"If the conditions line up well, you can catch big fall bass by deep cranking creek ledges throughout fall," he said. "A more consistent pattern, however, comes from utilizing shallow squarebills and mid-depth crankbaits."
Because most of the bass are shallow this time of year, Duckett primarily targets the 3-to-6-foot range and focuses on shallow flats very close to creek channels. If the water happens to be stained, he targets the 1-to-3-foot range. In dirty water, bass will get "dirt shallow," in Duckett's words, and hold close to stumps and laydowns.
"The key to fall fishing is putting the trolling motor on high and keep moving until you find something worth making multiples casts to," said Duckett. "The fish are going to be in groups, so it's important to move quickly until you find a school of active fish. The quicker you eliminate dead water, the faster you can get on a big sack of fish.
"When the water temperature gets into the 50-degree range, that's when your biggest fish will move shallow," continued Duckett. "I use shad patterns almost exclusively, but the bass can get very peculiar when they school. If you're getting short strikes, it's probably not a color issue...they likely want a different action. Make sure you keep switching between wide-wobbling and flat-sided crankbaits for the best results, because every school you find will be different."
"Their aggressive slashing action forces a bass to react," he noted. "There's no need to get fancy with your color selection. On cloudy days or in lowlight conditions. stick with a matte shad pattern to allow fish to get a better bead on it. When it's sunny, use a chrome color because its flash will draw bass from a long way away.
"If you're fishing on a windy day, you need to be throwing a jerkbait," Duckett urged. "You'll still catch some on other reaction baits, but windy conditions bring the big ones out of the woodwork. Focus on windblown shallow secondary points and gravel bars if you're looking for a kicker fish. They'll show themselves pretty quickly, so there's no need to soak an area if you're not getting a few bites."
"It's absolutely essential to find a swimbait that does two primary things," he explained. "You want the tail to produce a lot of 'thump', and you also need the body to rock side-to-side.
"I've fished with a lot of swimbaits, and the Yamamoto Swimbait takes the cake. The fish just annihilate that thing."
Duckett uses a crankbait, jerkbait, lipless crankbait, and topwater plug to find schools, but when he finds them, he switches to a swimbait to catch the larger fish.
"It's an excellent way to cull through schools in the fall," he said. "One- and two-pounders can be busting on top, and you can catch big four-pounders from underneath them with a swimbait. You won't get as many bites, but they'll be big.
"Each swimbait has a specific cadence that gives it the most action," Duckett continued. "In a sense, you're trapped at a certain reel speed, so reeling slower isn't the answer to getting deeper. You have to add weight, so you don't change your retrieve speed. The Yamamoto Swimbait likes to be fished slowly, so I'll have three different head sizes rigged up: 1/8-ounce for shallow cover, 1/4-ounce for mid-depth, and 1/2-ounce for fishing deeper structure."
"Walking topwater baits absolutely catch bigger fish in the fall," he said, "and I think it's because they really trigger a bass' predatory instincts. That big bass thinks something is trying to get away, and it can't help but attack it."
In order to hook more bass, Duckett suggests reeling in your lure when it gets halfway back to the boat. Most of his short strikes come while his lure is close to the boat, so he reels it in quickly to avoid missing any opportunities at a big bass.
"You'll definitely get a lot more bites on a small topwater popper," Duckett said, "so when it's tough and you need a limit, it's the way to go. The further you cast it, the more fish you'll catch, so long casts are essential."
Before he throws a topwater lure, Duckett looks for two things: bait on his electronics that is in 5 feet of water or less, and balls of bait just under the surface.
When it comes to walking baits, he always puts a larger hook on the back, being careful, of course, not to screw up the balance of the lure.
"Bigger hooks make it splash more and also helps you get more hookups," said Duckett.
Finally, according to Duckett, "It's almost impossible to talk about fall fishing without mentioning the effectiveness of a lipless crankbait. Without much work at all, a lipless crankbait gives even novice anglers the chance of catching dozens of bass from a single area.
"This is another bait that I keep very simple in regards to color selection," he continued. "If you stick with white/grey, chrome/black, and chrome/blue, you're going to catch plenty of fish. Spots, smallies and largemouth are all complete suckers for it."
When fishing his favorite lipless crankbait, a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap, Duckett always reels it a few feet, then gives it a few aggressive pops with the rod tip.
"I never just cast and wind it back," he said. "Ripping it and letting it fall on slack line drives bass absolutely crazy. People do that on grass fisheries like Lake Guntersville, but it really doesn't have anything to do with grass. It's all about the reaction. It's making all that sound, and when it stops for a second and gets loud again, they can't help themselves," he concluded.
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