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Jerk Bait Keys

As we move into winter and some of the coldest water of the winter, I start to remember the success I have had fishing jerk baits over the many years they have existed. I can easily state that jerk baits have been a consistent performer of my fishing over many years especially in the cold water conditions. To me there are some important tips that make a jerk bait work for you.

There is without a doubt some performance differences with jerk baits, many have subtle movement, and others are bold and aggressive as they move, so as you choose your favorite make sure your jerk bait, has plenty of side-to-side movement, that it responds to subtle tip movement and that you can cast it into the wind. Many jerk bait products are curved just enough to slide through the wind where you can get long casts and great movement while fishing it. Length of cast is paramount as the longer the bait is in the water on your retrieve the more chance you have of catching fish! Bass are followers and long cast give them time to react!

The key performance of jerk bait is all controlled by your rod performance, reel speed and wrist action. You just have to make sure you’re rigged properly, medium heavy rod, 6:3:1 reel speed or faster and the ability to move your wrist sharply, quickly and precisely. The next key is your pause; I find that the colder the water the more patient you need to be with your pause of the bait. I have seen some days in the coldest part of the winter that you should pause as long as 10 seconds. I also make sure that I vary the tip action so the movement changes constantly through the retrieve process. Many times I do quick snaps in a row, other I leave a pause in-between the snaps, and I vary the pause allowing 2 to 10 seconds giving the bait time to attract a fish. Lastly, I change the depth of the bait with tip presentation; the higher you hold your rod tip the shallower the bait will go. Hold it down it goes deeper, keep it up it stays shallow, all part of finding a retrieve that catches fish!

Creative Cranking in the Winter

Winter and cold water is an ideal time to become creative with crank bait, using your imagination and being willing to try something different can be the key to catching deep fish in the winter!

When your running crank baits 20 ft. down you can make magic happen you just have to be creative. Creative crank baiting is just easy to do, you just have to imagine what that bait is doing and make it do different things, present different looks and be a little different.

I know many people get frustrated when they are throwing crank bait and not getting bites then they get in a boat with someone who does it differently and it seems easy; well it is. A creative crank bait fisherman just uses all the possible parts of crank baiting to their advantage. They change the tip height, they work it in an upward position then point it downward, work the tip with long pulls, short pulls, they stop it and pause it and use their wrist to change the speed. All these are just elements of becoming a good crank bait fishermen, the key is to understand what these changes do to the bait and how they create strikes.

The tip of your rod is a key element to fishing a crank bait, you can change the depth by several feet just by changing the tip if you point it down it runs deeper,  if you keep it high it runs shallower. Making long pulls with your rod tip also adds creativity to your bait; if you want the bait to bounce and dig the bottom, long pulls will add that element to your retrieve. Short pulls give the bait a different look, it digs then it quickly suspends or raises this causes a pause as well as a short pull adds a cadence to your retrieve. Your wrist is a key element of crank baiting as it can make movement changes in the bait just by moving your wrist, quick movements become erratic changes while cadence movement become rhythm movement.

There are many things you can do to be a creative crank bait fisherman, just use your knowledge do different things with the bait and see what offers the best results.

Bait Size Matters

As winter slowly moves on it is a time of year where size matters; at no time during the fishing year is the size of your bait more important than now! If your wanting to catch big quality bass, fish with big baits, like 7 inch swim baits, ¾ oz. jigs with large trailers that give the jig a bulky look; even ¾ to 1 oz. spinner baits with large willow leaf blades will produce that big bite.

The thing many fishermen do not realize is that slow lethargic large bass pick their prey and the bigger the better as their feeding is very selective and large presentations entice that big fish.  I know you all have heard that saying that this time of year (winter) you’re fishing for a few bites; I believe this is true so if the bites are limited than the presentation of large bait becomes even more important. Size does matter; large bass are selective, they want slow moving baits, easy prey and that large presentation as they can lead you to that 30-pound sack we all hunt in winter fishing. Large baits do have some negatives as some days it can reduce the number of bites, but the bigger fish make it all worth it. Be color aware as wintertime fishing color does matter!

Some of the baits I like with large profiles are ¾ to 1 oz. Spinner baits with big willow leaf blades that get to the bottom easily and becomes a great large profile bait to slow roll on the bottom this time of year. I also like ¾ oz. football jigs you combine that big jig with a Missile Bait D-bomb trailer or Drop Craw, or big Missile Craw and it will produce big bites with this jig as it really entices those big females. Don’t underestimate the power of a big swim bait, some of those very expensive large swim baits when worked slowly over shallow grass can become your best friend; these baits can be very expensive, but wintertime proves their worth.

Big baits produce big fish, and you’ll have a big time on the water; you just have to get on the water to prove it; call me I’ll help you become a big bait fisherman!

The Mysteries of a Chatter bait

It’s no secret that the renown bladed jig or chatter bait have been unlocked over the past several years; the keys to this are many but nothing has been more rewarding than utilizing speed, as it has been one of the keys to making this bait work for you! Speed and the changing of speed during a retrieve has been the secret behind working a chatter bait especially in flat areas where the grass or stumps lie in crowded flats packed with your choice of many types of structure like weeds, grass, lay downs and more.

Flats are ideal areas for fish to be feeding and structure holds their food source so they can hide from the feeding bass. As bass roaming the flats for food highlights a chatter bait as it becomes the ideal bait to entice feeding and when you are changing speeds and letting the bait drop in the holes between the structure or ditches within it and becomes irresistible for bass! It has become for many the big fish bait of choice as it moves, vibrates and emulates bait throughout its movement back to you during the retrieve of the bait. No bait has proven to be more deadly in grass lakes than the chatter bait, as it has become the bass catcher of choice for many pros and weekend anglers in lakes like Guntersville and more that are covered in grass.

It’s also bait that has proven its worth when the bass are bedding on the edges of the banks that are full of laydowns that have fallen along the shoreline from natural erosion. The way it’s designed allows the chatter bait to work over and through the branches scattered about the fallen trees, making it ideal to work around the structure. This is also an ideal place to drop and pop this bait as its design allows you to be creative with the retrieve and force reaction bites by popping it up and down within the branches.

Remember speed is everything while fishing a chatter bait, so vary your speed to change the presentation and force the bait to become seen and hence become a reaction bait for bass to attack.

Difference in Blades of a Spinner Bait

There are three basic blades used on a spinner bait; Willow leaf, Colorado blade and Indiana blade. The difference is primarily their shape, vibration and the way they move in the water. Each type is distinct from the other the willow leaf runs at about a 20-degree angle, the Colorado blade runs about 45 degrees of angle, and the Indiana blade runs somewhere in the middle at about 30 degrees.

The Willow leaf blade spins quickly and has the least amount of resistance in the water, hence making it ideal for deeper fishing, The Colorado blade is wide and rounded. It spins slower with significant resistance and the vibration is strong and thumps a lot in the water. While the Indiana blade is a hybrid between the two which spins faster than a Colorado blade yet slower than a Willow leaf blade.

All three have what I would deem as their fits when it comes to fishing; Willow leaf blades generates lots of flash making it ideal for clear water or when fish seem to be feeding visually on bait fish. Making it ideal bait for covering water, when you trying to locate fish and find a school that could win you a tournament. Colorado blade produces a strong thumping vibration making it ideal for muddy or stained water, especially if the water is muddy and the fish are reacting to vibrations to feed. Lastly the Indiana blade is your most versatile blade on a spinner bait, making it a great bait to use if you’re unsure of what the fish are reacting too.

Each blade has its own movement and gives you a variety of ways to catch fish; the willow leaf is good for speed and flash in clear water, The Colorado blade is the ideal stained water solution for fishing a spinner bait and the Indiana blade is the unsure blade for fish you can’t figure out all helping you target fish behavior, different water conditions and whether you want to fish slow, fast, deep or make a lot of water movement to attract fish.

Spinner bait fishing is my favorite bait, and it is a bait I have on my deck just about anytime I am on the water; it can be your favorite bait, with just a little practice.

Natural Elements and Bass Fishing

There is no time of year that nature becomes the key to catching fish like the winter on most bass fishing lakes. There are many signs during the winter that lead you to the active bass; you must however embrace nature and use the signs as a source of information to find the fish. There are many story telling signs but the keys to success are just a few: food source, birds feeding, structure and cover are all key elements to a successful day on the water in the winter time. Sure, there are others like water temperature, water clarity, seasonal patterns, weather patterns and more but if you focus on the keys of nature, you will be successful.

One of the most telling details for me is always birds feeding, if you’re fishing an area and look off a half mile away and see gulls diving and feeding you best move your boat to that area to find out if the bass are also feeding on the same bait the gulls are feasting on! Gulls, Loons, Pelicans all feed on bait fish and take in tremendous amounts of food during a feeding day and you can bet they will lead you to bass feeding also. We have all invested large amounts of money in our electronics on our boats, if you haven’t learned how to spot bait balls on your electronics then make it a New Years Resolution to do so as it will be a big addition to your ability to find bass especially in the winter! Lastly don’t ignore the obvious, a laydown stuck on top of a shallow water area or hung up on a stump is a tell-tale sign of a great spot for bass to hold in the winter. Deep stumps in water that seems to have current breaks and attached structure around them always holds fish in the cold water and should never be ignored.

The other keys like water temperature, water clarity, weather and patterns all come into play in the winter and shouldn’t be ignored, but they are only a small piece of the puzzle when it comes to finding active bass in the winter. Commit your time in the winter on the key elements and you will be a better winter fisherman.

December Means Change

If you look at what to expect on Guntersville in December history says there will be more change and transition than any other time of year. We generally start the month off with fall type temperatures and as the month progresses we fall into night time temperatures in the teens. This drastic weather change moves the fish off the fall patterns and drops the water temperature drastically and hence the bass fishing changes with it.

Never in my 25 plus years of keeping my history of my fishing days on Guntersville does any month change so drastically and abruptly as does December. We go from top water fishing over shallow water to deep water, slow patient fishing where persistence and slow presentation can be the key in getting a bite. Not only slow retrieves but bait size becomes more of an issue than any other time of year; you must downsize to equal the size of the natural bait and let the bait become an easy meal for bass that are basically becoming lethargic until the weather breaks again in the spring.

One of my favorite baits in the winter in these transition times is a “Shaky head” with a sinko type worm worked over the drops and depth changes, where you find stumps or maybe deep coon tail grass still showing on your structure scan or forward sonar. I find that the bass movement in December even though drastic in abruptness as it pertains to weather and water temperature the bass move in steps and December is so early in the change that their movement is not far from some of their fall hang outs, just a little deeper. Fish movement is expected, keeping up with them is the challenge. Key is to follow the bait as they move so do the bass; if you aren’t seeing bait you’re in the wrong place!

Lastly as December is full of weather change and every day can be different; bass will find the warmer days and still move up and back to feed until some consistent cold weather just drives them to the suspending stage for some enduring length of time. December fishing is all about change and if you have the ability to change with it you can still have a productive December.

A Few Habits of Big Bass

As we approach winter and the spring the bigger fish will focus on certain habits that will repeat themselves from their many years of surviving the fishing pressure that today’s lakes receive all over the country.

The one thing you can count on is that bigger female bass become routine in their search for food, they don’t stray far from their protection areas that they are use too and they are very routine in their feeding habits. Meaning they generally feed at dawn and dusk and don’t stray far for food. They have a very regimented schedule just like the older generation of today has in our world. Meaning you should be able to find them routinely in their protected environment and they should be stacked up together just like a coffee shop full of old folks around the same table.

Big bass live in the most protected areas of the lake, they like the heaviest cover, they stay away from other predators, especially bigger ones and they like creek channels, weed edges and grass line breaks that drop into deep water for protection. One thing that I have also noticed is that the bigger bass like contour breaks that they can hide up against like inside bends where contours become grass lines that they can back up to for protection. Old roadbeds that have turns and depth change also become great preferred staging places for big fish.

Lastly big bass like big size food sources, meaning that the bigger baits emulating the food source generally catch the bigger fish. “Big baits, big fish” is an old saying that has lots of merit and proof over the years that it is true. Just work an 8-inch swim bait or a big glide bait and see the difference in the size of the fish you catch with them. The downsize of course comes in the numbers game where the bigger baits limit the amount of fish you catch but increase the size of them.

Habits are everything learn them and become a big bass fisherman!

Retrieve Speed and Results

As we approach winter fishing or late fall feed up this becomes a time of year that one of the most critical things that people do wrong shows its head. When you have trouble catching fish this time of year, it has a lot to do with how quickly you retrieve your bait while fishing! There are many ways to work a bait and certainly many of them require you to work them very quickly to produce the action the bait was designed for; however working that bait certain times of years require you to slow down and we are approaching that critical time now!

Let me give you an example, many of us are successful at fishing a frog when we burn it across a grass mat. Excellent example of when and how to catch fish; burning it does require you to change speeds and tempo many times to be successful. If you’re burning the frog without stopping, slowing, or speeding back up, then you could very well have the wrong tempo required to get a bass to bite. When your best buddy tells you to burn it and they will bite does not necessarily mean he never slows down, or stops the bait to change the tempo, this can be a critical piece of retrieve speed.

All baits we fish with require thought on the presentation; and many times the presentation you use at first light may need to be changed drastically to get the same bite at 11am. Fish are more active many times at 6am than they are at 9am and retrieve speed and tempo needs to be changed many times as the day progresses.

Lastly tournament anglers are a perfect example of critical retrieve speed. Many times a tournament angler hits the water for a practice day and really slays the fish. He goes back to the same spot at the same time of day during the tournament and can’t get his fish to bite; why? He is fishing with a different tempo than he did during his practice time. Not realizing how critical this can be, his body is hyped up and the speed and tempo at which he catches fish in practice has changed! His adrenaline changed his tempo and hence his bite. Thought is everything when it comes to retrieve speed!