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Northern Summer Time Multi-Species Jerk Bait Fishing Techniques

As the water temps reach and maintain their peak in mid to late summer, many anglers switch their presentation to live bait offerings or plastics to catch walleyes, largemouth bass, and northern pike. While these presentations absolutely catch fish during the dog days of summer, do not put away those hardbaits just yet as the 3DB Jerkbait 110 Deep can entice all predator species from their haunts throughout the summer months.
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Lure: Yo-Zuri 3DB Jerkbait 110 Deep: At 4 3/8” and 1/2 oz., the Yo-Zuri 3DB Jerkbait 110 Deep can dive 8-12’ down in the water column. It is a superb choice for predator species as it is bigger than much of the young-of-the-year forage that is available in many bodies of water during the summer to late summer period. This is an important fact because the size difference the 110 Deep has from schools of 2-3” perch, for example, helps it stick out more and can lead to more hits when chasing walleyes, northern pike, or largemouth bass. The Yo-Zuri 3DB Jerkbait 110 Deep is great for use with long or short casts and its 3 treble hooks increase the percentage of hookups significantly once a fish bites.
Line: If you do not like using a leader when fishing, even when chasing northern pike over 30”, going with Yo-Zuri 20 lb Dark Green SuperBraid is an excellent option. This line is perfect when using the 3DB Jerkbait 110 Deep because its sensitivity allows for exceptional bite detection; it is abrasion resistant which is critical when fishing in and near weeds; and it can land fish well beyond the line test capacity listed on the spool.
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Location: One of my favorite locations to fish for summer walleyes, northern pike, and largemouth bass is along and just inside weedlines in 8-12’ of water. This may sound shallow as a lot of fish move to deeper water when water temps reach 80 degrees, but the ones that stay in the densest weeds, are often the bigger and more aggressive fish which hunker down waiting for prey to pass in front of them. One of the keys to weedlines is to find more than one type of weed present. Cabbage mixed with grass, or even lily pads adjacent to grass or cabbage that are right at the first break into deeper water are prime spots. Once I have found these kinds of scenarios in a lake, regardless of the air or water temp or even time of day, I cast the 110 Deep parallel to the weedline and just inside the weedline to prompt strikes. If you are connecting with weeds every 3 or 4 casts, then you are casting where the bigger fish often lie in wait.
Retrieve/Cadence: When using the 3DB Jerkbait 110 Deep, I usually go with a qualitative and quantitative approach to the casts. When I cast it out, I wait for 3-5 seconds before beginning my retrieve. Then going with 1-4 twitches/jerks so that the lure moves 3-4’ forward and suspends is ideal. One wrinkle that I like to throw in the mix is to also crank the reel handle hard 1-4 times or gently pull the lure forward with 1 longer sweeping movement. Varying up the number of times the 110 Deep is moved as well as HOW it is moved can elicit some explosive strikes from any freshwater predator.
If you are looking for a “go-to” lure when chasing walleyes, northern pike, or largemouth bass around weedlines throughout the summer, then the Yo-Zuri 3DB Jerkbait 110 Deep is a top-notch choice to include in your gear box.
Tight lines and safe fishing!