How To Trigger Aggressive Lunker-Landing Reaction Strikes
Story and Photos By Vic Attardo

Some folks get a reaction from poison ivy. Others get a reaction from eggs or peanuts. All of those are bad reactions, usually itchy and unpleasant — certainly reactions you’d rather avoid.

As an angler, the best reactions come from big bass. That’s when bass aren’t actively feeding but still know a good thing when they see it. In a nutshell, a fast, instinctive bite is what a reaction strike is all about, and they’re not at all itchy.

When former B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year Frank Scalish wants a reaction strike, he throws a bait with plenty of hooks. In fact, his reaction bait carries a double set of trebles. During fall, Scalish manages to get satisfying, non-allergic reactions with suspending jerkbaits. They are his seasonal weapons of choice. However, Scalish knows that getting a reaction strike begins with understanding the conditions that induce them.

“During fall, there is a significant drop in water temperature, and the shad start moving into the backs of creeks,” Scalish explains. “This is the natural fall run of shad.”

The topography of the creeks plays an important role. The ideal creek will have a well-defined channel, often with channel walls that are higher than the base. Sloping flats are located off the edges of the channel. Toward the back of the creek, the edges flatten out. Sometimes brush and timber inhabit those spots.

“The place I like to look is at the last well-defined structural element — where it starts to diffuse and get really smooth,” Scalish says.

According to Scalish, schools of shad use the channel to migrate to the backs of creeks. But at the end of the channel, where it flattens out, the shad will ball up and stack up.

“They’re like magnets to each other, and they gravitate to the end of the channel where the structure becomes less defined,” he says.

Another element that leads to the reaction strike is the bass’s fall feeding habits.

“There’s a misconception that bass are schooling fish,” Scalish says. “They are not true schoolers, but they do feed in numbers. In this case, bass will be opportunistic predators attacking shad that wander from the pack at the back of the creek.”

Into this mix of schooled, opportunistic, basic and flattened underwater stratum, Scalish tosses a reaction-bite jerkbait.

“Understand that a jerkbait can induce either a very subtle bite or a violent reaction bite,” he says. “Remember, it’s how you are fishing the bait that makes it a reaction bait.”

To have bass react to a jerkbait around the creek-based schools of shad, Scalish gives the lure a highly erratic action.

“The cadence you use for the bait will be erratic,” he explains. “First, I start with a series of hard movements — jerk, jerk, jerk and a short pause. Then I start the cadence again. If I don’t get a strike with this, I pause the bait a little longer. The bass will tell you what they want.”

To accomplish these variable actions, Scalish moves the lowered rod tip anywhere from 8 to 18 inches. That’s the limitation he applies when fishing for largemouth bass. But when pursuing smallmouth bass in the same situation, he actually tempers his cadence to fit the species.

Using a 7-foot rod for smallmouth, he pulls the bait from well out in front to as far behind him as he can manage. He describes this pull as being the full length of the rod.

“You’d be surprised how much difference there is between getting a reaction strike from a largemouth and getting one from a smallmouth,” Scalish says. “Largemouth often like sudden, hard movements, while smallmouth often prefer something smoother. That’s a good rule, but it can be broken.”

Of course, the pause in both movements is an integral part of the retrieve. The pause makes it appear as if the bait is stunned.

“You’re trying to imitate a disoriented baitfish, and the pause is what tips the scales,” he notes.

Scalish’s fine-tuning for reaction strikes doesn’t end with those refinements. He is also choosey about his jerkbait selections. He picks his baits based on some unusual indications.

“The Xcalibur series has a tighter vibration pattern, and that’s a good first presentation,” Scalish says. “But if I’m getting short bites on just the rear set of trebles, the bait may be too subtle. When that happens, I go to the Bomber 15A, which has a wider wobble. The wider wobble can be the trigger. When I make the switch, I often get both sets of trebles in the bass’s mouth with the Bomber. However, the wide wobble is not the answer to all situations.”

Scalish has found that if you have a stable weather period, bass have a tendency to be more aggressive, and the wider wobble is better. But if you have falling water temperatures, the tighter wobble is better.

Coffin- And Square-Billed Crankbaits
When 2007 FLW Championship qualifier Denny Gilbert is looking for a fall reaction strike, he turns to two types of billed crankbaits. Gilbert uses either a square-billed bait in shallow water or a coffin-billed bait, also called a tapbait, in deep water.

In southern Virginia, water temperatures can vary widely during the official fall season. Through September, temperatures might range from the low 80s to the mid-60s. In October, the span usually narrows from 70 down to 60, and in November the water temperature will drop into the 50s.

During that time, bass will follow the shad and move into the backs of creeks and coves, where they relate to stumps and overhanging wood. Gilbert will get these structure-oriented bass to react to a crankbait retrieve that is a little different than the textbook version.

“Most people think you’re supposed to slow down the retrieve when the water starts to cool,” Gilbert says. “Actually, the best thing to do is speed it up. The fish are feeding hard and heavy. They’re really going after the shad, so you want your bait to go fast so they’ll react to it quickly.”

Another factor in Gilbert’s fall reaction pattern is rod movement. During the retrieve, he does not hold his rod in a static position. Instead, he moves it around to give the lure more action.

“The way you play with your bait is to use your rod rather than your reel,” Gilbert says. “You play with the rod moving it in different directions. Your rod movement is typically vertical rather than horizontal. This helps your bait work through heavy cover.”

Gilbert moves the rod with varying speeds or outbursts, depending on the type of cover he’s working.

“If it’s a stump, you want to pull up on the rod slowly, twitching it along and making the lure move,” he says. “But the next time, when you hit that same cover and you know you’re clear of it, then you might jerk it kind of hard. Move it faster to make the bass react.”

Indeed, repeatedly hitting the same piece of cover is a part of Gilbert’s fall strategy. In fact, it’s a key part.

“Typically in fall, the big thing is beating the piece of cover hard,” he says. “You can’t just make a cast or two. You have to make a lot of casts to hit one piece of cover a lot of times.”

Gilbert’s two types of billed crankbaits, the square bill and coffin bill, contribute to the reaction bite he gets around this cover. The design of a square-billed crankbait is self-descriptive — the three edges of the bait are cut perfectly square. However, the coffin or tap bait is less elucidatory. A coffin bait has slanted corners at its bottom edges and is shaped more like a triangle along the sides.

“Both square-lipped and coffin-lipped baits deflect off wood better than round-billed baits,” Gilbert notes. “Typically, your square-lipped baits will have a wide wobble, whereas the coffin-lipped bait will have a tight wiggle. The coffin-lipped bait will be a flat-sided bait, and the square-lipped bait will be rounder and fatter.”

His choice of either style of crankbait depends on the structure he’s fishing. Though it’s all done in the back of coves, water depth is a factor.

“If I’m fishing the edges where the water feels deep, I’ll use the tap bait,” Gilbert explains. “In shallower situations with lots of cover, I’ll work the square bill.”

Rod and line choices follow similar criteria.

“With a tap bait, I like to throw 8- to 12-pound line, depending on how deep I want the bait to run,” he says. “A tap will run anywhere from 7 to 11 feet on a longer cast. If I’m going into a shallower creek and want the bait to run just 4 or 5 feet off the stumps along a creek channel, I’ll use 17- to 20-pound line. In so much cover, you need to horse them in.”

For target-casting with the square bill, Gilbert uses a medium to medium-heavy action 6-foot-6-inch rod to aid in casting accuracy. With the deep-running coffin bait, he uses a medium to medium-light action 7-foot rod for longer throws. Though his actual cranking retrieve is generally quick, he uses a slow-gear ratio reel of 4.3-to-1. He doesn’t advise going above a 5-to-1 ratio because you lose control of the bait with a speedy retrieve.
During fall, Gilbert plays to the bass’s eye by using a bait palette that includes anchovy, a black-and-white pattern with silver fish scales. When there is a bream bite, he uses green, blue or brown-back baits with chartreuse sides.

Buzzbait Reaction
On Kerr Reservoir in Virginia and North Carolina, Charlie Watts is known for his buzzbait battering. Watts, who has a history of winning fall tournaments with the Kerr Lake Bassmasters, is a faithful practitioner of the buzzbait in so-called off times.

“If the water temperature is right, I’ll throw a buzzbait for the reaction strike and I’ll throw it all day long,” Watts says.

As to what constitutes the correct water temperature, Watts looks for the sonar to read 55 degrees to 70 degrees or more — a pretty wide range. In the Kerr longitudes, suitable buzzbait temperatures occur from mid-October through mid-November.

“That’s also when the shad are back in the coves,” Watts says. “The bass are in the cuts and pockets of the coves, and they’re hanging around cover.”

Kerr Reservoir, also called Buggs Island, is etched with clay banks and slathered with small underwater rock. Weeds are at a premium on this 50,000-acre lake with 800 miles of shoreline, but stumps are not. Hard, upright logs and laydowns are profuse.

Watts’ other requirement for a reaction buzzbait strike is the presence of shad.

“The shad will be back in the coves and in the cuts and pockets of the coves,” he says. “Often, they’re relating to the stumps.”

It doesn’t matter if the cover is visible or completely underwater. When you throw a buzzbait, you’ll get most of your bites around stumps.

Watts is a bit old fashioned in some particulars. First, he uses fluorescent line. When a hooked bass is swirling beneath his boat, the colored line allows him to find the fish fast. He also uses heavy 17-pound line for his buzzbait fishing.

Speaking like a true tournament angler, his reason for the heavy line makes perfect sense.

“I like the heavier line because I can swing the fish into the boat if I need to,” Watts says. “I don’t have to worry about it breaking.”

While some anglers espouse the tactic of pumping the rod during the retrieve to give the buzzbait a diving, plopping, rising motion, Watts belongs to the straight-line school of thinking.

“I just reel it steady,” he says. “There is enough action in a buzzbait to make it seem like a wounded baitfish. That’s what works for me.”

During the retrieve, he keeps his rod tip pointed low to the water and raises it high to set the hook.

Watts relies on two color schemes for his fall buzzbaits — a chartreuse-and-
white bait with a silver blade and an all-black buzzbait.

The Virginia angler has such confidence in the reaction buzzbait pattern that last season he wore out the hardware on two buzzbaits.

A trick he has been known to employ is to drive along with his truck window down and his buzzbait hanging out the side to smooth it down. Though the trick is a good one, he admits he has never caught a roadside bass.