(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Seth Feider cut his angling teeth fishing the oft-frigid waters of Minnesota, and while he’s quickly become a national threat, his upbringing means that he’s well aware of what it takes to catch lethargic wintertime bass.
“Your presentations get limited,” he said, which means that “a lot of guys struggle.”
One of his key presentations at this time of year is a suspending jerkbait. He doesn’t necessarily put it away during the warmer months, but “cold is when it really shines.” His current favorite lure in this situation is the Rapala Shadow Rap, which sinks exceptionally slowly, to the point that it’s almost neutrally buoyant. He likes the fact that it gets down to the fish that are “suspending a little bit deeper” and also that it has three trebles. “A lot of fish will just come up and kiss it,” he said, and those sticky-sharp hooks nail a high percentage of the tentative biters.
He fishes it on his signature series Daiwa Tatula Elite jerkbait rod. It’s 6’9”, shorter than the sticks used by many other anglers, but he said that’s by design. If you’re jerkbaiting all day, a longer or heavier stick will wear you out, and you might get sloppy, hitting the water more often. The shorter length “cuts down on fatigue” and the rod has substantial flex down the blank, almost like a fiberglass rod. That’s a key for landing fish that may not be hooked very well and because he ends up setting the hook on many fish as part of his jerking motion, high level sensitivity is not crucial.
Feider pairs his jerkbait rod with a 6.3:1 gear-ratio Daiwa Pixy PXL Type R baitcasting reel. The medium retrieve speed “helps keep the right pace.” While some serious jerkbaiters prefer monofilament in the winter when fluorocarbon becomes tougher to manage, Feider sticks with fluoro, and nine times out of ten it’ll be 10-pound test. When fish are especially tentative or he wants extra depth, he’ll go down to 8, and if there’s heavy cover or he wants to keep the lure shallower over grass, he’ll occasionally go up to 12. With many lures he ties a double-clinch knot, but he doesn’t feel that it sits right on the jerkbait’s split ring, so in this instance he goes with an “old school Palomar,” which he admits isn’t perfect, but allows the lure to look natural.
Indeed, natural appearance is especially important during the winter, when fish are disinclined to chase and long pauses enable them to examine your lure intensely. “At this time of year you have to put the bait in the fish’s face,” Feider said, and that means he favors natural hues. Even with smallmouths, which often like gaudy paint patterns on hard baits at other times of year, when it’s cold he’ll favor the quieter colors.
If you want to learn some of Feider's other winter jerkbait secrets, including the specific Rapala paint jobs that work best for him, as well as other uses for his jerkbait rod, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
