Thanks JF, exactly what I needed to read to get into some cold water bass, but I think the hat helps where can I get one?

Its special order only.

wow those were some geat NY bass, im happy catching a 3 pounder on Ontario. Where would i have to go to catch some of those lunkers?

The pause is extremely important in water ranging from 38 degrees to 45. I find in those water temps that If I just get the bait down into the strike zone and let it sit..the fish will hit...if I try to move it at all...less hits.

Those were actually from Honeoye, though I've caught 5 lb.+ fish in all the bays off Lake O., several of the Finger Lakes, and in a few odd places that you wouldn't expect big fish.

My personal best NY LMB is 7-2, from all places I-Bay 2006. Not where I'd expect, but it tells me there are big fish waiting to be caught in our water. For SMB, a 5-4 from Lake O. back in the early 90s. I did come close last year with a 5-0 from Port Bay during the spawn.

Bottom line, you have to fish for them. The 7-2 was pure luck, but many of the other bigger fish were preparation meeting opportunity. Just after ice out big fish seem particularly vulnerable. I have my theories, but this is a jerkbait thread.

I love jerkbaits - when the fish get aggresive and jerkbait bite's awesome.

Only problem is I'm stuck on one brand - Lucky Craft. They work. Suspend out of the box, fish like them, but hurts to loose one.

I throw on other jerkbaits and nothing. Switch to an LC, and I BELIEVE!

Got hooked on Megabass jerkbaits for a bit - but kept breaking the lips. They work, but for 1/2 the price, LC's are all I buy.

I tend to pause more than jerk.

Just a tip to any anglers that may not be that familiar with jerkbaits. You don't have to jerk the bait like the name implies. Don't do like I did when Husky Jerks first arrived on the scene. I used to pull the bait hard, jerk it to get a hard fast vibration out of it. Now for me, most times it's more of a "pull" bait. Cast it out, reel it a few cranks and then pull....paaauuuse....pull...pull...paauuse....or some variation of that. Especially in cold water, it's nothing more than making the bait wobble as it drifts in an eddy.

As I recall, BASS tourney anglers got the ball rolling with suspending jerkbaits by using deep diving rogues fished by hard rips along steep bluffs. I just carried that hard rip technique to river fishin and soon found that easing up on the pulls was the way to go.

I generally use a short snap, immediately followed with a bit of slack. Combine this with a sweep and the pause, like snap-snap-snap-snap-sweep and a long pause. Oddly, i like odd numbers of snaps, LOL.

I tend to switch back and forth between the snap (or jerk) and then pause and the slow pull and then pause. If I am trying to "call" fish up from deeper water, then I go with the snap and pause. If I am trying to "ease" it into a hole or eddy or up next to a submerged log then I go with the "pull" and then let it sit until they can't stand it anymore. Great suggestions, but don't be afraid to fish the same bait a lot of different ways. Sometimes I will be using the pull technique and get four or five follows so I will switch to the snap-jerk technique combined with the pause and WHAM!!!!
Chad

There is another retrieve that works well in mid/late summer, when Lake Ontario turns over, and the cold water brings smallies in shallow, and its really just a steady retrieve of really hard jerks. Also, while many consider them a clear water springtime/fall bait, a more steady set of jerks in stained or algae choked water will call fish in as well.