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Summer 2020
page 42
TRIGGERING THE BITE
Of course, sometimes you don’t have a choice on the water color in the most fertile areas of the lake, and in clear water the glider can be the right choice. When that’s the case, you still want to take steps to make sure that fish have to react rather than being given an opportunity to follow.
“You want more action so that they can’t quite get a good look at it,” Jocumsen explained. “On top of that, wind and a mix of clouds and sun come into play. They break up all the light. If the fish are getting too good of a look, they’ll follow the whole way.” Later he added. “I used to say that I wanted wind and sun, but now I want wind and dark stormy cloud cover.”
He also changes his cadence. Indeed, the long flowing glides are the ones that put clear water fish in a trance, so he’ll create a “chop” – a sudden back and forth erratic action – to trigger strikes.
“Only certain glide baits, like Brandon’s and mine, do it well,” he said. “Instead of a long glide you want to make the bait more erratic with little quarter and half turns. It sends off a panicked vibration.”
In clearer water he’ll use translucent colors to give a minimalistic look to the lure, much as he would with a jerkbait, while in dirtier water colors like white and bone stand out better.
In addition to changing up cadences and making his lure more erratic, another way that Jocumsen minimizes followers and maximizes bites is to move out a little bit deeper when the fish seem noncommittal. There is less light penetration and the fish are more comfortable. While he’s watched dozens of videos of expert big bait anglers hooking fish close to the boat, he said that’s not an optimal situation.
“I don’t want that fish to get anywhere near the boat,” he said. “On every single cast I pretend there’s a fish behind it so that I make sure I get that bite far from the boat.”
So, what does he do when he does get a nose-to- the-bait follower?
“I break into erratic turns,” he replied. “Even a figure eight. It’s not just for musky. And sometimes I hit the top of the water with my rod tip.”
PICKING THE RIGHT GLIDER
Jocumsen admits that he’s put a hurting on his bank account amassing a world-class collection of glide baits and swimbaits, and while you may have your own preferences for the waters you fish, he’s developed some general rules.
“The smaller you go, the less power it actually has,” he said. “You have to be more accurate on action, color and area. It doesn’t have as much drawing power. A big bait like a 12-inch Hinkle Trout has the best drawing power. You’ll see more giants than ever before in your life. Those big fish are territorial and they don’t like that thing in their area.”
For everyday fishing from coast to coast, however, he prefers a glider in the 6- to 7-inch range.
“Once you get over that, you start to cancel out tournament fish,” he explained. “You’re only chasing a true giant. With that 6- to 7-inch bait you can still catch 3- to 4-pound fish very easily, but a 10-plus is also happy to eat it.”
While he has ample numbers of hard-to-find and costly baits, as indicated above, two of his favorites are comparatively inexpensive: The Storm Arashi Glide designed by Brandon Palaniuk, and the model he designed for Molix.