By Vance McCullough, AC Insider

Rip, Kill, Trigger – Your 3-Beat Fall Spinnerbait Cadence

Fall bass are aggressive but moody – chasing shad in 2-to-8 feet of water around cover such as grass edges, points and creek mouths. They are on the move, and so should you be if you plan to cross paths with a few of them. What autumn bassin’ lacks in consistency, it makes up for in fun. Here’s the deal.

A Strike King 1/2oz double willow leaf spinnerbait in white, chartreuse and white, or a shad pattern is your search-and-destroy tool. And you’re going to use it with a cadence that has won many a tournament dollar for the savvy pros who know about it.

One key to success in autumn is to stay on the move so we’re not slow rolling here. We’re standing on the trolling motor, channeling our inner KVD and slinging that bladed beauty around anything that has water on it. Soundtrack courtesy of Metalica.

The technique:

Rip – Burn the bait subsurface for a few feet (5-to-10 cranks on the reel handle). This mimics fleeing shad and triggers a few bonus reaction strikes.

Kill – Stop dead. Let it helicopter down a foot or two while holding the rod tip at 10 o’clock. Bass follow 70% of rips but strike on the fall. The pause is key. This is when most bites will happen.

Trigger – Twitch twice with sharp, short pops, keeping the bait in the same general area for an extra beat or two. Wounded baitfish panic. So should your bait, giving those uncommitted followers a second chance before we move on to the next target.

Pro tip – Typically, that double willow gets the job done with a blade combo that features a #4 ahead of a #5 size blade, but if the fish start striking short, swap to a single Colorado blade for more thump and a slower fall. Pump the rod tip on the kill to imitate a dying shad. This could become your go-to tactic after that first Arctic blast causes a massive shad die off as fall gives way to winter.

Master this cadence, and you’ll turn follower fish into hooked fish. Fall bass can’t resist. Once you feel that thump on the fall, you’ll be hooked on spinnerbaits in the fall.

Now go burn some blades!