What Would Be The Reason That A Jitterbug Would Work One Day And Not The Next?

[TheBassMan79]

So I went out two mornings ago. Red and white Jitterbug was working great and got some really good hits.

Then I got out the next morning , and nothing went after it. Then I went out last night and again, nothing was hitting it! Last evening I fished a nice lake in NW Indiana that is known for bass. This was confusing the heck out of myself that the jitterbug was not getting any strikes.

What should I have switched over to ? I am a beginner so I am doing my best to learn these things.

Anyone have any advice?

[bigbassctchr101]

I would have started with a faster, slower, stop-n-go, retreive pattern first. There are many factors that could have changed that could have turned them off. For example, here in Tennessee these factors may be. Current or no current generation. Barometric pressure. Water temp. Water clarity. Bait abundance. Many many more including...the fish just flat out aint interested. I guess there is no science to some things.

Once I tried about 15-20 casts of different retrieve styles, i would probably start working my way down the water column. A fluke or senko first. Maybe a spinnerbait or shallow crankbait as well. Then switch to a light weight texas rig. You really just have to learn to listen what the fish are telling you.

[Jigfishn10]

Assuming you are solely fishing for a topwater bite and not knowing where or what conditions you have presented to you, you can try few different things:

• Changing the retrieve up i.e. from a steady retrieve to a stop & go, slow to fast, fast to slow or maybe just a slight twitch of your rod tip to create a little more water disturbance
• Switching to a lure which would be more stationary like a popper and use hard and/or soft pops
• Switching to a lure which would be a little more subtle on the surface like a dog walking lure
• Switching to a lure that would be between the 2 extremes like a prop bait.
• How about a buzzbait or plastic frog?

These are just a few things that come immediately to mind and I hope this helps.

EDIT: Oops, bigbassctchr101 you beat me to some points on your first sentence...LOL...Sorry bud...We must have posted within seconds of each other.

[Vinny Chase]

That's what makes bass fishing so fun! It's a game between you and bass everytime you are out on the water.

Like the other hit on, a lot of it has to do with the presentation of the wait. Depending on different variables, bass might need a slow pop-r sitting in their face to get a bit. Other nights a really loud fast retrieve like a buzzbait is the key. And the nights where they just want to come up, just go down to them!

[Vinny Chase]

^ I need to turn off auto-correct hah

[bigbassctchr101]

As for retrieve styles...I rarely ever fish a jitterbug fast enough for me to hear it. I like the sound only because it tells me i'm going to fast lol I throw the muskie jitterbug for bass a lot. If I end up getting a hit going fast, I usualy switch to a buzzbait and work it as slow as possible... Mind you this is mostly at night. I know the baits work with the faster retrieve but its a confidence factor that has worked out extremely well for me thus far.

EDIT: Oops, bigbassctchr101 you beat me to some points on your first sentence...LOL...Sorry bud...We must have posted within seconds of each other.

No worries, I saw at the bottom that two forum members were reading the post, I figured that answer would probably be number one on the list lol

[Marty]

What should I have switched over to ?

As has been stated, there are many reasons why bass switch moods between active, neutral and inactive. The Jitterbug may have nothing to do with it. You also have to consider that the last couple of times you weren't fishing where the fish are.

I'd have tried another topwater and then a couple of subsurface lures if the second topwater did nothing. Then I'd move to other places, probably using a faster moving lure as a search bait trying to locate fish. Of course, if you are confident that the first spot held fish, then you'd stay and fish it more thoroughly.

[MAD]

If it worked every time I went fishing, I'd quit fishing.

Mike

[Vinny Chase]

^ This...this makes me think of all the big bass that have spit my hook and snapped off, and it just fuels the fire.

[TheBassMan79]

As for retrieve styles...I rarely ever fish a jitterbug fast enough for me to hear it. I like the sound only because it tells me i'm going to fast lol I throw the muskie jitterbug for bass a lot. If I end up getting a hit going fast, I usualy switch to a buzzbait and work it as slow as possible... Mind you this is mostly at night. I know the baits work with the faster retrieve but its a confidence factor that has worked out extremely well for me thus far.

EDIT: Oops, bigbassctchr101 you beat me to some points on your first sentence...LOL...Sorry bud...We must have posted within seconds of each other.

No worries, I saw at the bottom that two forum members were reading the post, I figured that answer would probably be number one on the list lol

So how do you fish a jitterbug? Do you just use little jerks and making it move a few inches every 20-30 seconds? Thanks for the help

[Raul]

So how do you fish a jitterbug? Do you just use little jerks and making it move a few inches every 20-30 seconds? Thanks for the help

There is no true answer on how to fish a bait, how to can only be determined by you experimenting until you find the way that produces more. Fishing a bait is not like a list of instructions you follow, it doesn´t work that way, there´s an universe of ways and in that universe some work right here right now but it doesn´t mean they will work later, later other ways work, so experimenting with speed, cadence, rest, and so on is necessary to find the way that works right here right now.

[bigbassctchr101]

I mix up retrieves. But the way I enjoy fishing it is by fishing it with a constant retrieve, but slow enough to not hear the gurgle sounds. The muskie jitterbug really excels at this for bass. I have a hard time believing that others wouldn't work as good.

[Marty]

I am guilty of not being versatile. As much as I fish a Jitterbug, I tend to use a steady retrieve all the time. That definitely works very well, but I suppose I have to consider the possibility that not mixing things up has cost me fish.

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

Why can I catch them on a junebug worm one day and the very next day under exact same conditions they will only hit green pumkin???????

[Ratherbfishing]

If there was a golden lure or technique that worked all the time, a lot of fishermen would no longer bother. As in the case of cold fronts, we often can't really know why fish change-only that they do. Likewise, we can, based on personal experience and lessons from others, make some pretty good guesses about what those changes are and how to adapt. But who really knows why a bass will throw itself at just about anything with wild abandon one minute and 2 hours later, refuse to eat even live bait.