Deep Diving Jerkbaits

Winter brings with it some challenges such as colder water temps and unpredictable fronts, which makes catching bass difficult below certain temperature. Bass are very sluggish and aren’t hunting actively when the water gets cold, but they can be enticed to eat a well presented jerkbait. Because of this, I rely heavily on jerkbaits around this time, choosing those that dive from 5-10ft. There are numerous jerkbait varieties for sale and everyone has their favourite brand, but there are several key factors to consider when choosing your bait: Lure action: Choose lures that don’t have a wide erratic motion but rather a subtle side to side roll when they are pulled forward. Ideally, they should slowly sink on the pause and you usually have to fish very slowly. Popular baits fulfilling these requirements include the Megabass Vision 110+2 and the Spro Mcstick but my personal favourites are Nories Laydown Minnow and various deep diving Lucky Craft jerkbaits.Colour: The basic rule of thumb regarding bait selection applies to deep diving jerkbaits too. For clean water and brighter days, I would suggest natural patterns that resemble baitfish from the local area and have some transparency to them. In cloudy weather I would suggest back and gold coloured lures. The more stained the water, the brighter and flashier your lure will need to be to attract attention. Cold, dirty water makes for tough fishing and I would try not to find myself fishing in these conditionsLure Size: Don’t be afraid to use larger lures at this time of year. For bass it is all about maximising their energetic return for the least amount of effort and they may be inclined to make the effort to grab larger lures than the smaller more subtle varieties. Deep Diving Jerkbaits available locally Megabass Vision Oneten +2 Spro Mike McClelland McRip 85 Jerkbait Lucky Craft Pointer XD100 Strike King KVD Deep Berkley Cutter 110 Rapala Shadow Rap Deep Target areas and Presentation It’s important to know that in very clean water fish tend to look upwards at prey, so you don’t want to be fishing below suspended bass and they are more likely to swim up for your lure than swim down for it. On super clean days in Clanwilliam Dam I have seen bass come up a long way to grab a jerkbait so don’t be scared to use them over deep suspended fish. Spots where the channel comes close to the bank and over deeper, isolated structure are good areas for cold water bass, but my favourite areas are the ends of deeper points. Steep banks that transition into are prime areas to target with a jerkbait. Very slow and subtle retrieves give bass time to decide whether to eat your lure and you don’t want to be jerking with a wild KVD summer jerkbait action! It’s better to sweep your rod tip than to make sharp jerking movements and you need to have a significant pause between rod movements. In freezing cold USA lakes, the pros pause their retrieve for over a minute, but we don’t get to those temperatures in many places in SA. I personally don’t have patience to pause for more than a second or two, but it is good practice to pause for as long as you’re comfortable with. Fishing a deep diving jerkbait in this manner is slow and you need to make sure you are in the right areas. Its not really a technique that I would use just to cover water. Make long casts and crank the lure down to its running depth before you begin the slow jerking retrieve, making sure that the lure is at the desired depth by the time it reaches your target area. It is a good idea to experiment with your bait presentation and action in a swimming pool before you head out to the lake. Work the bait parallel to deep ledges where the river channel runs tight to the bank. Sharp transition zones offer deepwater access close to shallow feeding shelves. Bait Modification In order to get the best action out of your deep diving jerkbaits for cold water applications it is often necessary to modify the baits before using them: Putting a little lead tape towards the front of the bait will help the bait to sit nose down and keep it deep in the water column at the depth you are targeting; Adding a second split ring to the front treble hook will allow the bait to hold its direction and to have a better action in the water;Change out the treble hooks for super sharp, high quality hooks. This is very important because most of the time the sluggish fish will softly grab the bait while it is sitting motionless between “twitches”. As such, they will often be lightly hooked in the lips or on the side of their face and blunt hooks won’t do the job. Medium powered, moderate fast action rods deliver the action and shock absorption required when working these bigger billed jerkbaits. Tackle Setup Your tackle setup is as important as your choice of bait and its essential that you use the correct rod. You will need a rod with the right action to get the bait moving while still having enough flexibility so as not to pull the bait away from the fish (if they are not hooked solidly). I have found that the Kistler KLX Reel ‘N Feel series rod is excellent for larger baits and the 6’6” Kistler KLX Crank, Rip and Twitch Medium Light Moderate Fast is perfect for smaller and medium sized jerkbaits. Use 8-12lb fluorocarbon line when fishing deep diving jerkbaits as it is important that the line slowly sinks with the bait. If you chose to use monofilament, it would constantly be floating up and interfering with the depth you are trying to target. Another thing to remember is that with soft rods and subtle bites, you may not feel the bite but rather just some weight on the end of the line and only when you set the hook will you will feel the headshakes.