As swimbait fishing continues to get more and more popular, fish can sometimes get conditioned to seeing them glide and swim past them. They still work and will continue to land large bass this year and for years to come, but when faced with swimbait shy bass, a large jerkbait may trick a few extra bass for you. One angler who loves throwing both swimbaits and big jerkbaits is Northern California tournament angler, Josh Parris. He puts down the big bait and picks up the big rip bait when conditions are right.
Glide Bait Followers
One of the first situations where Parris picks up a jumbo rip bait is if he is seeing many followers on his glide baits that won’t commit.
“Fish can get acclimated to glides, especially on main lake points and places where everyone is throwing big baits,” said Parris.
What he does is to make a second pass through areas where he has visually located interested bass, and his weapon of choice is the Deps Balisong Long Bill Minnow, a 5 3/4-ounce monster of a jerkbait.
“It has the size and shape of a small trout or kokanee. I think overall the size is one of the biggest keys to this bait and I think of it more like a swimbait because of the big profile,” added Parris.
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Targeting Deep Structure
Another way Parris fishes the Balisong Long Bill Minnow like a swimbait is to target deep fish on submerged structure, sheer drops, and humps.
Deps says this bait will get down between eight and 11-feet deep and Parris has experimented with various line sizes to see just how deep it can get.
“It will get seven or eight feet deep on 15-pound around 10-feet on 12-pound and over 12-feet deep on 10-pound test,” he shared.
Parris likes the lightest line he can get to get it to the maximum depth.
“It has a great tight action and what I like about it is how quickly it will get down deep,” he added.
He will fish it like any other jerkbait with jerks and pauses and lets it pause longer during the warmer months.
“I like to feel out how long I should pause the bait and start at a five-second pause and then increase it if I need to,” he said. “Sometimes you need that long 15-second pause to give them time to track it, and I know that fish will come up from deeper water to get the bait because I have had to fizz some fish. They are coming from at least 20-feet deep to get to the bait at times.”
Beating the Bank
When bass are focused on trout and kokanee during the colder months, Parris will have an arsenal of swimbaits and glide baits ready, but will also be ready with a Deps Balisong Minnow 130. This bait shares the size and profile of the deep diver, but only reaches depths of around four-feet deep.
“I fish it like any other jerkbait with rips and pauses, but the bigger size is the key. There are not many deep diving jerkbaits out there that are this big and none that truly suspend as well as this one does,” said Parris.
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Jerkbait Gear and Color Choices
With this being a jumbo jerkbait, Parris beefs up his rod to accommodate the heavier weight of this lure.
“The rod I use is the same one I use for light A-Rigs and glide baits, a 7’6” medium-heavy Falcon BuCoo. I like that length, and it has a nice parabolic bend but still enough power to make good rips of the bait,” he said and added that a standard jerkbait rod would cast it just fine, but feels that it would lack the power needed to handle the lure correctly.
When it comes to reels, he feels that 7.1:1 gear ratio is an excellent speed.
“The faster reel speed allows me to pick up slack quickly if I need to and my theory is you can always slow down if you need to,” said Parris.
Parris has had success at a wide range of NorCal fisheries with this bait and approach. Berryessa, Comanche, New Melones, Tulloch, and even the California Delta have all been waters where he has had success with the Balisong Minnow.
Parris sticks with one of the many silver sided finishes when the bass are keyed on trout and kokanee but will switch it up if needed.
“I have a red and gold one that has been awesome on the Delta,” he added.
No matter where you plan to fish a big jerkbait, you can match bigger forage and appeal to larger fish. When fishing a big jerkbait, think of it like a swimbait in both your presentation and the places where you throw it.
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