Zaldain was using a Megabass Vision 110 Max LBO (linear bearing oscillator) in the video I watched. Slightly larger than many models on the market, this jerkbait has a weight-transfer system that not only allows you to make super-long casts, but you also can be very accurate and maneuver it around cover that's up shallow. The only hangup--for me, that is--was the price: currently running $26.99 at most outlets.
While my memory of some things over the last nearly 80 years have faded, one thing that hasn't is my recollection of what I did when the Deps Buzzjet Jr. wakebaits first hit the marketplace. I didn't even blink an eye about dropping $100 for four of those "crown jewels." However, I also didn't waste any time locating a supply of knockoffs, along with the name and address of a reputable custom painter. Subsequently, I made myself a promise that I'd never again spend that kind of money on a fishing lure. As a result, I quickly forgot any idea I might have had of purchasing even one of those Megabass baits.
Besides, I have a decent supply of Rapala Shadow Rap Shad slow-rising jerkbaits (my go-to choice) that have served me well for several years now, along with a few odds and ends that have proven they can catch fish, too.
Zaldain, on the other hand, throws a suspending jerkbait all year, in all water temps, for all species of bass, because it does the one thing you want a jerkbait to do: mimic a dying baitfish. The original Megabass Vision 110 gets the nod about 80 to 85 percent of the time.
"A lot of times when you look at a dying baitfish in a tank or an aquarium," he explained, "they just sit still in the water column. That's why an original suspending Megabass Ito Vision 110 works so well. It just sits there."
However, that suspending characteristic is largely dependent on one other aspect of your gear: the line. A line that sinks too fast will pull the jerkbait down. A line that floats or sinks too slowly will affect the suspension of the bait, as well. Zaldain has tinkered with several brands, types of line, and pound tests over the years and found one line that does the job perfectly, as far as he's concerned.
"The best line size to get an original 110 jerkbait to suspend freely is 12-pound test Seaguar InvizX...not 15, not 10, but 12-pound," he said. "Right out of the package, the 110 will suspend great throughout all the temperatures with that 12-pound Seaguar."
Although he will throw a jerkbait year-round, Zaldain says that the pre-spawn and post-spawn windows are when it really shines. But what about that other 15 to 20 percent of the time when he isn't throwing a suspending jerkbait? The answer is a floating jerkbait, specifically a Vision 110 Magnum. He does a couple of modifications to this bait to get it to float even faster when he wants it to do so.
For openers, he goes with a lighter wire hook, which naturally takes a little weight off the bait. But when he really wants the bait to pop back up between jerks, he'll go with a large diameter monofilament line.
"I like to go with the big, heavy, nasty 20-pound monofilament that floats like crazy...same rod and same reel, though," he said.
Zaldain primarily uses this technique when fishing around isolated hard cover, like docks, rocks and wood, as well as around dense cover, like flats with vegetation.
"I strictly do that in four feet or less," he explained. "I use that floating characteristic of the monofilament as a measure of control. I go ahead and jerk the jerkbait into that piece of cover and then let the bait float over it.
"Say it's a laydown log," he continued. "I'll jerk, jerk, jerk into it, but just before it hits the log and snags, I'll let the bait float over like you would a balsa crankbait or a squarebill and continue to jerk it around. That heavy mono helps me manipulate the cast and maneuver around cover, whereas a suspending jerkbait doesn't do that. If you jerk a suspending jerkbait into a rock pile, it's just going to sit there."
Zaldain mainly wants his jerkbait to float when fishing around the spawn and post-spawn, and then also in the fall, when the shad push to the backs of creeks.
"If I cast over a shallow flat with grass," he said, "I'll use that floating characteristic to work the bait up high and tight to the surface, and then when I see the bait get to a hole in the vegetation, I'll give it a couple of violent strikes down into the hole, knowing that it will pop right back up out of that depression in the grass."
When this Texas pro wants his jerkbait to get deeper, he simply switches to a Vision 110+1 or a Vision 110+2, which means plus one or plus two meters, so roughly three or six feet.
The one jerkbait you'll never find Zaldain throwing, however, is a sinking model. For him, a spybait replaces a sinking jerkbait.
As he explained, "You can count it down, and there's more control with a spybait."
Also noteworthy in this discussion is the fact that Zaldain has noticed a trend develop in his color choices when he wants his jerkbait to float versus suspend. With the suspending bait, he'll go with a more natural, translucent color, like Pro Blue or Tennessee Shad. When he wants his jerkbait to float, it's a different story.
"I like foil finishes, something really flashy," said Zaldain. "Ozark Shad is my favorite, which is just black back with chrome sides...or gold...just anything flashy. And that's because anytime I'm fishing shallow like that, I'm typically fishing in more stained water. Every time I jerk the bait, I want it to be sending a big, giant ray of light through the water column."
For all his jerkbaits, Zaldain goes with the same rod and reel combo. The rod is a 6-foot 11-inch Megabass Destroyer 110 Special. An obvious choice, it literally was made for the 110 jerkbait, but his reel selection is a little unique.
"I like a reel that I can palm for fishing jerkbaits," he explained. "So I like for it to have a full side to it. I use an older Shimano Core in 6.3:1 gear ratio. It has kind of a higher profile. It just has a nice grip to it, which helps with fatigue," he concluded.
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