Brent Ehrler has already caught a limit this morning with all five coming on a Lucky Craft Pointer 78 jerkbait. He picked up another rod with a different lure for just a minute, then set it back down, saying, “With this weather, it’s prime for a jerkbait.”
Kevin VanDam has two big ones in the boat already, including a 6-plus-pounder, both on a spy bait, which features two treble hooks.
The point here is that treble-hooked hard baits and these hard-fighting smallmouth bass in the St. Lawrence River can be a frustrating combination. VanDam has lost a good fish today on the spy bait. Casey Ashley said he never picked up a jerkbait Saturday after watching a four-pounder spit one back at him on Friday. And Jamie Hartman thought his treble hook experiences on Friday might have cost him making today’s Top 12 before the weigh-in was completed yesterday.
“Stupid jerkbait,” Hartman said Saturday. “I dumped a lot of fish Friday. It cost me a bunch.”
Hartman dropped to 30th place Friday after catching “only” 17-13. He rallied with 23-6 Saturday.
“I hate treble hooks,” Hartman said. “I hate throwing them. And these fish are crazy here.”
But this has started as a windy day when you’re going to have to take a little pain of losing fish to experience the pleasure of catching some big ones. As Ehrler said, “With this weather, it’s prime for the jerkbait.”