Husky Jerk
The Husky Jerk is true to the original lure Lauri Rapala carved in the 1930's. It closely mimics the movements and look of a baitfish. With it's perfect balance and suspending action, the fisherman can determine the speed and depth of the presentation. Whether it be early spring smallmouth in cold water, or shallow post-spawn largemouth, the it is equally effective. The basic cold water presentation for bass is to cast it out and crank it down to depth. After that let the lure just sit there. The fish know it's there but a subtle coaxing is necessary to get them to bite. Next you pull the bait with the rod tip, stop, reel up the slack and repeat. You need to experiment with the length of the pause, but 5 to 15 seconds is the range. Don't pull the lure more than a foot at a time and be patient. When the water warms up, speed up the retrieve and shorten the pauses. The Husky is also an excellent medium to shallow trolling bait. You can search a lot of water in a given area quickly. Target sunken islands, rock points and along boulder shorelines. The more natural colors work well in clear water and bright colors such as Firetiger really produce in stained and moving water. With the versatility built right in, you can literally fish the Husky Jerk all year long while changing nothing but your actions! Generally this lure is fished in shallow water which would be in the 4 to 8 foot range. Deeper water can be the right area when the bass are suspending. A lot of times smallmouth will suspend and chase baitfish just off of sunken humps and points. When they do this they will key in on the injured fish that drop out of the school. The smallies may only be 4 to 6 feet down over 20 feet of water and they tend to hang under the school looking up for prey. Presenting a deep lure would not be the most productive in this situation. Cast out the Husky and use the stop and go method for some awesome explosive strikes. Concentrate on the upwind sides of these structures and off shorelines with boulders.
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