Bassmaster invitational Champion >>>BY CARY BEVER<<<

One of the joys of old age is you begin to understand, if not appreciate, the rhythms of life. One of those rhythms is springtime fishing with suspending jerkbaits for giant smallmouth bass. Every spring, the oligatrophic, clear-water lakes of the North experience a mass exodus of spring smallmouth bass. It is as rhythmic and predictable as the tide. Speaking of rhythm – all jerkbaits work best on a four-beat rhythm. For cold water, work your jerkbait to Mozart – a slow, methodical beat with more pauses than jerks. As the water warms to near 55 degrees, switch to the Beatles… and a jerk, pause, pause, jerk motion. Just before the spawn with water temperatures near 60 degrees, Metallica is where it’s at: jerk, jerk, jerk and jerk. At this time of year, smallies move fast and hit hard. Only short pauses are required, and speed kills smallies in 60-degree water.

Immediately after ice-out, focus on the bays on the north and west sides of the lake. Key in on the first steep break leading from the deep over-wintering areas to spawning areas. Most good areas are obvious on a quality fishing lake map. The best areas lead to large rock flats that serve as a heat sink and warm the water faster than others. Nice geography lesson… but what does this have to do with jerkbaits? These hard plastic marvels of modern technology are the very best way to catch both numbers and quality of spring smallies. At this time of year, smallies spend their lives suspended off of the steep breaks to warm-up and prepare to “go up the hill.” That is to say eat first, and then spawning becomes the driving force for these fish. Typically these fish will suspend at depths between 5 and 8 feet over a total of 10- to 20-feet of water. As the water warms on a sunny day, they move higher and can be frequently seen hovering near the surface, almost stationary. On cloudy, cooler days they will sink through the water column to the warmest water lying deeper. Try to burn a spinnerbait by them and the water is too cold for them to chase. Hurl a tube at them and it sinks to the bottom several feet beneath them. Most bass, especially big spring smallies, are reluctant to feed down. These conclusions could only lead to one solution – suspending jerkbaits.

The suspending jerkbait is the ultimate lure for catching smallmouth this time of year. A good suspending jerkbait, like the Lucky Craft Pointer, represents the perfect marriage of speed, control and depth management. Because the water is cold – less than 40 degrees at ice-out, warming to 60 degrees at true pre-spawn – these fish can’t chase lures with the same abandon they can at 60 and 70 degrees. The ability of a jerkbait to “hang” in the important 5-to 8-foot zone is priceless. This feature, combined with erratic action to attract smallmouth bass, make the Lucky Craft Pointer irresistible. Jerkbaits have two parts to their presentation – the pause and the jerk. Too many anglers fire the lure out there and retrieve it the same way every cast. With some lures, like a spinnerbait, there is only so much creative room to work them, but not so with the versatile jerkbait. There are as many ways to work a jerkbait as there are musical instruments in an orchestra. Watch closely with your eyes as you retrieve the bait and be mindful of what your bait was doing when you got bit. On most days in cold water, the pause draws the most hits. However as the water warms, the jerk, and lots of them, get you bit.

The water warms rapidly this time of year after a few sunny days. As the water warms, simply speed up your four-count rhythm. Quick jerks of the rod and shorter pauses are all you need to adjust to the fish’s speed. As you adjust your presentation, it is time to adjust your location as well. It is a dynamic time for smallmouth bass when the water temperature reaches the 50s and is stable or rising. As the temperature goes up, so do the bass, meaning they will move shallow and will do it quickly. Concentrate on the areas where smallmouths spawn, and the bass will not be far away. Be mindful of nearby rock flats – these areas are solid gold.

Hard plastic suspending jerkbaits have a long and distinguished history of catching fish. However, they were never fun to throw in even the lightest wind and had notoriously inconsistent actions. You could buy ten of your favorite lure and have two of them that worked well, two that sank and six that would float to the surface upside down – irritating and expensive at best. Tinkering with them salvaged a few, but you had to be good at it. The suspending jerkbaits of today are not your Daddy’s jerkbaits. These high-tech marvels have consistent action and cast well. Suspending jerkbaits come in many sizes from the diminutive Lucky Craft Pointer 65 to the full-grown Pointer 128. With Lucky Craft’s suspending jerkbaits, you get what you pay for in the form of premium hooks and superb finishes. Because jerkbaits excel in clear water, the lure’s finish is particularly important. If you are going to pause or “dead-stick” a lure in a giant smallies face for long, it had better look good if you want to get bit. This explains why Lucky Craft makes their jerkbait in dozens of proven finishes. In fact, Lucky Craft not only makes a jerkbait, the company makes an entire family of jerkbaits. While these lures look similar, each has its own action. The popular Pointer 78 and 100 have a wide, side-to-side swing when jerked. On the other hand, the same bill that transforms the Staysee 90 into a deep-diving suspending jerkbait also stabilizes the lure and generates a less erratic action when jerked. The Pointer 78 and Pointer 100 DD’s, the deep diving cousin of the original Pointer, also have a less aggressive action. These differences are especially important in extremely cold water. With water temperatures in the upper 30s to low 40s, the Staysee 90 and Pointer DDs are your go-to baits. Some jerkbaits, like the Lucky Craft Pointer, have a “shimmy” action when paused and suspending. All have their days, and you have to experiment. The warmer the water, the wider the swing, is a general rule of thumb.

A hybrid lure of sorts is the Bevy Shad 75. At first glance, it would appear to be a pretty, shad-shaped crankbait and it is. However, there is more to this lure than what meets the eye. This lure also suspends after diving to 6 feet. This makes for a unique presentation and is particularly effective in waters that have shad as forage.

Last but certainly not least is the Slender series. Available in four sizes, it was designed specifically with smallmouth bass in mind. It features three hooks and like its name conveys, a slender shape. It produces a wide swing and has quickly become the gold standard for jerkbaits.

A note on hooks: For a jerkbait to be a good jerkbait, it must have great hooks, and Lucky Craft jerkbaits do. Bass rarely get a lot of the bait in their mouth, making super- sharp hooks mandatory. With sharp hooks, many smallies will be “skin-hooked” as they slash at your lure. Even with sharp hooks you can “boot” some big smallies by trying to bring them to the boat too soon. Don’t horse these beauties and enjoy the ride.

Rod selection is an important consideration when jerkbait fishing for smallmouth. The best choices are 6- to 7-foot, medium action rods with fast tips. To make working a jerkbait efficient, you want a rod with some backbone distributed well up the rod. The tip needs to have some give in the first 16 inches. This soft tip does two things. First, it loads up on the cast, providing the long cast that clear water requires. And secondly, this soft tip helps prevent the angler from pulling the hooks out of the smallies’ mouth. Lucky Craft now manufactures a rod specifically for throwing Pointers, and it is subsequently named the Pointer rod. It features all the qualities you have come to expect from Lucky Craft and gives the best action for fishing jerkbaits. Combined with a baitcaster and 10-pound test Lucky Craft NL monofilament line, you’re ready for jerkbait fishing magic.