfect body shape. The KVD 1.5 squarebill is not tot fat, not too long, and not too thin.
It has a very uniform body shape that passes as a bluegill, a shad, a baby bass, or as any other baitfish you are trying to imitate.
In conclusion, the squarebill crankbait is an ideal lure for the current fall transition, offering the perfect combination of shallow-water performance and baitfish imitation.
As bass move up from deeper waters and spread out near hard cover like rocks and wood, the squarebill shines by covering a lot of water efficiently and enticing aggressive fish with its realistic design and action.
With the right techniques to prevent snags and a quality lure like the KVD 1.5, anglers across the country can confidently use this bait to catch bass during this prime fishing season.
