Secret lures and tactics for big fall walleye, trout, bass and crappies

If I could only have one season to fish, I’d pick the fall. Why? For starters, the fish are big, and they’re bunched up in big numbers. It also doesn’t hurt that fewer people are fishing, so there’s rarely competition for the best spots—most days, in fact, you have them all to yourself. What’s more, most fish are feeding like crazy in the fall to bulk up for the punishing hardwater period, making them more likely to chomp on your bait.

Any one of those factors spells good news for the autumn angler, but when you put them all together, you have more than enough reason not to stow away your tackle just yet. Indeed, when I’m not hunting in the fall, I’m out chasing my favourite five fall fish. Here are my top go-to presentations for walleye, black crappies, smallmouth bass, lakers and brook trout.