Summer 2025
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controlled and from getting hung in the grass. Most of the time, I’ll fish my topwater plus on 40- to 50-pound Seaguar Smackdown Braid in Stealth Gray.
DOWN THE WATER COLUMN
Suspending jerkbaits have developed into many anglers go to lure for smallmouth, especially on bodies of water where those fish will suspend in the water column, because you can fish them in numerous ways, and you can keep your bait in the effective strike zone for an extended period.
One way is to cast it out and just dead stick the bait and then slowly reel it in and dead stick it again. Depending on the water temperatures and prevailing weather, the bass, although hungry maybe sluggish and a jerkbait just sitting there will tempt them to bite.
The second and more exciting way to fish a jerkbait is to cast it out and work the bait back to the boat by giving your rod a quick jerk. This method requires you to experiment and see exactly what the bass wants in terms of how hard a jerk, how many jerks in a row and how long of a pause. Once you dial in your jerkbait presentation to the bass on that day the feeling of jerk, jerk, jerk and then WHAM will be etched in your memory for years to come.
LURES: From stock, widely available Rapala X-Raps to expensive, hard to find MegaBass Visions, the color options in jerkbaits are vast. My top colors for fishing jerkbaits include Clown, Table Rock Shad, White Pearl, Shad and a Perch imitating hue. Depending on the time of the year, water clarity and the forage of the body of water you are fishing will dictate what color bait you tie on.
LINE : Selecting the line, you use will have a huge effect on how your jerkbait runs. If you are fishing a suspending jerkbait or dead sticking a bait, using Seaguar Fluorocarbon line is very helpful in achieving the desired depth for your bait. Fluorocarbon line also is super sensitive and is invisible underwater, so it will shine when fishing in ultra-clear water. If I want my jerkbait to hit a deeper section of the water column, I’ll spool up with 10- to 12-pound Seaguar Tatsu, whereas if I need to keep my
jerkbait up closer to the surface, I’ll use 15-pound Seaguar InvizX.
ON THE BOTTOM
When smallmouth are close to the bottom, aren’t very active or holding tight to cover, I like to use a dropshot to entice them into biting. Many times, I will fish a dropshot anywhere from six-feet of water all the way down to 15-feet. Targeting rocks, either vast flats with scattered boulders or a rock-lined bank, a dropshot will entice even the tightest-lipped smallie into biting.
GEAR: The equipment that an angler uses to dropshot is very important for success, because the proper equipment ensures you can present the bait properly in a very natural manner. Then it is important to be able to feel the bites as sometimes a smallmouth will just nibble on your offering, but once they are hooked the rollercoaster ride is on as a big smallmouth can dive one second and then be airborne the next!
A good dropshot rod should have a soft tip, so you can give your bait the proper subtle action, but a strong back