Mike Tulenko, Sr. admires a nice smallmouth bass that took a suspending jerkbait on the pause.

One of my guide clients, the latter of a father/son tandem, gazed in dismay at the snarled ball of line that had significantly shortened the length of his cast. His suspending jerkbait, a Rapala Husky Jerk, hung relatively motionless in the mild current. The state of discontent was short-lived, however, replaced with excitement as a spirited smallmouth bass intercepted the four-inch minnow-shaped bait and made off for the far side of the Allegheny.

Mike had the wherewithal to forget the tangle, wind it back on to the reel, and deal with the fish. After a stubborn fight in the 51 degree water a 19-inch smallmouth bass was in the net.

During that trip, which took place earlier this month, Mike’s dad was putting bass in the boat at a greater pace than his son. From my observation, the difference was in the retrieve. Mike, Sr. was employing a slow, steady pace of mild twitches with lengthy pauses. Junior was also working his bait slowly, just not slow enough. The line snarl helped make this point; lesson learned, he went on to catch several more quality-sized smallies before the day ended, at which time we raced back to the ramp just ahead of wind-driven rain.

It’s no secret that early season bass often want baits presented slowly. But what’s sometimes overlooked is the degree of slowness, which in many cases translates into lures that are that are actually stopped or paused. In the case of the previously described scenario, pauses of several seconds were what was needed to trigger consistent strikes.

Suspending jerkbaits like the Husky Jerk, as well as soft-bodied versions like the Zoom Super Fluke, often excel when paused for several seconds. But the tactic also applies to other lure styles.

I recall an episode several years ago, one that took place during the spring on Presque Isle Bay. I was fishing with Dave Lehman, and again we were targeting smallmouth bass, big ones that move into the bay from Lake Erie each spring to spawn.

A variety of lure presentation work on PIB smallmouth bass. For fish in some of the deeper zone metal jigging baits — blade baits and jigging spoons — are often tops. In this instance, the fish wanted jigging spoons, which typically are fished a few inches up off the bottom. But on this day Lehman scored several extra bass by allowing the spoon to settle to the bottom and lie motionless for several seconds, at which time the fish picked up the dormant lure.

The same can be said for crankbaits. While most crankbaits rise (rather than suspend) when you stop them, it can be a good tactic to occasionally pause the lure. Hits often occur as the lure rises back up toward the surface. It’s especially effective to pause the bait after it’s been digging into the bottom (as opposed to running freely up off the bottom).

Pausing a bait takes some self-discipline to accomplish. It’s an understandable mind set to feel that the action of the lure is what makes a bass hit it. Toning down the action, much less stopping it, might seem counterproductive. But in the cool water of springtime, pausing a lure often suggests a vulnerability that turns looking bass into biting ones.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.