Erratic Presentations Trigger Strikes
By Jerry Carlson
My first experience with twitch baits and erratic presentations came on Rainy Lake in Northern Minnesota many years ago. At that time, the first of many suspending lures hit the market and it became possible to work shallow water with lures that pretty much stayed at a specific depth.
The northern we targeted during this outing must not have ever seen anything like this. They consistently would clobber a bait that was alternately twitched and cranked on the retrieve while ignoring other presentations.
Since that experience so many years ago, I have not forgotten to include the erratic behavior that comes with a lure that is cranked, paused, and twitched on the retrieve. I have learned time and again that variety in a retrieve will often trigger fish.
I am guessing that part of the triggering response that comes from an erratic presentation is due to the type of feeding situations predator fish run into on a daily basis. Feeding on prey fish that are injured is as natural to them as swimming in the water.
Anytime a hungry predator can take advantage of an easy meal, it will do so. After all, the less energy they have to expend to eat, the better they like it and the bigger they grow.
When it comes to applying this concept of utilizing varied retrieves to trigger fish, it is important to think about the different retrieve patterns that will work with the lures being used. If a floating or suspending shallow running stick bait is the lure of choice, it is possible to twitch this bait all the way back to the boat.
In order to better understand the effect the twitching pattern has, it is important to do some experimenting with the lure when it is close enough to the boat that the twitch and pause pattern can be observed. It won’t take long to figure out what will get the most action out of the lure.
With the correct approach, the lure should dart left and right as well as stop and start erratically. This unusual behavior mimics a badly injured or dying baitfish.
Rattle baits, like the Frenzy Rattl’r, are also easily adaptable to a varied retrieve. There is no question that hard vibrating rattle lures catch fish with a steady retrieve, but adding a little variety to the system can help.
One of my favorite approaches to retrieving a rattle bait is to occasionally stop the retrieve and let the lure sink for a brief moment. A sharp twitch can be applied when restarting the cranking or a person can just resume the retrieve at a normal speed. It is amazing how many times a fish will hit right after the pause.
Plastic baits are also effectively converted into twitch baits. Gulp sinking minnows that are hooked Texas style with no weight can be twitched and paused in an erratic manner that fish find hard to resist. The best part about this is the fact they are weedless and can be fished in areas not accessible with bare hooks.
When one thinks about it, much of the appeal of a jig comes from the erratic nature of the presentation. The lift, fall and crawl that is a natural part of jig fishing is duplicating the action of injured baitfish that are hugging the bottom.
Baitfish do not swim in a straight line across the lake. They are constantly darting up and down and back and forth. By varying the retrieve, we are only adding a little more appeal to our lures and mimicking the natural behavior of the forage base.
When a person considers the erratic behavior of injured baitfish, it is even easier to understand why a little variety in a retrieve will work wonders.
Predator fish are a lot like people. They don’t like to work any harder than necessary to accomplish their mission of finding their next meal. Because of this, they are conditioned to take advantage of easy feeding opportunities when they are presented.
By utilizing speed changes, twitches, pauses and the like, it is often possible to trigger predator fish into striking a lure that they would ignore with a normal retrieve. Erratic presentations do catch fish.
By Jerry Carlson
My first experience with twitch baits and erratic presentations came on Rainy Lake in Northern Minnesota many years ago. At that time, the first of many suspending lures hit the market and it became possible to work shallow water with lures that pretty much stayed at a specific depth.
The northern we targeted during this outing must not have ever seen anything like this. They consistently would clobber a bait that was alternately twitched and cranked on the retrieve while ignoring other presentations.
Since that experience so many years ago, I have not forgotten to include the erratic behavior that comes with a lure that is cranked, paused, and twitched on the retrieve. I have learned time and again that variety in a retrieve will often trigger fish.
I am guessing that part of the triggering response that comes from an erratic presentation is due to the type of feeding situations predator fish run into on a daily basis. Feeding on prey fish that are injured is as natural to them as swimming in the water.
Anytime a hungry predator can take advantage of an easy meal, it will do so. After all, the less energy they have to expend to eat, the better they like it and the bigger they grow.
When it comes to applying this concept of utilizing varied retrieves to trigger fish, it is important to think about the different retrieve patterns that will work with the lures being used. If a floating or suspending shallow running stick bait is the lure of choice, it is possible to twitch this bait all the way back to the boat.
In order to better understand the effect the twitching pattern has, it is important to do some experimenting with the lure when it is close enough to the boat that the twitch and pause pattern can be observed. It won’t take long to figure out what will get the most action out of the lure.
With the correct approach, the lure should dart left and right as well as stop and start erratically. This unusual behavior mimics a badly injured or dying baitfish.
Rattle baits, like the Frenzy Rattl’r, are also easily adaptable to a varied retrieve. There is no question that hard vibrating rattle lures catch fish with a steady retrieve, but adding a little variety to the system can help.
One of my favorite approaches to retrieving a rattle bait is to occasionally stop the retrieve and let the lure sink for a brief moment. A sharp twitch can be applied when restarting the cranking or a person can just resume the retrieve at a normal speed. It is amazing how many times a fish will hit right after the pause.
Plastic baits are also effectively converted into twitch baits. Gulp sinking minnows that are hooked Texas style with no weight can be twitched and paused in an erratic manner that fish find hard to resist. The best part about this is the fact they are weedless and can be fished in areas not accessible with bare hooks.
When one thinks about it, much of the appeal of a jig comes from the erratic nature of the presentation. The lift, fall and crawl that is a natural part of jig fishing is duplicating the action of injured baitfish that are hugging the bottom.
Baitfish do not swim in a straight line across the lake. They are constantly darting up and down and back and forth. By varying the retrieve, we are only adding a little more appeal to our lures and mimicking the natural behavior of the forage base.
When a person considers the erratic behavior of injured baitfish, it is even easier to understand why a little variety in a retrieve will work wonders.
Predator fish are a lot like people. They don’t like to work any harder than necessary to accomplish their mission of finding their next meal. Because of this, they are conditioned to take advantage of easy feeding opportunities when they are presented.
By utilizing speed changes, twitches, pauses and the like, it is often possible to trigger predator fish into striking a lure that they would ignore with a normal retrieve. Erratic presentations do catch fish.
