Fishing tip of the week: – 11/25/20

Fishing Tip of the Week

Tuesday, 24 November 2020 14:02

A bait from the past
by Mike Gerry

I realize that for many, a jerk bait is not an old, reliable bait from your past but, for me, it is a bait I had put down and somewhat forgot about for many years. Yes, I have a rod and reel set up for the jerk bait that has sat back on my shelf and collected dust however, looking back over the years, it has been one of most productive baits for a long time.

I just personally shelved it for other, preferred baits.
The good news is I added it back to my boat deck recently and was amazed at how it performed, and how many fish I was able to put in the boat in a short morning one day recently. Sometimes you just must investigate your tackle from the past and bring out some of the dusty baits from the good old days and see if they add to your catches.

You see, I believe that most baits have a period where everyone is catching fish on your old favorite bait; the fish become immune to the bait and they move on to other types of bait action. Once you add them back when it appears that the fish have not seen the action for a few years it gives you an opportunity to bring it back and see if they are still immune to it. One thing you can bet on is fisherman have tons of tackle that have become obsolete, and digging into the old tackle box will be fun and may be productive. For me, this jerk bait is the perfect example of one of those old favorites that ran its course. The bass quit on it, and time has moved on, allowing the action to trigger bites they once ate like crazy, then not so much.

The jerk bait is not the only bait that this has happened to. I am sure many of us have many baits that became overused and now could be brought back and rekindle its ability to catch fish. I believe that digging into the past with some of your old favorites will not only catch fish, but will bring back some memories of some good old days while digging into them; what the heck, the past can be fun!
Captain Mike