Kings River Saturday

[Champ188]

Ultralance12, if you want to eliminate the worry about throwing the right bait, here are two that you can throw in full confidence the fish will bite them under just about any conditions. First is the original SPRO McStick 110 in the blue bandit color. Second is the Luck-E-Strike RC Stix in the Pro Blue color.

Sprint is telling you right ... get on steeper chunk rock banks and bluff ends, preferably with shade, wind blowing in or both. Throw your bait as faaaaaaarrrrr as you can on 10-pound or even 8-pound line, then reel it down hard for 6-8 turns, finishing with a couple of hard twitches to quickly get the bait to its maximum depth. Then let it sit for 6-8 seconds and twitch it sharply but not too aggressively a couple of times. Wait 6-8 or 10 seconds and twitch it once. Wait 6-8 or 10 seconds and twitch it twice. If you don't get bit in a few minutes, change your cadence up a little.

Stick with those two baits and stay within 75 yards of a bluff end or point and I will BET you will start getting bit soon. After that, the confidence will come and you will be another jerk bait addict like the rest of us.

[Ron Burgundy]

Is the sweetwater ramp useable?

[powerdive]

IMHO...hire one of the fabulous guides and learn how to jerkbait fish. I did this 2 years ago, and I have increased my catch 10 fold and it is my favorite technique in the winter and spring. Worth every penny.

Dave

Dave, that approach is not for everybody, for whatever reason. As an alternative, it's great that there are lots of good fishermen here who are willing to help out.

[dtrs5kprs]

Ultralance12, if you want to eliminate the worry about throwing the right bait, here are two that you can throw in full confidence the fish will bite them under just about any conditions. First is the original SPRO McStick 110 in the blue bandit color. Second is the Luck-E-Strike RC Stix in the Pro Blue color.

Sprint is telling you right ... get on steeper chunk rock banks and bluff ends, preferably with shade, wind blowing in or both. Throw your bait as faaaaaaarrrrr as you can on 10-pound or even 8-pound line, then reel it down hard for 6-8 turns, finishing with a couple of hard twitches to quickly get the bait to its maximum depth. Then let it sit for 6-8 seconds and twitch it sharply but not too aggressively a couple of times. Wait 6-8 or 10 seconds and twitch it once. Wait 6-8 or 10 seconds and twitch it twice. If you don't get bit in a few minutes, change your cadence up a little.

Stick with those two baits and stay within 75 yards of a bluff end or point and I will BET you will start getting bit soon. After that, the confidence will come and you will be another jerk bait addict like the rest of us.

Shoot, Champ. Not sure I could pull a stick that fast. No fun if there's no time for coffee between twitches in the winter.

[Guest]

Ultralance12, if you want to eliminate the worry about throwing the right bait, here are two that you can throw in full confidence the fish will bite them under just about any conditions. First is the original SPRO McStick 110 in the blue bandit color. Second is the Luck-E-Strike RC Stix in the Pro Blue color.

Sprint is telling you right ... get on steeper chunk rock banks and bluff ends, preferably with shade, wind blowing in or both. Throw your bait as faaaaaaarrrrr as you can on 10-pound or even 8-pound line, then reel it down hard for 6-8 turns, finishing with a couple of hard twitches to quickly get the bait to its maximum depth. Then let it sit for 6-8 seconds and twitch it sharply but not too aggressively a couple of times. Wait 6-8 or 10 seconds and twitch it once. Wait 6-8 or 10 seconds and twitch it twice. If you don't get bit in a few minutes, change your cadence up a little.

Stick with those two baits and stay within 75 yards of a bluff end or point and I will BET you will start getting bit soon. After that, the confidence will come and you will be another jerk bait addict like the rest of us.

what kinda rod is best suited for this technique?

[cullinby9]

I use a soft medium action bps cranking stick 6ft. pistol grip. a 6:4:1 lews reel and always 8# line at table rock. The key to getting the right action out of any jerkbait you choose is twitching it on a semi slack line like a topwater. I can bring that bait by a tree and make the lure turn around dart side to side and not move the lure more than a foot towards the boat. Alot of times at table rock I want my bait to sink very slow but this past weekend they ate the one that suspends perfectly better and as shallow as they were the pause was very short.

[Champ188]

I'm also a fan of the medium power, fast action rods for jerk bait fishing. You want plenty of "give" both when hooking and fighting a jerk bait fish.

And dtrs5kprs brings up a good point ... my 6-8 or 10-second pauses are for water temps of 45-50. Below that, you'll want to increase your pause time to 12, 15 even 30 seconds if/when water temps dip down into the 30s. I simply can't pause one any longer than 30 seconds.

[Ron Burgundy]

I checked sweetwater today and I will not attempt to launch my boat there.

[Ultralance12]

You guys are great thanks for the input. Wish me luck this weekend. I'll be within sight of the island as normal.

[Champ188]

Have fun, Ultralance and keep at it. You'll catch some. Weather looks promising.