®
Fall 2019
page 22
BACKSEAT
When choosing trailers, Lintner considers his needs for buoyancy and action.
Over shallow vegetation, where keeping his bait from burying in the cover, he’ll use a larger trailer like a swimbait or a Zoom Magnum Speed Craw or 4-inch Jackall Chunk Craw, all of which keep the bait higher by virtue of their water displacing mass.
“When I’m fishing out deeper than 5-feet, that’s when I’ll go to a smaller trailer with some kicking action, like a regular Speed Craw or the 3-inch Jackall Chunk Craw or a smaller swimbait,” Lintner said. “Selecting the right trailer is a big deal; because if you have the right size swim jig for fishing shallow grass, but you use a little tiny trailer, that thing is going to get snagged all over the place.
“Whereas, if you want to fish that swim jig down in 10-feet and you have a big, bulky, buoyant trailer, your bait is not going to be in the strike zone as much as it needs to be. So, match your trailer to the depth you want.”
Lintners said he’ll often counter a tough bite with strong contrast. Black jig with a white trailer, white jig with green pumpkin or chartreuse trailer.
“I think sometimes we try to get too fancy with trying to make a bait look exactly like a bluegill or a crawfish,” Lintner concludes. “The problem is that there should something different about it. Because, a fish really knows the difference between a live crawfish and your swim jig; so, there has to be something that makes that fish react.
“I’ve caught them both ways, but when it feels right, conditions are right and you’re not catching them on your favorite combination, take off that trailer and put on something so out of the ordinary that they probably shouldn’t bite it and you’ll be surprised how many fish you’ll catch.” •
COLOR CODE
Lintner admits his color selections can become extreme, maybe even eccentric; however, he has a simple rule for succeeding through simplicity. In his view, a selection that mimics shad, crawfish or bluegill covers the bases.
“I have some straight chartreuse swim jigs, purples, etc., but if you give me a shad a black/blue and a bluegill color, I can go anywhere in the country and catch fish,” Lintner said.
Nothing wrong with the matching jigs and trailers, but