With Winter here, even if the weather doesn't feel like it the calendar says it is, the baitfish have migrated out of the backs of pockets and creeks to the main channel. With this migration most, but not all, bass have followed. The cold temperatures cause drastic changes in the water temperature as well causing all fish to slow down, and for the bait it starts to die. Not all of it dies, but you may witness large numbers of it dying off making easy targets. Suspending jerkbaits make for a prime choice in catching fish this time of year. These mimic the dying shad because they do not float or sink, instead they, on a pause, remain at the depth at which you retrieved them, much like a slow lethargic bait fish on the verge of dying.
Jerkbaits produce year round, but this is my favorite time of the year to throw them and I usually do not dig them out of my box until the water temperature hits 54 degrees. Fishing this time of the year can be tough. Fish are lethargic and do not want to expend alot on energy to chase their prey. If you just go out and just throw a jerkbait without doing your homework you probably will not catch many. It is important to find specific areas before even making your first cast and the most important thing to look for is bait. To find bait you will need to use your electronics and other visual aids such as birds. If you see Sea Gulls diving or a group of Loons together you can bet that bait is close by. I also like to look for steep breaks such as bluff banks or points that touch the river channel and sharps bends in the river channel are also a good place to look. Wind also helps this time of the year. It not only pushes the lethargic bait around, but also helps to break up your jerkbait which is important because all of the fish you are going to catch approach your bait from below. Not to beat a dead horse, but wind also provides "soft" structure for the fish to feed against. Not going to go into great detail cause it could be a post all in itself, but with the water surface being choppy it helps to create a barrier to feed against.Water clarity is a must as well. Bass must be able to see your bait suspending in order for it to have its full affect. In dirty water, fish rely on senses other than sight to feed and when your bait is not moving they cannot sense it. That being said I will not throw a jerkbait with visibility less than 3 feet. To check this, just take your bait and push it down in the water with your rod and see how deep it has to go before it disappears. As far as other weather conditions go, they do not matter much to me. I throw it in rain, sun, snow, whatever. The only difference is that I favor brighter colors in low light situations.
Now that we have talked about where and when to throw it, lets talk a little about the how. Remember we are trying to mimic a dying baitfish so that means slow and lethargic. I like to throw it out and reel it down to its diving depth and then let it sit. This is where I start my retrieve. After a pause of four seconds I twitch my rod tip twice and then let it sit again for four seconds followed by another single twitch before another pause of four. I then repeat the process all the way back to the boat. The cadence between pause and jerk may need to be tweaked in order to entice a bite, but four seconds is where I start. A general rule of thumb is the colder the water the longer the pause. Sometimes the pause can be painfully long. I placed 2nd in a local tournament last year with pauses of fourteen seconds. It was taking me almost five minutes to fish one cast. That is why it is important to fish areas which have the potential in holding fish instead of just beating the bank. The number of jerks may also need to be tweaked too. Not only in the number between pauses, but also in how hard you jerk to move the bait. Keep in mind, however, that you can overwork your lure. You just want your lure to walk side to side under the water and jerking too hard can hinder this. When you twitch your lure, make sure to do it on slack line. This allows the bait to walk, and if you twitch it on tight line it will pull straight to the boat. At rest, the lure needs to be on slack line as well to allow it to sit motionless. This will take some practice in boat positioning, because if your boat is moving at all so is your lure. During your pauses watch your line. This is where 90% of your bites will come. It will jump or start to move on its own. If either of these happens, you know what to do. The other 10% will come right when you get ready to jerk it after a pause.
Now equipment. You can throw this on a spinning outfit, but I prefer baitcasting equipment. My setup is a 7 foot Medium action Cashion baitcasting rod, a Abu Garcia Revo SX with a 6:4:1 ratio, and spooled with Berkley 100% flurocarbonCashion has made a perfect jerkbait rod in their 7 foot medium action casting model. As all Cashion rods, it is made with linear graphite instead of spiral graphite making it super sensitive to detect strikes on slack line. Linear graphite means all of the fibers are lain straight instead of spiraling up the blank cutting down on the length of the fibers. This design transfers strikes to your hands faster and allows you to detect subtle bites that would otherwise be missed with traditional spiral graphite rods. To better grasp this, take two straight pieces of wire that are the same length and lay them side by side. Now twist one in a spiral from end to end. The straight piece of wire represents Cashion rods and the twisted wire represents all other traditional spiral graphite rods. You will notice that it would take a much longer wire once spiraled to get it back to the length of the one that represents the Cashion rod. By adding more length in the graphite fibers, it not only hampers sensitivity, but also makes rods heavier. Thus, Cashion has manufactured the lightest and most sensitive rod I have ever fished with. When fishing a jerkbait this time of the year you have the potential to catch some very large fish and you will not realize how big they are until you see them. So take your time, I can't say it enough. Remember, fish are lethargic this time of the year and if you horse them to the boat too fast they will surge once they see the boat and this is typically where you lose them. The action of the Cashion rod aids in these often fierce but short fights boatside, but if a fish does surge it is important to have a good smooth drag to allow them to run and the Revo SX has the smoothest drag I have ever fished with. On obsolete reels your drag, even if set right, will catch at the beginning of the run and not allow the surging fish to take line as needed, tearing your hooks free.
Jerkbait fishing takes time to learn how to catch them, and at times can be very frustrating, but stick with it and you can catch not only some really big fish, but also a bunch because when you find them they are all schooled up this time of year.
Till next time, God bless and tight lines!
Brandon
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