The angler in question here is two-time MLF Angler of the Year Michael Neal, who explains why bass like vibrating jigs so much in the fall--not just any vibrating jigs, mind you, but more precisely "smaller" vibrating jigs. In his own words, "The smaller that you can make your bait appear but still be able to cover a lot of water seems to be the trick."
Besides fishing a smaller vibrating jig, Neal encourages you to also opt for a small-profile trailer. His personal choice is a Big Bite Cane Thumper, which only measures 3.5 inches. He also prefers the pearl-colored model, which matches his choice in skirt color.
"Why would you want anything bigger...when you're keying in on bait that is only two-and-a-half or three inches long?" he asked.
Neal went on to note that the fish you're after typically will be found in creeks, in pockets, in big marinas.
"Sometimes, the fish use that as a go-to in the fall, but you want to fish this bait on the bank 90 percent of the time," he said, "unless it's a grass lake. If you're fishing on just a natural lake, or a dammed-up empowerment, and the fish migrate to the backs of the creeks, then you just want to cover water. You want to focus on your high-percentage areas.
"In the fall, I don't like to fish slow at all," he continued. "I feel like the fish are active and are going to bite when you get a good bait presentation in front of them.
"And it's not that you have to try and flip and pitch and try really hard to fool them. Thus, you can burn down a bank. If you're fishing a creek, go two-thirds of the way back and start fishing. It doesn't matter if it's a steep bank or a flat one. If it has pockets or wood on one side, with rock maybe on the other, just start fishing in the fall, and you will start to develop a pattern as the day goes on. However, be aware that fish can change from hour to hour or day to day, and sometimes they like that steeper bank, and other times the flat bank, which really has to do with where the shad are located."
Regarding line choice, Neal goes with 20-pound Sunline Sniper because, as he explains, "You can throw it around anything. It has plenty of abrasion resistance, and you don't have to worry about the fish breaking you off."
He usually throws a three-eighths-ounce chatterbait in shallow water and just keeps moving down the bank, hitting as many high-percentage places as he can find in a day and keeping a sharp eye out for baitfish, which, as he described, "are going to be moving a lot since the water's cooling off."
In Neal's words, "Fall is the time of year when you can lock a vibrating jig in your hand from take-off until weigh-in and catch them literally on any bank you fish."
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