A real JERK!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to hit Hawthorn Lake in Central Iowa.  It is about an hour drive from Marshalltown and I haven't been there for about 10 years.  The lake just got a face lift from the DNR at a cost of about $1,000,000.  They purchased land around the lake to deter silt from depositing in the new lake bed, drained the lake to rid all living creatures (over-populated shad), made lake improvements, and added catfish, bluegills, crappie and bass to the lake. 
A brand new lake with thousands of bass ready to eat any lure thrown their way...well at least that is what we hoped.  Dave Jordan and I quickly put the pieces together that day, and it was a good thing because we only had four hours to fish.  We had to be close to deep water, as that is where all our bites came from.  We also had to be off the main lake, it appears that the bass in this lake are setting up for winter already, however the water was steady at 50 degrees.

A healthy Hawthorn Lake bass on a Jerkbait

Back to the "any lure" part.  That thought was a JOKE!  Jigs, and soft plastics where catching a few fish, however I just had to try a jerkbait, which is normally great for fall bass when the water dips below 45 degrees. 
First cast...BOOM!  Bass-on!!!  It was like someone had hit the BASS-BITE switch.  It was the lure that they were looking for. 
We caught about 60 bass that day, and I alone caught about 30 on the jerkbait.  It was a suspending jerkbait, as the fish were sitting in 12+ feet of water.  The key was violent twitches, I really had to jerk it every time I twitched my rod.  It was a great day...I have never caught that many bass on a jerkbait in one day in my life.  A little hint if you are using a jerkbait; rod selection.  Picking the right rod to cast and work a suspending jerkbait is key to the action of the bait and hook-up ratio.  I used a 6'10" Quantum PT Tour rod in the Med/Hvy action.  This rod also has a "fast" action on it, meaning that the rod tip has some bend, but not too much.  This allows me to rip the jerkbait, but also allows me to keep the small trebles in the mouth.
All the bass that day were from 12-14inches long.  These bass were stocked about 4 years ago and they look very healthy.  They have great color, thick bellies, and they fight with an attitude, all signs of a healthy body of water. 
It was another great day on the water, and as I always say, any bass in November is truly a blessing!