(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Seth Feider carries his Rapala jerkbaits everywhere he goes throughout the long Elite Series season, and while he consistently puts them to good use, he knows that there’s no time that they’re more dominant than when it’s cold and nasty outside.
Throughout the country, there are wintertime scenarios that just beg for a suspending jerkbait, like when a really cold snap kills off a large number of shad and the bass go on a feeding frenzy. Even when it’s optimal, though, you have to know where to use them. Obviously, they’re not great in heavy cover, but since many of the bass are primarily relating to structure, that doesn’t necessarily matter.
Feider is especially fond of places where bass and forage can change depths quickly. Because winter weather is so volatile, it can go from 60 and sunny to 30 and snowing in just a few hours, so Feider often focuses on points and channel banks where deep water comes close to the bank. He’s particularly apt to look for places hit by the wind, because that pulls the fish shallower. He’s also apt to focus on truly vertical structures, like bridge pilings, sea walls and the faces of the dam. In those scenarios, his favorite Rapala Shadow Rap can be exceptional because it gets down quickly. The one exception to his avoidance of heavy cover is that he seeks out brushpiles, although of course he prefers to bring his jerkbaits over them rather than through them.
When the weather is cold and fish are lethargic, he typically works his lures with twitches rather than pulls. A quick double twitch allows bass to see the flash of the bait no matter where they’re positioned, but the key is not to overwork it. Nevertheless, he wants to cover water as efficiently as possible, so the goal is “to work it as fast as I can and fish will still eat it.” Therefore, when you get a bite, remember how long you paused it, and you probably don’t need to wait any longer than that.
No matter how long the desired pause, Feider cautioned that you don’t want your line to be tight when you twitch the lure. By keeping some slack in it, you “create more of an erratic action.” You’ll feel most of the bites when you go to make the next twitch and the rod loads up.
Even though he’s using relatively light line much of the time – typically 10-pound test fluorocarbon – Feider still keeps the drag on his Daiwa reels set pretty tightly because he doesn’t want the drag to slip on the hookset. Combined with his 6’9” “super-soft rod,” he can absorb the shock of pulling into even the biggest bass. When a big one surges at the boat and he’s afraid that his line, rod and drag don’t provide an adequate amount of cushion, he’ll hit his thumb bar and judiciously feed the fish line until it tires.
If you want to learn some of Feider's other winter jerkbait secrets, including how he chooses from among the various ways to land a hooked bass, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
