Learning how to fish Lake George: Fishing a Jerk bait
What does a guide do when it’s forecast to be in the low 20’s tomorrow? That’s right - pen an article on throwing jerk baits for summer smallies! Brown bass are known to thrash jerkbaits, but many think of jerkbaits exclusively as a cold water presentation. Think again!
If I’m marking suspended fish, I’m throwing a jerk bait. Last summer, I had success with jerkbaits all the way up to the end of July. In this post, I’m going to share some of my best kept secrets with you about fishing a jerkbait on Lake George for bronzebacks:
Which Jerkbait? I prefer to fish deeper diving jerkbaits. My favorite last year was the Rapala Shadow Rap Deep in both Albino Shiner and Ghost colors. I’m looking for smelt imitations and these do a pretty good job “matching the hatch.” This upcoming summer, I’m going to try some of the even deeper diving jerkbaits I own - I’m itching to fish Ima’s Deep Fry.
Locations: Typically, if fish are in the area, you will catch them right away. I like to fan cast an area and then move. I target humps and points and island areas.
Switch it up: What I learned last year is that fish can become conditioned to a bait pretty quickly. So after things slow a bit, try a different bait. Put on a top water bait, switch to a prop bait, try rip jigging a spoon.
Strong Preference on Line Choice: I use a lot of braid when throwing jerkbaits. Since braid is a low stretch line, you get a really good snap and action with it. However, braid without a leader will drive you crazy. You will spend lots of time unwrapping braid from your trebles and split rings. To counteract this, all you need to do is grab some high end 8lb Gamma Edge Fluorocarbon and tie in a 3 foot leader with an FG knot. Not only will you not get braid tangles, but you also will be way more invisible to the fish.
Snaps: Details. Details. Details. I tie a snap so that I can quickly and easily switch between baits. I like the VMC CRS Crankbait Snap or the TLKS Touch-Lok Snap.
How do you fish a jerkbait? First you start with a long cast. Get that bait away from the boat. The longer the cast, the more attracting of fish you can do as that bait moves through the water. Then it’s point the rod at the bait and reel to get that bait to dive down. Then - on a slack line - it’s a series of snaps and pauses. Many of the hits you get will be on the pause. Some times the fish want the bait paused for a longer period of time and sometimes it doesn’t matter as much. The idea is that you start by pointing your rod at the bait you just cast, and with some slack in your line you snap downward - 1, 2, or 3 snaps - followed by the pause.
Crankbait tweak? The best jerkbait fisherman I know gave me the tip a couple years ago to switch out the last treble with a feather treble. I think it can make a difference - so it’s worth doing.
Something to try this next summer? I’m going to try putting a VMC Bladed Hybrid Treble hook on the back to see if the extra flash helps trigger fish that might become a little gun shy after we put some pressure on them.
The cool thing about fishing the Shadow Rap Deep is that it is a slow sinking bait on the pause. So if you want to sink that bait deeper, just do nothing.
I’m a huge advocate of catch and release fishing on Lake George. I would love to see a 6 pounder caught on my boat - but we have to let the 3 and 4’s go if they will ever grow up to a 6!
Feel free to comment on this article and let me know what you want to learn - and I will try and write to your questions! Thanks!