Well the weather was cold but the fishing was HOT! I got out today to bring in the New Year with a bang and that is just what happened. The colder nights and high skies have moved the better fish to most of the wintertime "haunts" and they arrived hungry. For those that have fished with me in the past already know I would rather take a beating than fish a Jerkbait as slow as you have to fish it this time of year until the fish are on it hard. Well after several trips in the last few weeks of catching a few Jerkbait fish I went out today to see just how well they were eating it and committed to fishing it for at least half the day.
The day started kind of slow but when the sun reached the tops of the trees the bite got strong and was awesome to say the least. I Started with the Jackall Squirrel in Tenn. Shad. I worked the outside of main creek channels near deeper drops with the boat positioned in 12-15 feet of water. I was fishing the outside grass lines and found a solid 18 lb limit in the first 2 hours. After getting a solid bite I moved up to the Squad Minnow in the 120 size hoping to upgrade. The bite never slowed down and the pattern was holding up on all of the first 5 areas. I changed several colors and it never seemed to hurt the bite at all. One main key, yes the secret I found was once you pulled the bait down you had to let it sit for at least 12 seconds then remove the slack from the line and twitch it once. One key was DO NOT move the bait more than 4-6 inches and let it sit for another 12-15 seconds. This made the numbers drop a little but the size picked up greatly. I upgraded every fish I had caught prior to changing the size of baits I was looking at a solid 25+ pounds.
Once satisfied that I could put up coming clients on solid numbers and size on the Jerkbait I had to change baits and play with my newest weapon in my arsenal, The Jackall Delta Spec Rod. I tied on several baits starting with the Jig (Black and Blue) and changing to see what baits worked well on the rod. I went about 2 hours without a bite on several baits and only a few smaller fish on a couple. I then changed to the Jackall Giron (Black Crappie). I loved the way the rod preformed for casting the bait and it felt good with me being able to feel everything the bait was doing on the retrieve. I then had a solid 7 pound fish on the rod and its performance was everything I expected from the Jackall Rod. I boated several more fish on the same pattern just worked a little deeper (15-20 feet) than the jerkbait.
After finishing the day with a solid 28 pound limit I was pleased to see how the bite was getting stronger and the fish seem to have settled down some and moved into a pattern unlike past trips where it was a fish here and there.
The best baits on the swimbait pattern were the Jackall Swimming Ninja (Hitch), the Jackall Giron (Black Crappie) and the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad (5.5 in the Magic Shad color). I ended up with the best fish off the Live Magic Shad worked with a slow swimming motion then letting it fall into the grass edge. Most fish hit the bait on the fall near the bottom or just as I pulled it off the bottom and the end of the fall. Best advice is to not fish too fast and trust your area and bait. Some of the bites were very light so if it feels different set the hook.
I hope this helps some of our fans catch the fish of a lifetime and makes your cold winter days on the water a little better. If you want to see these tactics or some other little tricks we have to catch fish on winter patterns drop us a line and we will get you set up for a great fishing trip. Thanks again to everyone for their support and looking forward to seeing you on the water.
God Bless
Phil.4:13
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