Bass not biting jerkbaits

[John Barger]

For many years one of the lakes i fish almost every week had a TREMENDOUS jerkbait bite from November through April. Lots of 4/5/6 lb bass caught. sometimes over 100 fish per day total. The last years i have had very little to no success on a jerkbait on this lake regardless of color/size/depth of the jerkbaits. Does anyone have any idea why this would occur?

[A-Jay]

Hello John and welcome to Bass Resource ~

I have no idea why those bass stopped biting.

But after catching them for many years, every week for 6 months,

4/5/6 lb  bass and 100 fish days, 

surely you must have some clue right ?

A-Jay

[BassKat]

If it was a clear lake that somehow became consistently dirty (land clearing / dirtwork, etc), that could kill a jerkbait bite. Rising fishing pressure with more people all throwing the same lures could play in, fishing on days with no wind, disadvantageous moon phases, high pressure when fish are tight to cover. But given you experienced that big of a fall-off, fish kill in the lake?

[Fishlegs]

Throw a fastball on every pitch, and eventually batters catch up. You have to mix up the speed to keep them off balance.

 

Fish become conditioned to lures. Mix it up with your lures if you haven’t. Throw lures like spinnerbaits, soft plastics, etc. Maybe you can get them to start biting again.

[FishTank]

If a jerkbait isn't working, what does? If you catch 100 bass a day on a jerkbait, can you get those kind of numbers on a different bait? 

[papajoe222]

This is something that many members here are familiar with: Fishing History, which means approaching things the way it worked last time, or in your case a presentation that always worked during that time frame.

There are so many variables in bass fishing that attempting to figure them all out will cause you both frustration and fishless days.

I'm not saying don't start out your day with something that worked before, but don't force feed it to the bass in an attempt to get the same response you did previously.

If you keep two things in mind you'll be 'successful' more times than not.   Cover the water column until you locate fish (top, middle, bottom) and determine the activity level of the fish. figuring out those two things quickly, you can still have those days you had with a jerkbait and you never know, you may start out your day and never switch anything because you'll be catching them from the get go.

[king fisher]

Just buy more Jerkbaits.  There has to be a magic one out there.

[Lottabass]

@John Barger  Pay attention to what @papajoe222 wrote.  Read it over and over and keep it on your mind when you get on the water.

Also, if you were having the kind of fishing you described and it changed that dramatically and quickly, well I don't know what, but something is wrong!

[gim]

No reason to continue beating a dead horse if it's dead.  Move on to another presentation.

[MN Fisher]

3 hours ago, king fisher said:

Just buy more Jerkbaits.  There has to be a magic one out there.

The bait-monkey approves of this message

2 hours ago, gim said:

No reason to continue beating a dead horse if it's dead.  Move on to another presentation.

Exactly - crankbaits, soft swimbaits, chatterbaits....something else will draw them in.

[softwateronly]

14 hours ago, John Barger said:

For many years one of the lakes i fish almost every week had a TREMENDOUS jerkbait bite from November through April. Lots of 4/5/6 lb bass caught. sometimes over 100 fish per day total. The last years i have had very little to no success on a jerkbait on this lake regardless of color/size/depth of the jerkbaits. Does anyone have any idea why this would occur?

 

I'd guess it has a lot more to do with where you are fishing rather than what you are fishing.

 

scott

[MediumMouthBass]

You probably arent throwing expensive enough jerkbaits. Have you refinanced your home and bought some Megabass? Jokes aside since i now own a few of them, bass arent on our level of intelligence but they do learn.

 

I wiped my local lake out completely 2 years ago, its a small pressured lake but more so for trout by the locals. There were a few guys fishing for bass but i didnt see anyone catch any the whole spring-summer (except a guy snagging them on beds in the side). I caught maybe 1-2 bass on a bladed jig and that was it. Then i started fishing a 1/2oz brown and red lipless and i did the best fishing ive ever done, each week was a new PB.

 

I went back last year same time, same gear, and i caught 1 crappie and 1 bass the whole spring i fished there. There used to be tons of activity on the surface and under it, you could see bass on beds, hunting bluegill near the bank. None of that, didnt see or hear a single one jump.

The water turned from blueish green clear to bottom, to brown and 1' visibility.

Nothing but the crappie wanted the lipless😌

 

Lakes change, bass learn, we surround ourselves with things we know and have confidence in and get tunnel vision. We have to adapt and learn something new eventually or else we limit ourselves as bass fishermen. But to add, bass do die. Lakes go bad from algae blooms, chemicals dumped into them by the state or local community, smaller bass or esox overpopulating and eating most of the food. The winter can be very harsh to a lake or pond as well.

[Hogs_n_Logs]

Fish get conditioned to lures but remember they have no cognitive ability, its pure unconscious instinct. BUT instinct is often more powerful than cognition particularly when it comes to recognizing danger(be it fish or human). Think about the sensory inputs a bass was/is receiving that led to it getting potentially conditioned to a lure in the first place. 

 

With that said its just as likely to be a change in that body of water. Especially if you are in a place that gets a proper winter or lots of water level fluctuation. Fish populations, location and behavior can change dramatically from season to season. 

[DogBone_384]

14 hours ago, John Barger said:

Does anyone have any idea why this would occur?

 

What in the environment changed?  Any dramatic changes?

 

Towns around me in MA killed off the vegetation in some waters and that just about killed off catching any quality fish for me.