5/9/10 The Fun of Jerkbaits
What is the best all-around fish catching lure? That is one of the most common questions I get asked while in the aisles of Bass Pro Shops, or out at the lake, talking to anglers of all skill levels. Many folks want to use a bait that will appeal to a lot of different species, at many different times of year. My answer is always the same...a Jerkbait. These long, narrow, billed, minnow imitation lures will catch anything with fins. I can take the example of monitoring the Smithwick Rogue section at Bass Pro Shops. I can ask five consecutive shoppers who stop and grab a Rogue from that section, and each one will be using it for a different fish, everything from Pike, to Bass, to Walleyes and even Trout. Basically, if you want to catch fish, learn how to fish a Jerkbait.
While there are many models on the market, I am going to focus on a few baits and techniques that are effective for bass, and also often used at Empire Bass & Beyond.
I start fishing jerkbaits right when the ice melts and we hit the lakes. One of the neat deals with many jerkbaits, is their ability to suspend. Once you work the bait down to a given depth with a mix of cranks, and jerks, you can stop the lure and it will suspend in the water column. This motionless action, or should I say lack of action, is a great factor for triggering sluggish, late winter fish. The jerk of the lure, causing flash, and vibration, will attract the fish, then after close examination, the bass will simply come up and suck it in. The bite will often feel like a "tick", similar to fishing a worm. My go-to suspending jerkbait for nearly the whole year is the XCalibur Xt3 Twitchbait. It is a little morsel of a lure, and it catches big fish. Below you will see a picture of a spread of jerkbaits that are in my boat nearly year round.
As the water starts to slowly warm in the spring, there will be some deep grass that begins to green up and hold good concentrations of fish. The probelm is, much of this "holdover" winter grass is quite deep. In that case, I use a Jerkbait with a bigger bill, to help it dive a bit deeper. Generally I will use one of two baits, the traditional Smithwick Spoonbill Rogue, and the new Tt3D Twitchbait, which is a deeper running version of the Xt3 I have grown so fond of. They key to any cold water jerkbaiting is to be very deliberate. Sometimes it is necessary to wait anywhere from 10-30 seconds in between jerks. Once you figure out a good caidence, stick with it, and you will be amazed at how many fish you can catch before the water even gets into the 50's.
I will put the jerkbaits down for a bit when the fish get into the spawn, but once they are done, the bite will pick back up again. Any clear body of water will always have a jerkbait bite. On many of our area lakes, like Skaneateles, which has minimal weed growth and other available cover, the fish will suspend near mooring chains and floating docks. Working a Jerkbait by these suspended fish is a dynamite way to get some good quality fish. A key with these clear water lakes is to use a bait with a good quality, natural finish. You don't want these fish changing their minds once they get up close to the bait. You can see below how natural the finishes are on many of these lures.
From the post spawn, on into the summer, the jerkbait becomes primarily a smallmouth bait. I like to use it as a search tool to find the schools of summer fish. I will throw it around rockpiles, grass clumps, and along grass lines. Often, even if the bass don't eat the jerkbait during the retrieve, they will follow it a towards the boat and give us a look at them. We can then stay in that area, and find out exactly what bait will trigger them to strike. .
As for properly working a jerkbait, I will first address some mistakes I see when on the water with clients. The main problem people have, is allowing the right amount of slack in the line after they jerk the bait. These lures are designed to wobble when pulled, but also turn side-to-side when given enough slack. It is similar to an underwater "walk the dog" action with a bait. If you pop (jerk) your rod downward, then move it back up a bit, you will allow some slack back into your line. Your jerkbait will come to life if given the right amount of slack. I use the term "bounce" the rod, especially in the warm water periods from post-spawn, through the summer. Another mistake is not paying attention to the caidence. If you get bit using a certain tempo of stop and go, you want to be able to repeat that same caidence again. If you are not focused on how you are working the bait, it will be impossible to remember and repeat your caidence.
As for gear, it is tough to go wrong with 6' or 6' 6'" medium action rod with a fast tip. I don't go any longer than 6'6" because your rod tip will often be touching the water on your downward jerks. I am pretty tall, and it sometimes still happens if I try to use a 7' rod. I generally use a baitcast reel for this technique, but using a spinning rod is absolutely fine. Sometimes the spinning rod makes it much easier to efficiently cast on breezy days with these non-aerodynamic lures.
I am sure many of you will use a jerkbait while out on the boat with me this season. I hope everyone reading is willing to give it a try. Remember to experiment with sizes, colors and caidences...and most of all, have fun!
2/24/10 Tube Jigging Smallmouth
If I was given a choice of only one soft plastic lure to catch northern smallmouth, I would have to choose a tube. These little morsels fool more smallmouths year in and year out than probably any other soft bait (or possibly any other bait, period). While there are many ways to rig and fish a tube, this article will focus on the insert jighead method. This method of rigging is most often used for smallmouth in the northern part of the country.
The lure gets its name because of the hollow cavity created when the plastic is molded. The cavity has an opening at the base of the "body" of the lure, with the tentacles extending down past the opening. Without solid plastic creating the "body" of the lure, you can insert a jighead inside the lure. This gives the bait a very clean profile and easily controlled color pallete. The hollow body also gives the bait a squishy feel when compressed. The tentacles of the lure give it life when moved in the water. Good quality tubes have neatly cut, fine tentacles. Poor quality tubes will often have unevenly cut or chunky tentacles. When shopping for a tube, keep an eye out for that feature.
Most tubes used for smallmouth are between 2.75" and 4". Generally, I am rigged with something in the middle; right about 3". If I feel the fish are feeding on smaller bait, I will downsize. Likewise, if I feel that the primary forage that the fish are keying on are larger, then I will bump it up to a 4" bait. Below you can see some different size and color tubes.
You will notice in the above image the leadheads used for inserting in a tube. I have tried many different brands and configurations, and I have finally found one that I am 100% confident in. These leadheads are molded on an super sharp hook that has a 90 degree eye. When shopping for a jighead, you will see that some brands are molded with a 60 degree hook eye (in relation to a the imaginary continuation of the hook shank in the forward direction). I like how the 90 degree eye causes the bait to tip forward when dragged, pulled, or hopped along the bottom. The 90 degree eye also keeps your line a tiny amount further from the abrasive rocks and zebra mussels that are often on the bottom. The jigheads I use are also molded with a slightly lowered lead head in relation to the hook shank. This allows the bait to track nice and straight, with a lot of control. The small profile hook also does not get snagged on sparse grass and zebra mussels as badly as a large hook. These jigheads were designed by renowned guide and tournament angler Art Ferguson of Lake St. Clair, MI. He has caught more smallmouths on tubes in his lifetime than most of us all combined! I trust his design and craftsmanship of his ProVider Tackle tube heads. Remember when inserting a jighead into your tube, make sure that it is tight to the top before poking the hook eye through the plastic. Having it tight to the top will give you the maximum sensitivity when it is dragged across the bottom. Below you will see a photo of a tube unrigged and rigged.
When you head into your nearest tackle store, you will likely have an incredible number of choices of colors. For example, between their 3" and 4" tubes, YUM soft plastics sell 25 different colors of tubes. The most important factor when picking a color is matching the main forage that the smallmouths are feeding on. If they are eating crawdads, shades of brown are usually best. If the smallmouths are eating perch fry, then shades of green are often the ticket. If the smallies are eating bait like alewives or shiners, then using whites or smoke colors is the way to go. There are always slight variations within these generalities. For example, smallies are often foraging around rocks for crawdads, but will opportunistically eat a dying baitfish overhead. I will then try to use a color that looks natural both falling through the water column as well as when it is being worked across the bottom (watermelonseed or green pumpkin firecracker are excellent examples of these colors). Pay attention to anything that a smallmouth spits up when hooked or netted to see just how close your bait matches the food that was in its stomach. It is always smart to experiment with colors from day to day. A fine example was an early summer trip I took with a friend in preparation for a guide trip. I was dragging a straight green pumpkin tubejig over some rock flats, and he was dragging a green pumpkin with red and green flake. He was catching three fish to my one. I switched to his color, and I started catching them well. I decided to go back to the green pumpkin, just to see if it was really not the deal that day, and he started whoopin' on me again with his tube that had much more flake and flash to it. The rest of the day, we realized that no matter what the base color of the tube was, you needed some color flake in it to trigger the most bites. The photo below shows the color difference between three baits that made a HUGE difference in bites on that particular day.
Areas to fish a tube should usually have hard bottom. Hard bottom attracts crawdads, and in the Great Lakes region, Gobies. These two forage species are on or near bottom, so the tubejig is a great imitator. When you cast the jig out, let it fall on controlled slack line. Don't let your line totally flap in the breeze, but don't inhibit the fall too much where the tube pendulums back towards you. Keep an eye on your line looking for strikes that came from suspended fish during the decent of the jig. Once the tube hits bottom, begin to experiment with retrieves. I generally start by using small hops of the jig, trying to keep it within a foot of the bottom. I use a weight that allows me to stay in contact with the bottom, without getting hung up on every hop of the jig. If this retrieve is fruitless, I then switch to a straight drag. The term I use with my clients is to "scrape" the jig along the bottom. When using the proper weight jig, you would be surprised how little you will snag. If you do get hung, popping the jig free can often cause a reaction bite out of nearby smallmouth. I use heads ranging from 3/16oz up to 1/2 oz. Much of that depends on the depth, current and/or boat drift speed if I am dragging the tube with the drift of the boat.
Most folks, including myself, use a spinning rod and reel for tubejig applications. Spinning rods cast the light lures well, and also manage the 6-10lb test lines that are often used for this technique. As for line type, use what you are most comfortable with. I generally use fluorocarbon line for this, but if you like monofilament or braided superlines, then go ahead and use them. No matter what type of line you use, make sure it can maintain its strength when rubbing on rocks and zebra mussels on the bottom. The line should also have a low visibility as to not spook timid fish in clear water.
When fishing for smallmouths this season, make sure you give tubejigs a try. You will be glad you did!.
Capt. Craig Nels
Empire Bass & Beyond
