There Are Few, If Any, Absolutes in Bass Fishing

And for that reason, I don't take people seriously when they say, "You can find the answer to anything on the Internet," or words to that effect. There simply are too many variables in bass fishing, as well as a host of other subjects.

Consider, for example, the results of my research over the past few weeks to educate myself on how to use a jerkbait successfully, especially in cold water. About the only thing that everyone seems to agree on is the necessity to make long casts with this bait. Nearly everything else is open to individual interpretation.

People can't even agree on the kind of line you should use. Most advocate fluorocarbon or mono, but just yesterday morning, I came across a bass pro who says he finds 30-lb. braid more to his liking. The choice of rods likewise is pretty much the same story: whatever suits you.

And then there's the cadence issue everyone talks about--that twitch-twitch-pause routine. Now Pandora's box really opens wide, especially as it relates to fishing a suspending jerkbait in cold water. You'll find some guys saying your pauses should be anywhere from 3 to 15 seconds, while others urge you to pause 15 to 30 seconds or longer.

And then, two days ago, I watched a video in which this guy supposedly was fishing 40-to-49-degree water, with only a 2- or 3-second pause, the same length of time he uses year-round.

His take was, "Why waste your fishing day by allowing 15-to-30-second pauses?" And, of course, he was proving his point by boating some nice bass with only that 2- and 3-second pause, but so were those guys advocating the longer pauses.

There's also the matter of some who recommend using a sweep-sweep-pause cadence for the best results. Toward that end, one person, whose video I watched online the other day, was saying, "Forget that it's even called a jerkbait. Start calling it a 'sweepbait.'"

As I've already said, there are few, if any, absolutes in bass fishing. However, there are certain generalities that hold true, no matter where you fish or what you fish for. In the final analysis, fish are pretty simple creatures that act and respond to the options and alternatives available to them wherever they live. That fact perhaps is best epitomized by In-Fisherman's 40-year-old "the formula." In case you're not familiar with that formula, it's F+L+P=S. Those letters translate into Fish+Location+Presentation=Success.

As I was wrapping up my jerkbait research, I came across some info that put things into better perspective for me. According to the author of this one particular piece, "Too many anglers trying to get answers to help them succeed at this sport of bass fishing end up getting a case of information overload. It seems that everyone has an opinion on the best 'this,' or the newest and greatest 'that.' In many cases, it amounts to nothing more than putting the cart before the horse.

"In reality," he continued, "if guys just would spend more time focusing on a few simple concepts, and then extend that knowledge to all areas of their fishing, they'd probably realize much greater success and much less frustration over the long run."

Rick Clunn summed things up this way, "It's human nature for all of us to look for shortcuts. Every basser seeks a secret lure that will guarantee a limit of fish every time, or a secret technique that never fails. But it doesn't happen that way."