BEAVER LAKE — The lure with a funny name is serious business when it comes to catching black bass during the winter at Beaver Lake.
Jerk baits are long, slender minnow imitations that are producing eyepopping catchesof big largemouth, spotted and smallmouth bass, particularly this winter.
Consider this: Larry Walker of Pea Ridge used a jerk bait on Feb.
27 to catch a six-bass limit that weighed a whopping 26 pounds, 14 ounces - an almost unheard of weight for a Beaver Lake limit of black bass.
On Sunday, the last day of the Walmart FLW Tour bass tournament, Bryan Thrift of North Carolina won $125,000 by working a jerk bait over pea-gravel and rock banks from Prairie Creek park to the dam.
The day before, Thrift used jerk baits to catch the largest fivebass limit ever at a Beaver Lake FLW event. His catch weighed 20 pounds, 8 ounces.
Jerk baits, twitch baits, stick baits. These are different names for the same lure. Bass fishermen lift them from their tackle trays when the water is wintertime cold, below 50 degrees.
Right now the average water temperature at Beaver is 44 to 53 degrees, prime time for catching bass, big bass, with jerk baits.
Walker caught his heavyweight limit in the Moulder Hollow area of Beaver in a span of about 45 minutes.
“It was the biggest sack I’ve ever had,” Walker said.
There’s “a million ways” to work a jerk bait, he coached. One way is to cast the lure, pop the rod tip a few times to get the jerk bait deep, then stop it dead. Most jerk baits suspend still as a stone, like it’s daring a big bass to smack it.
Twitch the rod tip again and let the lure sit - unless a bass is trying to pull you into the drink.
“Some guys like to pull it and then pause,” Walker said, hence the jerk in the lure’s name. Another way is to reel slowly, pause,repeat.
Most bites come during the pause. How long to let it sit depends on water temperature. If the water is really cold, 40 degrees or less, Walker might let the lure rest for 30 seconds before giving it another jerk.
“This winter it’s been good to work it faster than normal. I’ve had to speed it up a little,” Walker said. If he was fishing today, Walker would start at the mouth of any creek arm and work to the back. He’d twitch his jerk bait around timber, especially cedars.
Points are good spots to fish. He’d probe any smaller coves inside the creek arm. If the sun is out and warm, bass tend to move to shallower water in treetops, Walker said. Or they go closer to shore.
His favorite line for jerk-bait fishing is 8-pound braided line that has the diameter of 2-pound test. The thinner the line, the deeper the jerk bait will dive.
They’ll swim down 4 to 8 feet, depending on the style of jerk bait and the line diameter.
Fishing Big
March is big bass month at Beaver Lake, but it can be a month of few bites. Those infrequent strikes can come from big bass, said Jim Wolfe of Rogers. He’s a top angler on the Beaver Lake tournament scene.
Wolfe and his frequent fishing buddy, Rogers angler Clifton Eoff, call on jerk baits for their wintertime bass catching.
Fishing slow is key when the water is cold, Wolfe advised.
“I’ve seen guys work it pretty fast, sometimes real fast. From what I’ve seen, slower works better,” Wolfe said while he, Eoff and I fished on a cold Saturday morning.
Eoff ’s favorite areas are rocky points and boulderstrewn shorelines near deep water. If there are schools of threadfin shad,so much the better. Eoff uses his depth finder to look for bait fish.
Then he searches for game fish, hopefully bass, following the bait.
Our fishing confirmed that jerk-bait fishing can indeed mean few bites. In nine hours of fishing, we caught just one bass.
Eoff and I fished together the previous morning and were onefish wonders.
We evidently didn’t hold our mouths right or failed to find the schools of big bass that Walker located and that put paychecks in the pockets of FLW Tour anglers.
Pricey Baits
Shop the jerk bait aisle at the tackle store and prepare to part ways with some folding money.
Jerk baits start at around $5 andgo up to $30 with all prices in between.
What’s the difference between a $5 jerk bait and a $30 bait?
About $25.
Could be the color, could be the action. Walker couldn’t put his finger on it. Less expensive and high-dollar jerk baits both work, he said.
“I’ve got ’em all,” Walker confessed. His tackle includes some of the $30 jobs, “probably more than I should have.”
Once the water gets into the 50s, Walker switches to a crank bait most years. He’s reconsidering with the success anglers are having with jerk baits at Beaver and smaller lakes this winter.
If 2011 is the year of the rabbit in China, it’s the year of the jerk bait at Beaver Lake.
“I might just keep one tied on a little longer,” Walker said.
BASS IN BLACK
◊Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are the three species
of black bass. All swim in the depths of Beaver Lake.
◊A cross between the smallmouth and spotted bass, called a
“meanmouth,” also prowls the reservoir.
◊The black bass daily limit at Beaver Lake is six. Largemouth and
smallmouth bass must be 15 inches or longer to keep. Spotted
bass and “meanmouths” must be 12 inches or longer to keep.
◊◊◊Source: Arkansas Game & Fish Commission
Sports, Pages 7 on 03/16/2011