Bass Digest/January, 2014
in overcast conditions. Pink might sound a little farfetched but it seems to make big fish bite. I’ve learnt that playing around with different colours might just get you better bites. Don’t get stuck being single minded. Even if you think you know what is going on, you can be surprised that they are keyed into a whole different colour and size and you might be missing it. I like to use a speedclip to help make changes in colour and size easier. I don’t want the idea of making a knot keep me from making a change. When using a speedclip, I usually take the key ring off as it does affect the balance of your lure. Make sure you use a good quality speedclip though as you don’t want it to cost you a good fish
With jerkbaits the retrieve is the most important aspect and the one that can be least taught. There is no replacement for spending time on the water. Retrieve can differ from day to day or even at different times of the day. Most of the time, you want to see a solid jerk followed by a pause. The jerk action itself should be more of a wrist action than an arm action. From here you can start to mix and match, playing with the amount of jerks between pauses as well as the pause duration. It’s very important to position yourself correctly from the get-go, as a strike comes out of nowhere and often catches one off guard.
Your set-up when fishing jerks is immensely important. I have a specific setup for jerks and it doesn’t get used for anything else. Your rod is key when fishing jerkbaits as you can often lose fish easily. I use a 7ft Medium rod with a fast action. You need enough bend to absorb a strike without ripping the lure free in a jerk, but you also need enough strength to give you the ability to do a proper hook set and give you enough power in a fight. I usually set this up with a 6:1 or faster gear ratio reel and either 10lb or 12lb fluoro carbon line.
Like most lures and patterns out there, the jerkbait has a time and a place, but unlike most lures, it’s got a time and place in every season of the year. I first used the jerkbait in autumn and it has since become an almost go-to lure during this time. At this time fish are usually fairly active and eating regularly with no specific physiological timer asking them to do anything specific. The only sign is the decreasing day length telling them that winter is approaching. During this time most lures and patterns work well. The reason I prefer the jerk is that it is a great bait to cover water. It’s a way to target cruising fish that is common during this period. By covering a lot of water you can quickly pick up a lot of good sized fish that you would normally not even throw at with a plastic.
Moving into winter most people either stay at home or take on a dead stick approach with plastics. I found that targeting rocky structure in early winter can give huge success with a jerkbait. When you do find them you can often load a limit in 5 casts. You can slow down your retrieve but a dead stick is not necessary. A soft jerk with a longer pause usually does the trick perfectly. During a BETT two seasons ago on Witbank Dam, I remembered catching my first keeper of the day on a jerkbait in 7 degree Celsius water temperature. Watching the 2013 Bassmasters classic I could not help but notice a lot of the top anglers’ fishing docks with icicles hanging off them, using none other than a jerkbait. Makes you think.
Late winter and early spring is usually one of the easiest times to catch fish on jerkbaits. Fish are suspending close to spawning areas on offshore structure and start feeding rapidly, loading up for spawn. Jerkbaits are great to catch these fish. I often rather use a deeper diving jerkbait in these conditions as fish sit just a little bit deeper.
Most know that during spring, bass are usually on nests or close by. Most of the time catching spawning fish is easy and probably some of the easiest fish to catch. But
Article & Images by August Lingnau
in pressured situations and clear water these fish can often turn into some of the most difficult fish to catch. Mostly because they know they are being targeted. I find in these cases a small jerkbait, usually 6cm or smaller, fished on a very light line, can do the trick. Marking where nests are in shallow water then moving off and making long casts with a good pause on the nest, will entice a bass just to move your lure off the nest and will give you a window.
Summer is usually a good all-round time for jerkbait fishing with warmer water temperatures making fish active. There is, however, one specific situation where the jerkbait comes into its own in summer for me. During extreme heat, fish often get very reluctant to feed. Where I grew up in Phalaborwa, water temperature in summer can often reach in excess of 30 degrees Celsius. In these conditions, fish often shut off. A jerkbait is great at overriding his natural instinct, having him slapping at a lure before he knows what he is doing. I’ve had huge success on a fast constant retrieve during these times when nothing else would work. Don’t be scared to chuck a jerk into structure and next to big trees. Fish relate to structure even more in these times as they look for the shade and cooler spots. Knocking the structure is often where your strike comes from. I normally use between an 8 and 10cm jerk in these situations and often on a bit stronger line just to help with the structure.
Whatever the situation you find yourself in, there are few lures out there that can override all reason in a bass’ mind. There are few lures that can cause such aggressive strikes and exhilarating battles. There are a few lures that can fill a limit so quickly and catch such big fish at the same time. When thinking about it, with the amount of tackle available today, there are few lures that have stood the test of time and have got a permanent spot on my deck. There’s nowhere I don’t go without a jerkbait, no day that I don’t just check if they are not on it, no lure that I don’t replace quicker after losing. This is a confidence lure that’s made me a better angler. Maybe it could just do the same for you.