If You Think I've Been "Jerking" You Around...

Maybe you'll take this guy's word for it and accept the fact that jerkbaits really work this time of year. I'm talking about Ron Ameika and his son, Alex, who spent some time last weekend chasing fish down in the Albright's oxbow.

Ron was targeting yellow perch for the dinner plate with a 3 3/8-inch Bass Pro Shops XTS Minnow (see photo at left), "and it produced," he said in an email to me this morning. The bait is "a floater that will get down to 3 or 4 feet, depending on the retrieve," to borrow his description.

Using a "very slow, steady retrieve, twitch and pause, as well as twitch-twitch-pause," he further explained, Ron came up with both yellow and white perch, multiple bass weighing up to 1 lb., bowfin, a 10-inch striper, and a 23.5-inch chain pickerel. "While that lure was working for me, my friends and son were casting their way toward skunks," Ron noted.

Before all was said and done, though, Alex saved his day and, as Ron has had to 'fess up many times, caught "the big one"--in this case, a fat 3-lb. 13-oz., 19-inch bass (see photo at right). He was trolling a 2-inch Rebel minnow, with a blue top and an orangish bottom at the time--on an ultralight rod and reel, no less.

One of the best things about using those BPS XTS minnows, says Ron, is the price, which is "only $2.99, with a 30-cent military discount." He offers just one piece of advice, though: Replace the hooks before using them. Because of the price, Ron bought several in all three available sizes. "This way, I won't fret about losing one to a stump or toothy critter," he added.

While admitting he's a novice at this game, Ron said he's convinced these baits are going to keep working for him in the colder temps--and I couldn't agree more.

Before concluding his email, Ron also told me that he had been out chasing stripers at the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in all that awesome weather we had, right up 'till Dec. 30th. "Tasty they were," he said.

He wrapped the note up thus: "Tight lines, and watch out for those devious Russians!"

I was at West Neck earlier this morning with a plan to wet a few jerkbaits of my own, but there was (as I had suspected probably would be the case) a little too much dry ramp showing for me to venture out. It wasn't the launch that made me nervous--it, instead, was the recovery. I knew if the level dropped any more while I was out, I probably would be doomed.

Accordingly, I just exchanged pleasantries with Steve, as he was taking his dog for a morning stroll, then climbed back in my old van and returned home to a nice, hot cup of coffee. I'll spend the rest of today monitoring the water level, and if I get a break, you can bet I'll be out there on the water tomorrow. The water color looks too good for me to stay home another day, unless there just isn't enough of it.