Jerkbaits lure early spring bass
For the past two weeks, this spot on the Allegheny River had been a consistent producer of bass, which had shown a strong preference for tube-style jigs.
This morning, though, our jigs were being ignored. I picked up a rod rigged with a suspending minnow-shaped jerkbait, cast the lure out and began a slow, methodical retrieve. The lure hadn't moved 10 feet before a chunky two-pound river smallie engulfed it.
Jerkbaits, both the hard- and soft-bodied varieties, have a definite place on the rod of the early-season bass angler.
Suspending hard jerkbaits like Rapala's Husky Jerk and X-Rap, the Bomber Suspending Long A and Excalibur's Xt3 and Xs4 are effective early season baits for both smallmouth and largemouth. The key to hard jerkbaits is fairly clear water.
During the early season forage, shad and shiners are drawn to warming water.
While this is commonly associated with dark-bottomed bays that quickly warm, the surface layer of main lake areas also rises rapidly in temperature during warming trends.
Bass, will follow food fish to the upper layer of the water column. Typically, this happens over large points and flats that extend well out into the lake. A hard jerkbait fishes such spots well. Fan cast over flats, using a stop-and-go retrieve to work the lure in. Don't be afraid to leave the bait hanging motionless for extended periods of time, as hits often occur a half-minute after the bait has been "killed."
On Lake Erie, smallmouth bass will concentrate near creek mouths when the correct rocky habitat is present. Use a hard jerkbait over these rocky shallows to trigger fish holding there.
Rivers are another ideal setting in which to use a hard jerkbait. River smallmouth bass often hold in eddies out of the main river flow at this time. When the water is clear, which it has been on the Allegheny the past week or so, the hard jerkbait is often the top bait.
Hold the boat close to the quiet pockets of water, then slowly work the suspending jerkbait from the bank back to the boat. If the water is clear, the bass will find the bait.
It takes a bit of patience to work a hard jerkbait slow enough during the early season. The tendency is to fish it too fast. I use an All-Star casting rod designed for throwing hard jerkbaits. The reel is the smaller version of the Pflueger round Trion baitcasting reel. The small diameter of the spool helps ensure a slow retrieve.
After the bait splashes down, give it a couple of twitches to make it dive. Allow it to suspend a few seconds, then twitch it again. Experiment with twitching cadences to see if something in particular turns the bass on. Bass often hit the bait as it hangs motionless in the slight current. Eddies that have large submerged rocks are ideal places for working a hardbodied suspending jerkbait.
After the spawn, when largemouths scatter and begin leaving the shallows, a soft-bodied jerkbait like the Yum Houdini Shad is effective. The bait can be worked through wood and over newly emerging weeds. It can be fished quickly on or near the surface for aggressive fish or when attempting to trigger a reactionary strike. It can also be hopped along the bottom more like a jig or worm.
I like to rig a four-inch soft jerkbait on a 3/0 weighted hook. Weight options with this hook are eighth- and sixteenth- ounce.
I also use a soft jerkbait on river smallies during the early season with great success. Rigged with the eighth-ounce weighted hook, I'll fish the bait more like a tube jig than a jerkbait, deadsticking it in the current as the boat drifts along. Just cast it out, allowing the bait to hang in the current as it pulls downstream below the boat.
Jerkbaits are just part of the early season bass arsenal that should also include tube jigs, bucktail jigs, skirted jig-trailer combos and spinnerbaits.
Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.
