by Jeff Little » Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:11 pm
Here's what I do: I see a likely looking area, say a series of chutes with slack water eddies in between the fast chutes. I cast way beyond the foam trail that I want the jerkbait to linger in, retrieve it as fast as I can without the jerkbait rolling over, and stop it right under the foam trail. Then I wait. How long depends on the day. A three minute wait is NOT out of the question, especially as it gets colder. Here's another one: You paddle up through a series of ledges and see that the 2 - 4 foot deep water opens up to something darker and deeper, you're thinking at least 6 to 8 feet. The foam lingers across the entire trench upstream of the ledge you are fighting to push up and over. It's deeper, it's slower, and you think it qualifies as a nice "taper up" spot where some fish would hold. You cast the jerk a long way, parallel with the deepest part of the trench before it steeply tapers shallow. You burn it about 15 yards and then wait for it, wait for it, wait, f@*%ing wait you knuckle head, the fish is eye to eye with it and if you move it away from him, he's going home, and he's taking his ball with him. Well that is how it happened yesterday with the second nice one, a 19 incher or so. But he decided to play after a 15 second pause. Having the confidence with this bait took me a long long time to develop. I'll wait for my hook to rust with a tube. Anyways, if you don't get the crunch after 30 seconds, burn it another 15 yards and wait again. The places you decide to stop and let it suspend are key. You want to spot that big boulder that comes up to 3 feet with 8 feet all around it, cast beyond it, smack it into the upstream side of it, and wait. They saw it. Now they just need to say to their buddy, "Dude, did you see that crazy ass minnow slam his head into the rock?" "You wan't this one?!" They are sort of in a "haven't had my coffee yet" stupor, so it takes them a moment to decide to eat. It's not like summer when they meet the buzzbait at the surface and if you haven't flipped your bail by hand it's over. The burn just gets the attention of all the fish in a sizeable chunk of water. You need to give them a chance to catch up with it and make the decision to crunch it. Sometimes they nose it or bump into it with their body before taking it. I caught one yesterday foul hooked in the meat near the dorsal fin. He was probably giving him a hip check to see what the crazy ass minnow would do. Give them a moment to decide. You already have their attention.
A little visualization and personification helps too! Chad compared me to Dustin Hoffman playing the rain man in his character development intro to my chapter in his book. If talking them into eating the jerkbait helps me....
