Entry 185-4

How I’ll Fish the Classic with Mike Wurm

Part 4: Why I’ll Go Wild at the Classic

Question: What’s another tactic you’ll use in this year’s classic?

Wurm: If the water’s clear to partially stained, I’ll be using the Wild Shiner jerkbait. A suspending jerkbait is always a good choice in the early spring. This lure can be absolutely deadly. You can jerk the bait down a couple of times, then stop it and let it suspend. Those bass just about have to bite it.

If I find the bass are sitting out from the grass line and not actually sitting in the grass like I want them to be for me to use a flipping pattern successfully, then I’ll use that Wild Shiner to catch those bass on the edge of the grass. I can jerk that bait down two or three times, stop the lure and let it sit still right in front of the bass’ face. If I allow it to sit still long enough, the bass will move up and smack that lure. If I move that jerkbait really slowly and then finally stop the lure, that bass has just got to suck that easy-to-eat meal deep into its mouth. Besides the edge of the grass, I’ll use the jerkbait on the ends of points and out in standing timber.

If the weather gets really cold, I’ll probably rely heavily on the Wild Shiner. My favorite colors are clown and/or bone. The bone-colored Wild Shiner is one of the deadliest lures you can throw in cold water. The shad get that bony-colored kind of look, and if we have any stain in the water, the shad appear to be even more bone-colored.

Question: Do you ever dead-stick the Wild Shiner?

Wurm: Yes. If the water’s really cold, I’ll dead-stick the devil out of that lure. I’ll let the Wild Shiner sit still for a long time before I twitch it. You have to give the bass a chance to take the bait once it’s seen it. If the water’s really cold, the bass don’t want to move very much. But if the bass sees an easy target like the Wild Shiner, it just can’t resist taking a shot at that bait.

Question: When you say you let the Wild Shiner sit a long time, how long is long?

Wurm: Twenty to 30 seconds is a long time, and about the only way you can tell just how long 20 or 30 seconds is will be by watching your watch. If you watch your watch for 30 seconds after you stop that lure, you’ll be able to see just how long 30 seconds lasts. I’ll sometimes try letting the lure sit as long as one minute. Now, that’s a really long time.

Question: What do you do while the Wild Shiner’s sitting still for 30 seconds to one minute?

Wurm: I’m watching my line. I pretend that my line is a bobber, and I’m looking at that line just like I watch a bobber, if I’m crappie fishing. When the line’s resting on top of the water, you can see the line really good. Many times the bites on jerkbaits aren’t very violent. The bass will often come up behind jerkbaits, move in slowly and just suck the lures into their mouths. So, all you’ll see on your line is a twitch, much like you see a crappie bite and just wiggle your cork, not actually sinking it, but just making it move. When you see that line twitch, you know that the fish has sucked in the lure, and you better set the hook.

Question: How clear does the water have to be for you to use a jerkbait?

Wurm: The water doesn’t have to be gin-clear. It can be milky-looking, and the Wild Shiner is still effective. I like to be able to see down about 2 or 3 feet most of the time when I’m using the jerkbait. Another thing to remember in deciding whether or not to fish the jerkbait is the effect that muddy water has on the rest of the water in the water column. For instance, if warm muddy water is coming into the lake, that water will tend to be much warmer than the water below it. Or, if a rain muddies up the lake and then a warm front comes in behind that rain with high skies and plenty of sun, that muddy water will rise to the top because it’s warmer than the water beneath it. Even though you may not be able to see 1-foot deep in that muddy water, 1-foot below that muddy water will be, you may have really-clear, cold water. Therefore, even though you think you’re fishing the Wild Shiner in muddy water, you really aren’t. Many times, if you can get a lure just below that mud line, you really can catch a lot of fish. This is where the suspending jerkbait can really be deadly.

Question: How do you know there’s clear water under that muddy water?

Wurm: You watch the wake made by your trolling motor. In most instances, your trolling motor is about 1-foot below the surface. If that trolling motor produces a mixing color wash or a lighter-colored wake, then you know there’s clear water under the muddy water. That’s the key to knowing when to fish the suspending jerkbait. If that jerkbait can be just under that muddy water, and the bass can see it, they’ll eat it up. This is one of the ways you can outfish the competition. If most people see the lake is muddy, they’ll use muddy-water tactics to catch the bass. If you know that the water under that mud is clear, then you know that the bass will be holding just under that mud looking for baitfish. Then you can use your Wild Shiner to have a really great day of fishing while other fishermen are struggling.

Next: What a Classic Win Will Mean to Me

Contents:

• Part 1: Warming Up Before the Classic
• Part 2: My No. 1 Pattern
• Part 3: My Second Pattern
• Part 4: Why I’ll Go Wild at the Classic
• Part 5: What a Classic Win Will Mean to Me