JERK-BAITING,
UK & STATESIDE
by George G. Easton, Snr.

Introduction by Editor, Nick Caine
George Easton, Snr., has been fishing big baits (lures!) Stateside for many, many years. With realtives in the UK, he's been over here a lot, fishing jerkbaits in big waters in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and on Continental Europe.

Here, George very kindly shares some of his hints and tips about fishing for mega-pike (and smaller ones) with jerkbaits and other big plugs.

Returning to the UK ....
after over ten years working and fishing in USA and Canada, I see the jerkbait craze that swept North America has gotten a good few followers back here in UK. Good to see it.

MUSKIE COUNTRY
Things are very different in the States where most everyone is into outdoor sports and as far as fishing is concerned, artificials and flies are used everywhere, and jerkbaits are 'the' thing for big muskies and northern pike, not like over here in UK where baits and dead fish are mostly used for pike fishing.

Sure, there are also plenty of UK anglers using lures very successfully for pike and many who use both methods. In the States generally they're not big on using dead fish baits to catch muskies and Northern pike although some guys do.

I have also been reading some of the other pieces written by some UK jerkbait guys and some of it has made me smile just a little! As I said, it's hardly surprising that things are very different in UK compared with the States which has a population 5 times larger than UK with a geographical area and expanses of water 100 or even 1000 times greater or more, and with fish populations and sizes that are something else! Jerkbaits are fine for these vast US and Canadian locations but in UK big lakes are comparatively few and far between.

IRELAND
I've just taken a short vacation in Ireland and it has some great lakes but some crazy guys over there seem to have it in for pike; I fished lakes at Mask and Corrib and caught some good pike and trout. The local guys make visiting trout anglers feel real welcome but they don't like you talking about pike. Crazy, but I guess that's the Irish for you, well some of them anyhow! I should know because that's where my ancestors came from! You've got some real crazy guys here in the UK too, reading some of the stuff that's around in magazines and on the Net!

FISH FINDER FIRST, ALWAYS!
Since I've been back in UK, I've also had the opportunity to fish some of those beautiful Scottish lakes; pretty tough going I reckon, don't know about you. Temperature and depth play a big part in success wherever you are in the world and you have to use fish finders to stand a good chance of locating any big pike. They're pretty thinly spread in most all of those lakes that I've fished; very different from the States unfortunately. Yep, I reckon wherever you are, you can't do without a good fish-finder.

EARLY DAYS OF JERKBAITS
In the early days of jerkbaits in USA, guys like Joe Bucher, Pete Mania and many other bait (lure) designers and builders were (and they still are!) at the leading-edge of big bait development and I'm lucky enough to have several of my relatives and friends in the States to keep me supplied with the very latest jerkbaits and other ace artificials as soon as they hit the scene over there.

Naturally, since being back in the UK I have been surfing around for local mail-order suppliers of lures and stuff and that's how via a good fishing friend I discovered Nick Caine's good little Lure Fishing website so to help him and you guys over here who are thinking about getting into jerkbait fishing, I have put something together based on my experiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

When I was in the States I regularly wrote pieces for several small local magazines, news sheets, websites and all, and although I see a load of UK material has been written about jerk- bait fishing (some good, some a load of bull), I still see basic questions from guys in UK wanting to get started fishing with jerkbaits so that's why I thought of writing this piece for Nick to show the picture from both sides of the Big Pond and to help y'all avoid the kind of mistakes I made myself in the early days, and to help you choose the best tackle and jerkbaits from the best supplier!

WHAT TACKLE AND BAITS?
What tackle and jerkbaits to use, where to buy them, how and where to fish them in UK and USA. Right away, believe me, jerk-bait fishing is not the smartest way to begin fishing with artificials. With jerkbaits you can leave your regular rods in the garage - you've got to have custom tackle, strong rods to put in all the action that's needed to otherwise half-dead jerkbaits, they've got no dive lips and very little built-in action. You need strong reels, baitcasters or multipliers, whatever. Penn reels are big in the States and you can get them over here OK these days - sea-fishing tackle shops are the places to go, I reckon - but maybe someone else over here in the UK knows different.

LINES & WIRE
Thank God for braids! Since they hit the scene in the States a decade or so ago, they have transformed fishing with artificials. Do you remember Fenwick Iron Thread and the original Spiderwire? I don't know if you could get them over here then. These days there are so many different brands of braids, it's difficult to choose but if you're fishing with big baits (jerkbaits) go for high-power braid around 100 lb or over. That way you won't be loosing so many expensive lures. Power Pro braid seems big in UK as it is in the States. I do use Power Pro but I go for the very latest saltwater Spiderwire if I can get it; I rate TUF-Line XP very highly also.

I use solid wire not braided traces - it helps transmit more action to your jerkbaits and reduces tangles on the over-run with glide- baits. I use 120 or 150 lb wire.

FAVOURITE JERKBAITS
For Nickand all you fishing site surfers, I've put together a list of my favourite artificials. I hope that Nick won't mind my saying that that's not been too easy because I can only get some of my favourites directly from the States and you can too (email Nick if you want more info ) I have also heard of a few guys in UK who make jerkbaits at home but I haven't tried them myself so it's not my place to comment on them here, yet! But for sure, I'll be fishing them soon. Anyhow, here goes with my personal favourites for the USA that have also done OK for me in the UK:-

MANIA:Pete Mania has been around for a long time and has built plenty of brilliant Musky Mania big bait designs; my favourite is his Squirrely Burt.

SLAMMER:I'm a big fan of Slammer's topwater propbaits especially for warm shallow waters — go for the 8-incher!

MUSKY INNOVATIONS:These guys build some real winning designs and the best I reckon is the Bull Dawg, a soft rubbery plastic jerk- bait. You have to put a lot of action into this bait but sure as hell, when those muskies and pike take hold, they don't want to let go - reel 'em in, baby!

LIVE ACTION LURES:Soft baits are definitely the "In-Thang" as they say over there in the USA, and designer Joe's Live Action Ugly Joe is a great lure - go for it!

SUICK:Want some thrills? Then get some Suick's Thrillers! They've got adjustable metal tail fins that let you control dive depths - neat!

The World Famous Big Fork & Suick Baits

BIG FORK: Big Fork's Sand-Cat is a regular jerkbait, good for all-round all-year venues - I've always got a couple in my box!

COBBS:Cobbs jerkbaits are some of the best around when it comes to build quality and paint finish; take your pick, they're all great baits.

My favourite? their regular 8 inch jerkbait.

SMITY: You've jest got to have spin tail jerkbait in your box and you won't get better than Smity's Slaptail; OK so it mayn't strictly be a jerkbait because it has a small dive lip, but who's counting?

ODYSSEY:If you're hunting those big pig muskies and pike, go for some Odyssey Pig baits; I rate their suspending models but check them out and adjust their buoyancy first, if necessary - I've found that they can vary quite a bit.

POE's:For sure those big mamma muskies and pike do need a wake up call sometimes and this is the jerkbait to do it: Poe's Awaker; put one in your box today! I use them regularly in summer months and on mild winter days in the shallows but for sure, UK fishing is much tougher than Stateside even with a Poe's on your line.

Poe's Awaker

FISH EAGLE: I rate the regular Doctor jerkbaits from Fish Eagle. Use them on the surface in summer and those vicious strikes will have you rushing to your doctor to get your heart rate checked out: another jerk for your box.

Bucher Bait Shallowraider

BUCHER:Joe Bucher has been building big baits since the early days of big plugs and jerkbaits; he has caught some mammoth muskies on his own baits, the best testimony you can have for them. Maybe they're not all strictly jerkbaits because most of them have lips and good in-built actions but I still reckon to have them on my list of baits and jerks in my box.

If I had to pick just one Bucher bait, it would be Joe's Countdown DepthRaider which gets right down on it in deep waters. The prime factors with good jerkbaits are design, weighting, balance and build quality and this is not always easy to get with mass-pro- duced baits.

Mega-muskie taken on a 10" jerkbait

BIT HITS,BIG DAMAGE
Also with big muskies and northern pike and with big European pike also, jerkbaits take a big beating up from those terrible teeth so you need baits that have real good paint jobs, and very strong wire and hangers, tough enough to take all the treatment from those big bad pike. Cobb's baits are excellent for these factors. Some UK built jerkbaits that I've been using are just crap; they fall apart after a couple of trips. It's hardly worth the time and effort to re-build them everytime. Even with good jerkbaits, mostly after every trip I take time out to repair my baits; I use a good epoxy yacht varnish with a 2-part mix for maximum tough- ness. Over here I have been using Araldite and it's OK. Even better are Devcon and TufKote transparent resins; I've been getting mine from DIY model shops.

SMELLY SCENTS FOR BIGGER HITS
I like to soak real strong smelly scents and oils over my baits to increase my strike rate. You can do this with scented rubber worms and tails and with fabrics or deer hair soaked with these scents - just hook them to your tail hooks - with care you can also mix a small amount of smelly scent into your varnish mix! I guarantee this dodge will get you some big hits!

SOFT BAITS ARE THE BIZ
I'm not the first to say that and for sure I won't be the last; soft rubber and plastic baits take some really big hits too. Muskies and pike seem to take hold real firm and this makes a lot of damage. They're expensive and not easy to repair. I have tried using a rubber repair kit that I use for my divers dry suit; this works OK but it is grayblack and I really want something that's transparent. Maybe someone reading this has a better idea? Please let me know via Nick.

WORKING YOUR BAITS
How to work your baits is just like you would for very big plugs and spoons except that you've got to remember that they've got no dive lips or built in action so you've got to put in all the effort and action yourself to make them stop, start, twist, dive and glide; like most everything in life, hopefully it gets better with time and experience. You need short rods if you're fishing from a boat, say 6 ft or 5 ft 6 inch rods - most everyone fishes from boats in the US. St Croix rods are very good and you can get them over here now. I also have brought back with me my latest Fenwick rods that I bought Stateside and I hope I don't break them because I will have to send them back to the States to get them fixed if I can't find anywhere in UK.

Geo's big Northern pike

UK NORFOLK BROADS AND PLACES
Next, y'all find some nice big UK lakes wall to wall with giant European pike! Simple! There's those Broads in Norfolk, some good trout lakes and drinking-water reservoirs, Irish and Scottish lakes. Easy fishing? Nope! Wherever you go in UK, take that fish finder with you! Life's too short to look for big UK pike any other way! If any of you are planning to go muskie hunting in the States, y'all be sure to have a real good time. Easy fishing? Yep! Compared with the UK for sure. I can't wait to get back out there after those muskies. Meantime, maybe I'll see you around in UK, wherever those big pike are hitting on your jerkbaits and mine too I hope!

Geo Easton Snr ...
Boat Fishing or Bust!

Y'all have a real good time now with your big baits! And those small ones too! Y'all know where to buy them! Enjoy! George "Muskie Killer" Eston, Snr.

Nick's Notes
Not being a regular user of big baits an informative article like this'll help cut to the chase, putting more fish in the net ...... so a very big "Thank You" to George for sharing his Stateside and UK experiences with us & passing on some invaluable Top Tips!!!
Nick Caine
Editor

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