What you may/may not of known how a Bass hits a Jerk Bait...and an IDEA/SOLUTION

[analfisherman]

OK, I've done this....after an 'Old Timmer' was watching me fish a Caffeine Shad.
He explained after I missed a few......WHY I WAS MISSING THEM.

Well he was RIGHT.......then I had to FIND videos 'confirming' it AND to help you guys understand 'WHAT THE HECK I'M TALKING ABOUT'. 

My search began by 'researching the infamous 'BANJO MINNOW'.....why you ask...."Because when the guy was explaining to me how to rig it (he didn't use the screw lock though).....I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF THE BANJO MINNOW!"

Then I ran into the guys from TacticalBassin....on the NET of course. 

So to start, the first clip is showing the use of a hard 'Jerk Bait'.
Why, CAUSE you will see how the Bass actually hit a Jerk Bait.
(If you are like me, I FREQUENTLY caught Bass on a hard jerk bait and 90% of the time the 'rear treble' was hooked on the fishes body.....NOT IN IT'S MOUTH.
Never thought anything about it......till this video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKA3jGsY9oQ&feature=youtu.be

ALMOST EVERY SINGLE BASS HIT THE HEAD OF THE LURE......did you notice that? 

So I researched MORE......and the SAME guys had a video showing THEIR soft fluke rigging idea......and the 'Screw Lock' idea.
See, I did what the 'Old Timmer' told me BUT I was loosing at least a HALF DOZEN FLUKES every outing....catching fish......BUT loosing way to many Flukes on missed hook ups because as a rule...they are soft and the rigging was NOSE HOOKING the bait.

So here you have it........



Well Anglers......it's Spring Time......and it' JERK BAIT SEASON! 
So give this a TRY.....you just 'MAYBE' surprised.

Questions and thoughts VERY WELCOME!

Tim and Matt of TacticalBassin......THANKS FOR LETTING ME POST YOUR VIDEOS......and a GREAT IDEA! 

[cport]

OK, I've done this....after an 'Old Timmer' was watching me fish a Caffeine Shad.
He explained after I missed a few......WHY I WAS MISSING THEM.

Well he was RIGHT.......then I had to FIND videos 'confirming' it AND to help you guys understand 'WHAT THE HECK I'M TALKING ABOUT'. 

My search began by 'researching the infamous 'BANJO MINNOW'.....why you ask...."Because when the guy was explaining to me how to rig it (he didn't use the screw lock though).....I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF THE BANJO MINNOW!"

Then I ran into the guys from TacticalBassin....on the NET of course. 

So to start, the first clip is showing the use of a hard 'Jerk Bait'.
Why, CAUSE you will see how the Bass actually hit a Jerk Bait.
(If you are like me, I FREQUENTLY caught Bass on a hard jerk bait and 90% of the time the 'rear treble' was hooked on the fishes body.....NOT IN IT'S MOUTH.
Never thought anything about it......till this video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKA3jGsY9oQ&feature=youtu.be

ALMOST EVERY SINGLE BASS HIT THE HEAD OF THE LURE......did you notice that? 

So I researched MORE......and the SAME guys had a video showing THEIR soft fluke rigging idea......and the 'Screw Lock' idea.
See, I did what the 'Old Timmer' told me BUT I was loosing at least a HALF DOZEN FLUKES every outing....catching fish......BUT loosing way to many Flukes on missed hook ups because as a rule...they are soft and the rigging was NOSE HOOKING the bait.

So here you have it........



Well Anglers......it's Spring Time......and it' JERK BAIT SEASON! 
So give this a TRY.....you just 'MAYBE' surprised.

Questions and thoughts VERY WELCOME!

Tim and Matt of TacticalBassin......THANKS FOR LETTING ME POST YOUR VIDEOS......and a GREAT IDEA! 

That is awesome info, AF! I fluke fish often and I can see this increasing hooks ups when you feel the fish right after the pause and right before they let go.


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[basss]

Good write-up AF ... and even better videos ...

[Bud Kennedy]

I am a a bit confused.  Is the hook placed through the cps or is it in the bait?  If it is in the cps what keeps it from coming apart during the battle with the fish?  I like the concept just don't fully understand the details.

[analfisherman]

And I'm confused....cps?....you talking about the 'screw lock'?

If so......you place the screw lock into the nose of the fluke.
You then 'nose hook' through the plastic and through the 'rungs' (gaps) on the screw lock.

You now have metal holding the fluke in place at the nose......else the Bass can easily just rip off the soft plastic.....well more often than you want....ESPECIALLY if you don't set RIGHT AWAY.

So in reality....it's through BOTH.

Hope that's answering your question.

[Bud Kennedy]

Yep, thanks for the clarity.  That is what I thought but not totally sure.  Seems to me that a 1/0 hook would be a bit small.  What do you think?

[analfisherman]

I use BOTH 1/0 and 2/0 hooks depending on fluke size.......below the second video....hit 'more' and Matt and Tim  tell you EXACTLY what they use/used and they use a 1/0 and 3/0.....inreality 'finesse hooks' as you go up in sizes...really don't seem to go up that large (physical actual size) as the 'gap' gets larger.
The aughts are really talking about 'hook gap' as opposed to length/size.

I prefer the 2/0s BUT haven't even tried a 3/0.

But I go 2/0 or sometimes 3/0 on 'wacky hooks' and 'drop shot' hooks.
Even 'finesse' fishing.......I have a problem with SMALL hooks......BUT I think it's all MENTAL as opposed to necessity......FOR ME.

Incidentally, YA I ALWAYS HAVE TO EXPERIMENT  , I've used 'weedless' wacky hooks and fluked over through grass/vegetation.......WORKED AMAZINGLY WELL TOO. 



Now confession time;

I almost put this in this YEARS TIP CONTEST......but I had confidence that the one I entered this year could hold it's own (THEN NATZ HAD TO GO AND ENTER A GREAT TIP  )......and I entered so many last minute Tips the year before......I WAS GOING TO SAVE this one for next years contest......but....WHO' NEEDS A SPRING BASSIN TIP in Dec./Jan.?

SO, I'm giving it out early.........BUT REMEMBER.....even if you anglers find you LIKE this and use it ALL YEAR this year......come TIP CONTEST TIME.....remember.....IT'S A NEW TIP!!!!!
And OF COURSE........GIVE ME YOUR VOTE!!!!   

[coldfront]

That is awesome info, AF! I fluke fish often and I can see this increasing hooks ups when you feel the fish right after the pause and right before they let go.

once I figured out that putting a little bit of 'shad flavored sticky liquid' in the zoom fluke hook slot helped, don't have this issue.  they hit and hold.  T-rigged EWG hook.

[cport]

once I figured out that putting a little bit of 'shad flavored sticky liquid' in the zoom fluke hook slot helped, don't have this issue.  they hit and hold.  T-rigged EWG hook.

That's my rig of choice too, with a 3/0. Hmm, sticky liquid, have to give that one a shot.  What's your go to color?

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[coldfront]

That's my rig of choice too, with a 3/0. Hmm, sticky liquid, have to give that one a shot.  What's your go to color?

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colors.   

love black in spring/cold water - dead sticked
green pumpkin magicwhen around bluegills
watermelon with green/purple flake (watermelon candy) works on weed beds with bluegills around too
green pumpkin flash can be dynamite...


albino
blue glimmer - think black specs may mimic fry ball eyeballs

cover most of the bases...

Green/shad sticky liquid.

[analfisherman]

Now I don't want to disagree or promote this presentation and I have fished Caffeine Shads and Flukes of ALL brands for many, many years.
In fact, I almost ALWAYS toss a Fluke at some time during the MAJORITY of my outings.
I've caught A LOT of fish from Ice out to Ice in on Fluke style baits......on WG and WG Screw Lock hooks.
Weighted and unweighted.
It doesn't matter to me if ANYONE gives it a try......in fact....IF I was still fishing Tournaments.......I PROBABLY WOULDN'T EVEN SHARE THIS IDEA. 

Most of you anglers know by now, I fish an EXTREME amount and I TEST what I know works  with multiple different 'tweaks'....."I can't be sure I'm doing things the 'best' way unless I'm willing to experiment with 'other' presentations/colors/lures etc.!"

But for 'non-believers' I want you to watch the first video for it's whole 12 mins.
This is a 'WOLF PACK' of FEEDING, AGGRESSIVE, MONSTER Bass.
Be sure to watch the video at approx. 9:19-9:40 Min., THAT'S TWO BASS COMPETING AGAINST ONE ANOTHER FOR A MEAL......and the one that gets HOOKED STILL hit it at the HEAD.
Almost EVERY SINGLE BASS HIT HEAD FIRST.......NEVER ONCE HITTING TAIL FIRST.
My SOLE purpose of sharing that link was so anglers could SEE how the Bass are actually HITTING a Jerk Bait.

Now lets consider a Bass hitting head first at a bait rigged on a traditional 'wide gap'.
If the fish takes it 'in' head first.....when you SET the hook, the eye is facing the fish's tail in it's mouth......to get a hook up....that hook HAS TO GET COMPLETELY TURNED AROUND 'INSIDE' THE FISH'S MOUTH IN ORDER TO GET A HOOK UP, WHERE THE EYE IS NOW FACING THE FISH'S MOUTH OPENING AND HOOK POINT IS FACING THE SAME DIRECTION.
Do you think 'maybe' the Fluke could get spit out or pulled out during the act of setting the hook?

Look how many spit outs accured  WITH A TREBLE HOOK in their mouths! 
These fish are aggressively FEEDING too and COMPETING for a meal.

Couple of side notes:
I at times use 'scents', including on hard baits, (use Fish Stix and others made to stick to hard bait sides).......sole purpose, in my eyes, is to get the fish to hold on longer......most plastics come scented now BUT I still mess with them at times too.....it's in my DNA. 

Three buddies and me fished side by side one day ALL using the same Fluke, identical, size, brand, color, etc.
They used a 3/0 and 4/0 wide gap....I used a 2/0 Gamy finesse hook.
The SOLE purpose was seeing if the 'smaller hooks' would hook as many fish or create more misses. Only bait we tossed for three hours were Flukes. (They were EXTREME nonbelievers. )
12 fish caught.......7 by me
This wasn't done during a 'hot bite period either and NONE were monsters....biggest just short of 3lbs.


Another thing I want to mention, the Wide Gap and Fluking STILL HAS it's place!!!!!!
If you fish Flukes hard and fast with HARD JERKS like skipping them acrosse the surface and such.....THE WIDE GAP IS BEST FOR THIS STYLE OF FISHING!

This is for, lack of any other term, 'for finesse style' where you jerk...let it sink for like 10-20 seconds jerk....suspend/sink...etc. etc.
It gives you the ability to 'finesse' AND cover a lot of water.

Again, an Angler may want to just one outing give it a try......worse case scenario.....the presentation/technique your using now will give you even MORE confidence.....AND CONFIDENCE IS THE NAME OF THE GAME WHEN FISHING.......in my eyes anyway. 

Have FUN and CATCH FISH........anyway you can! 

[zippyduck]

Thank you for all your homework. 
And if anyone likes this read many more posts from AF. He is an extreme researcher and is on the ball with his conclusions and fixes.
Keeps costing me money though!

[Bud Kennedy]

Just considering this again.  I guess the same assumptions would be true for plastic worms etc. ?

[analfisherman]

Just considering this again.  I guess the same assumptions would be true for plastic worms etc. ?

On Tim and Matt's YouTube Channel, under comments, a couple of anglers asked the exact same question.

Their answer, "We haven't tried it, but will probably work?"

Now, I haven't actually tried it either.

But some thoughts and JUST my THOUGHTS.

Although Bass can't think, they certainly CAN experience 'Associative learning'. (the act of retaining and/or modifying behavior based on past experiences)

So the 'head hitting' on a minnow/bait fish 'maybe' due to the Bass 'learning' that it's easier to swallow another fish head first as opposed to tail first. You saw on the videos I shared on how they treat a Crayfish.......almost always taking it in their mouths and either 'repositioning' the Cray in their mouths or instantly spitting it out after stunning and THEN taking it back in 'tail first'.

So in MY thinking, seeing a worm gets 'sucked' in or
inhaled' and either way it's positioned....easily slides down the throat to to stomach.
The Bass isn't 'repositioning' the worm and doesn't really care which end of the worm it grabs....and sucks it down to it's belly.....often immediately...or at the second tap.

In reality, that 'tap...tap', in my thoughts is the Bass grabbing the worm (first tap) and then sucking it in and down their throat to the belly. (second tap)
When your worm fishing and only see the line moving OR only feel a single tap.....it probably has picked it up and swimming away to 'swallow' later or some where safer.
I think this is exactly why a 'stick bait' can so often result in a DEEP hooked Bass.
Often deeply in it's throat.....often, the longer you wait to set.....the deeper the hook.

Many may also have experience a 'less' deep hooked majority when using worms with a curly tail as opposed to a straight tail;
Curly's 'I feel' can often trigger reaction bites better and the tail makes the Bass hang on at the start 'harder' for fear of it getting away.....REMEMBER, THESE ARE JUST MY THOUGHTS and NOTHING 'scientific' to back it.......other than time on the water.

GREAT THOUGHT BUD!