CONTENTS PG.3
IDENTIFYING THE FORAGE IN YOUR LAKE Fall is a fantastic time to catch a lot of fish, but understanding the forage in your home water is the key to making it happen.
PG.5
THE VERSATILITY OF THE STRIKE KING RAGE SWIMMER Small, soft plastic swimbaits have become very popular, but the Rage Swimmer from Strike King has taken the market by storm and there are many different ways to fish it. FISHHOUND BREAKDOWN:
PG.7
STRIKE KING RAGE SWIMMER Looking at all the different fish-catching qualities of the Rage Swimmer.
PG.9
CHASING THE BAIT – 3 WAYS TO FISH FAST IN THE FALL Bait schools are everywhere in the fall and if you keep moving with these reaction baits, you have a great chance of finding a lot of fish.
TEAM LUCKY PROFILES:
PG.11
SOCIAL FEEDS TO FOLLOW Find out who LTB’s social media movers and shakers are this month and who you need to be following online.
FH | 3
IDENTIFYING THE FORAGE IN YOUR LAKE Written by Andrew Schadegg
September is all about the top fall baits! Ask any knowledgeable angler and they will tell you that the fall is one of the best times of year to catch a ton of bass. Why is it so good? The bait fish and abundant forage. Lots of bait equal lots of bass. Do you know how to identify the primary forage in your lake?
Shad Across much of the country, shad are a major part of a bass’ menu. This is why so much time is spent talking about their migration patterns and why so many lures are designed to look like them. There are many different types of shad, but the two that are most important to bass fisherman are threadfin and gizzard shad.
Threadfin Shad •
Flourish in southern reservoirs and some midwestern waters
•
Struggle to survive in water below 45°
•
Top out around 4-5”
•
Abundant threadfin are a good barometer of healthy bass population
Gizzard Shad •
Found throughout the country in reservoirs and natural lakes
•
Handle cold temperatures much better than threadfin shad
•
Full grown can reach 16”
•
Can have grey, white, purple or green coloration at different times
Sunfish Whether it is bluegill, pumpkinseed, green sunfish or rock bass, various types of sunfish are a key component to bass behavior and a big part of their diet. Though they don’t school up like shad in the fall, if you’re catching bass up shallow, there’s a good chance they are chasing sunfish. • •
•
•
Spawn from April to Midsummer, where a female can lay up to 50,000 eggs Late summer/early fall schools of sunfish about the size of a postage stamp will be up shallow and are a primary bass forage After sunfish reach spawning size, they are no longer forage for any but the biggest bass in the lake Typically, if you’re in a lake with sunfish and you catch a fish in under 10 feet of water with a reaction bait, they are targeting sunfish of some kind
Crawfish Shad and other baitfish get a lot of attention during the fall, but what many don’t know is that this is the most intense mating season for crawfish. This makes them incredibly vulnerable. Revisit the areas you fished craw-style baits in the spring and you will find a bass goldmine in the fall. •
The fall mating period is made up of all the adult males that are sexually mature
•
If temperatures fall too quickly, it can shut off the spawn and make craws dormant
•
Crawfish are light sensitive, so shallow water areas in direct sunlight will be more productive on cloudy or low-light days
•
Craw colors will dramatically change throughout the year from green and orange hues to bright red
FH | 5 THE VERSATILITY OF THE
STRIKE KING
RAGE SWIMMER Written by Andrew Schadegg
Over the last few years, soft plastic swimbaits have become incredibly popular and with that popularity, comes new and innovative ways to use them to catch fish. One of the stand outs in this category, the Strike King Rage Swimmer (from your September LTB Bass Box), can be rigged so many different ways, its versatility is almost limitless. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples of ways to rig this bait:
Swimbait Head Duh, right? This is pretty self-explanatory, but this is an incredibly effective rig for fishing open water and on a clean bottom. The exposed hook makes it tough to fish in the sloppy stuff or around too much structure, but this is an excellent way to fish rocks or sandy bottom.
Bait Trailer The thumping tail of the Rage Swimmer can be used to add a ton of action to your swim jig, vibrating bladed jig or even a spinnerbait. Many times, this can be the difference between getting bites and having your bait ignored. Also the extra bulk, gives a bigger profile, which can lead to bigger bites.
One of the unique things about the Strike King Rage Swimmer is the ability to rig it with the tail down or up, with a slit on either side of the bait. Mix it up, see what works best for your particular situation. You’ll soon see just how versatile this awesome swimbait is.
Weedless Swimbait Hooks Whether you use a screw-lock variety or a standard offset hook designed for swimbaits, this is a perfect setup for keeping your Rage Swimmer weedless. With both weighted and unweighted versions available, you can control the depth you fish and the fall rate. Lots of options with this one!
Underspin Sometimes, all you need is a little bit of flash. Rigging your Rage Swimmer on an underspin is one of the best ways to accomplish this. Keep your swimbait on the bottom, under schools of bait and bumping off of rocks and you’ll load your boat in a hurry.
FH | 7
FH | 9
CHASING THE BAIT
3 WAYS TO FISH FAST IN THE FALL by Andrew Schadegg
Fishing in the fall can be fast and furious. Baitfish school up, moving into the backs of coves and up onto shallow flats and the bass move up with them. This is the time of year that feeding frenzies can happen in a flash, but you have to be able to cover a lot of water to find those active pockets of fish. Though this time of year can be wide open, with a lot of presentations being effective, here are three techniques that will let you move quickly and cover water to find those productive schools.
Lipless By far, one of the most effective techniques for fall fishing is the lipless crankbait (like the GloPro Lures Soft Body Lipless Crankbait). As balls of baitfish move around, making as many casts as possible and moving down the bank is a big advantage. Try different retrieves to see what is working best on any given day. Many times, a really fast
retrieve triggers vicious strikes, as aggressive fish react to what looks like a fleeing baitfish that’s strayed from the pack. If that’s not the key, try a yo-yo retrieve, letting it flutter down and then using your rod tip to rip it back up off the bottom, imitating a dying baitfish.
Swimbait One of the hottest baits in bass fishing right now is the soft plastic paddle-tail swimbait, like the Strike King Rage Swimmer. It is super effective year round, but it really shines in the fall, imitating a shad or other forage. A slow, straight retrieve is always effective, right along the bottom, bumping rocks, stumps, and other structure. There are a ton of versatile ways to rig this bait including on an underspin, an Alabama Rig, on a swing head jig or just a straight swimbait head. Playing around with different presentations is a great strategy in the fall.
Crankbait If you want to get down on the bottom with more erratic action than a lipless crankbait, a regular squarebill or mid-depth diving crankbait is a perfect choice. The LIVETARGET Yearling Crankbait was in the Bass XL box and it was designed to “Match-the-Hatch” of a small ball of baitfish. Deflecting a crankbait off the bottom, underneath those bait schools, can be an excellent way to catch the biggest bass in the area. Many times, the bigger fish will sit on the bottom waiting for the smaller bass to bust through the bait and do the work. A stop and go retrieve can be a great way to get more bites. Switch off between these three presentations this fall and you can land a ton of bait chasing bass.
FH | 11
SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT
6 SOCIAL FEEDS YOU NEED TO FOLLOW! by Fishhound Staff
Since it was founded, Lucky Tackle Box has been partnering with some of the biggest and best social media influencers in the fishing industry. The game is changing and anglers around the world are using their online platforms to post amazing pictures, talk about new products and discuss all things fishing. Whether it’s anglers catching giant bass in Florida, walleye in Wisconsin or a flycaught Rainbow from a river in Idaho, each month the Fishhound Magazine will be introducing you to the best of the best Instagram pages and YouTube channels that you should already be following and if you’re not, you better start!
Keegan Bailey
Age: 20 From: Brighton, MI What is your favorite type of lure/bait for Fall fishing? Jerkbaits. They come in designs that cover various depth ranges and can be retrieved in accordance to water temperature, which is especially important when the water begins to stratify, once again, later in the season. Follow Keegan on Social Media! @paramountfishing /fisherfanatic1 @paramountfishin
Bobby Botsford Age: 14 From: Delray Beach, FL What is your favorite type of lure/bait for Fall fishing? Jerkbait, because it is so versatile! You can work it fast or slow and get it right in front of a fishes mouth with a suspending jerkbait.
Follow Bobby on Social Media! @bass_fishing_productions /BassFishingProductions @Bobbybotsford
Andrew Brown Age: 37 From: Pensacola, FL What is your favorite type of lure/bait for Fall fishing? My favorite type of lure to throw in the fall is a Topwater plug! The reaction strike gets the blood pumping!
Adam Jeanette Age: 18 From: Beaver Falls, PA What is your favorite type of lure/bait for Fall fishing? My favorite lures for fall fishing are bigger swimbaits 6” and up. Bass are bulking up for the winter, so they’re more likely to hit bigger baits. Follow Adam on Social Media!
Follow Andrew on Social Media! @drumspots
@hooked_fishin18 @hooked_fishing @hooked_fishin
Rodney Breeding
Trevor Allen
Age: 31 From: Dayton, TN What is your favorite type of lure/bait for Fall fishing? Squarebill crankbait, because it allows me to cover water and target the shallow areas where the bass have moved up following the baitfish. It also deflects great off cover such as stumps, brush piles, rocks, etc.
Age: 18 From: Janesville, WI What is your favorite type of lure/bait for Fall fishing? Walking bait. They’re fun and interactive to fish, plus nothing is more exciting than seeing a fish crush a topwater lure!
Follow Rodney on Social Media! @rbreedi1 /rbreedi1
Follow Trevor on Social Media! @vitaloutdoorstv /vitaloutdoorstv
FOLLOW US: @LuckyTackleBox
TBD
FH | 13
BETTER FISHING TIMES USING THE SUN/MOON TO CATCH MORE FISH What are Astro tables and how does it work? Astro Tables are far more effective than moon tables because they take into account critical solar energies as well as lunar. PrimeTime data is based on solar/lunar research at a leading college of astrophysics and our own research pond/wildlife area. Annual data is supplied by the U.S. Naval Observatory. All lunar times are adjusted to the center of your time zone and for Daylight Saving Time. LUNAR PERIODS
VALUE
OCT
2017
POOR FAIR GOOD EXCL
BEST DAYS
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
27 39 52 65 72 65 59
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
52 47 47 52 61 49 41
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
38 44 51 58 59 46 34
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
22 15 16 16 23 34 27
Sun 29 Mon 30 Tue 31
24 26 40
25 50 75
AVERAGE
For more, visit primetimes2.com
TIMES OCCURRING AT NIGHT ARE SHADED MOON RISE
4:44 pm 5:22 pm 5:59 pm
6:35 pm 7:11 pm 7:49 pm 8:30 pm 9:14 pm
10:03 pm 10:57 pm 11:55 pm
12:56 am 1:59 am 3:03 am 4:05 am 5:06 am 6:06 am
7:04 am 8:02 am 8:59 am 9:54 am
10:48 am 11:40 am
12:30 pm 1:16 pm 1:59 pm 2:40 pm 3:18 pm 3:54 pm
10:28 pm 4:30 pm
PRIMARY
MOON OVERHEAD
9:30 pm - 10:562pm 10:13 pm - 11:51 pm 10:55 pm - 12:47 am 11:36 pm - Midnight Midnight - 1:44 am 12:18 am - 2:44 am 1:02 am - 3:44 am 1:49 am - 4:45 am 2:38 am - 5:48 am 3:33 am - 6:49 am 4:30 am - 7:50 am 5:28 am - 8:48 am 6:29 am - 9:41 am 7:29 am - 10:31 am 8:26 am - 11:18 am 9:21 am - 12:01 pm 10:18 am - 12:40 pm 11:12 am - 1:20 pm 12:05 pm - 1:57 pm 12:58 pm - 2:36 pm 1:49 pm - 3:17 pm 2:40 pm - 3:58 pm 3:30 pm - 4:42 pm 4:19 pm - 5:27 pm 5:08 pm - 6:14 pm 5:55 pm - 7:03 pm 6:41 pm - 7:53 pm 7:23 pm - 8:45 pm 8:06 pm - 9:38 pm 8:46 pm - 10:32 pm 9:27 pm - 11:29 pm
MOON SET
2:49 am 3:47 am 4:47 am 5:49 am
6:52 am 7:57 am 9:04 am
10:11 am 11:18 am
12:23 pm 1:24 pm 2:20 pm 3:10 pm 3:55 pm 4:35 pm 5:11 pm
5:46 pm 6:19 pm 6:52 pm 7:26 pm 8:02 pm 8:40 pm 9:21 pm
10:05 pm 10:53 pm 11:43 pm
12:37 am 1:32 am 2:30 am 3:30 am
PRIMARY
MOON UNDERFOOT
9:11 am - 10:29 am 9:55 am - 11:21 am 10:38 am - 12:16 pm 11:20 am - 1:12 pm 12:01 pm - 2:09 pm 12:43 pm - 3:09 pm 1:27 pm - 4:09 pm 2:14 pm - 5:10 pm 3:03 pm - 6:13 pm 3:58 pm - 7:14 pm 4:55 pm - 8:15 pm 5:53 pm - 9:13 pm 6:54 pm - 10:06 pm 7:54 pm - 10:56 pm
FULL
Perigee
HIGH HALF
8:51 pm - 11:43 pm 9:46 pm - 12:26 am 10:43 pm - 1:05 am 11:37 pm - Midnight Midnight - 1:45 am 12:30 am - 2:22 am 1:23 am - 3:01 am 2:14 am - 3:42 am 3:05 am - 4:23 am 3:55 am - 5:07 am 4:44 am - 5:52 am 5:33 am - 6:39 am 6:20 am - 7:28 am 7:06 am - 8:18 am
NEW
Apogee
7:48 am - 9:10 am 8:31 am - 10:03 am 9:11 am - 10:57 am
ANY LUNAR PERIOD IS ENHANCED WHEN IT OVERLAPS A KEY SOLAR PERIOD. THE BEST OF THESE OVERLAPS ARE DESIGNATED BY THE SUN SYMBOLS: = HIGH NOON = DAWN = DUSK
WHILE THE LESSER MOONRISE AND -SET OVERLAPS (ABOUT 30 MIN. BEFORE AND AFTER THE LISTED TIME) ARE DESIGNATED BY BOLD BLACK TYPE.
For more information and samples of PrimeTimes products, visit www.primetimes2.com
LOW HALF
NEW