Stan Fagerstrom
05-31-2004, 07:03 AM
Mexico’s Lake El Salto
Great Place To Do The Jitterbug
By Stan Fagerstrom
Our guide pushed us away from the moorage area at beautiful Anglers Inn on Mexico’s Lake El Salto. It still wasn’t full daylight when he slowed the outboard and eased us into a fairly shallow area filled with submerged trees.
Even in that first dim light of a new day you could see the swirls of feeding fish. “Top water,” the guide grunted. I opened the small tackle container I’d brought along. Two or three of its trays were filled with the latest and most popular surface lures. That wasn’t what caught my attention.
What did was an old timer as bass plugs go. It was a beat up old Jitterbug that has been around almost as long as I have. There was a time when I threw that lure a bunch. But then new surface lures came along. Like everybody else I just had to give them a try.
Nowadays the old frog finished Jitterbug doesn’t see much action
Maybe it was because of fond memories of past adventures that old Jitterbug has shared with me. Or perhaps it was because I know darn well that old lure still takes fish when handled in the proper fashion. Whatever the reason, it was the lure I snapped onto the end of my line that early morning last month.
My first cast was nothing to brag about. I missed the area I’d intended to hit. The old bait came puddling back to the boat, it’s distinctive sound louder than usual in the quiet of the Mexican morning. My second cast was on target. I got the slack out of my line and waited for the splash of its entry to quiet down.
I always add a multi-strand rubber skirt to my Jitterbugs. The skirt is the same style that comes on the Hula Popper. I do so by inserting a small eyed screw into the hind end of the bait. I slide the skirt up over the screw eye so it trails out behind the lure. Those added tails on the Jitterbug do the same thing they do on the Hula Popper. They curl and move behind the bait even when it’s setting dead in the water.
I’d waited long enough. I twitched the tip of my rod just enough to make the lure move forward an inch or two. Again I waited. Then I gave it another twitch. Nothing happened. I twitched it once more. Then I began a slow and steady retrieve just fast enough to keep the lure wobbling from side to side and gurgling like a burping bullfrog at breakfast.
http://www.ifish.net/sfsaltoba.jpg
The sun wasn't up yet when
this dandy bass blasted my old Jitterbug on Mexico's El Salto Lake last month.
That old bait didn’t get far. It hadn’t traveled more than three feet before the water exploded. I swear you could have heard that bass blast that lure halfway across the lake.
We wound up catching that fish but had a terrible time getting the job done. Those big El Salto bass go where they want for the first couple of surges. This one wanted to get down into the submerged tree branches that were all over the place. She finally managed to tangle herself up within range of the guide’s net. Seconds later we had her in the boat.
That dandy fish turned out to weigh an even 7-pounds on our Boga Grip scales. Fish that size are nothing uncommon at El Salto Lake. You have to have one in the 10-pound category down there before you can even think about bragging a bit. We were to get other considerably larger fish before the trip was over.
Be that as it may, that 7-pounder on my beloved old Jitterbug was one of the highlights of my most recent bass fishing trip south of the border. Take at look at the illustrations that accompany this column. You’ll see the lure I used to catch that 7-pounder.
http://www.ifish.net/sfjitterclose.jpg
You don't hear as much as you once did about the Jitterbug lure. Handle it right and the old beauty will catch fish as good as ever.
Take time to note how I’ve attached the rubber skirt to the hind end of the lure. You can do exactly the same thing if you choose. I’m well aware that there’s a raft of newer and supposedly more effective surface lures now available to the modern day bass angler. I have many of them myself.
But that’s not going to keep me from throwing the old timers like my Jitterbug. Give me a couple more experiences like I had that recent morning on El Salto Lake and I might not throw anything else!
Great Place To Do The Jitterbug
By Stan Fagerstrom
Our guide pushed us away from the moorage area at beautiful Anglers Inn on Mexico’s Lake El Salto. It still wasn’t full daylight when he slowed the outboard and eased us into a fairly shallow area filled with submerged trees.
Even in that first dim light of a new day you could see the swirls of feeding fish. “Top water,” the guide grunted. I opened the small tackle container I’d brought along. Two or three of its trays were filled with the latest and most popular surface lures. That wasn’t what caught my attention.
What did was an old timer as bass plugs go. It was a beat up old Jitterbug that has been around almost as long as I have. There was a time when I threw that lure a bunch. But then new surface lures came along. Like everybody else I just had to give them a try.
Nowadays the old frog finished Jitterbug doesn’t see much action
Maybe it was because of fond memories of past adventures that old Jitterbug has shared with me. Or perhaps it was because I know darn well that old lure still takes fish when handled in the proper fashion. Whatever the reason, it was the lure I snapped onto the end of my line that early morning last month.
My first cast was nothing to brag about. I missed the area I’d intended to hit. The old bait came puddling back to the boat, it’s distinctive sound louder than usual in the quiet of the Mexican morning. My second cast was on target. I got the slack out of my line and waited for the splash of its entry to quiet down.
I always add a multi-strand rubber skirt to my Jitterbugs. The skirt is the same style that comes on the Hula Popper. I do so by inserting a small eyed screw into the hind end of the bait. I slide the skirt up over the screw eye so it trails out behind the lure. Those added tails on the Jitterbug do the same thing they do on the Hula Popper. They curl and move behind the bait even when it’s setting dead in the water.
I’d waited long enough. I twitched the tip of my rod just enough to make the lure move forward an inch or two. Again I waited. Then I gave it another twitch. Nothing happened. I twitched it once more. Then I began a slow and steady retrieve just fast enough to keep the lure wobbling from side to side and gurgling like a burping bullfrog at breakfast.
http://www.ifish.net/sfsaltoba.jpg
The sun wasn't up yet when
this dandy bass blasted my old Jitterbug on Mexico's El Salto Lake last month.
That old bait didn’t get far. It hadn’t traveled more than three feet before the water exploded. I swear you could have heard that bass blast that lure halfway across the lake.
We wound up catching that fish but had a terrible time getting the job done. Those big El Salto bass go where they want for the first couple of surges. This one wanted to get down into the submerged tree branches that were all over the place. She finally managed to tangle herself up within range of the guide’s net. Seconds later we had her in the boat.
That dandy fish turned out to weigh an even 7-pounds on our Boga Grip scales. Fish that size are nothing uncommon at El Salto Lake. You have to have one in the 10-pound category down there before you can even think about bragging a bit. We were to get other considerably larger fish before the trip was over.
Be that as it may, that 7-pounder on my beloved old Jitterbug was one of the highlights of my most recent bass fishing trip south of the border. Take at look at the illustrations that accompany this column. You’ll see the lure I used to catch that 7-pounder.
http://www.ifish.net/sfjitterclose.jpg
You don't hear as much as you once did about the Jitterbug lure. Handle it right and the old beauty will catch fish as good as ever.
Take time to note how I’ve attached the rubber skirt to the hind end of the lure. You can do exactly the same thing if you choose. I’m well aware that there’s a raft of newer and supposedly more effective surface lures now available to the modern day bass angler. I have many of them myself.
But that’s not going to keep me from throwing the old timers like my Jitterbug. Give me a couple more experiences like I had that recent morning on El Salto Lake and I might not throw anything else!