By Lonnie Conner
I grew up in the Shenandoah Valley and living in the valley, one of our best secrets is the Shenandoah River. I have fished this beautiful waterway for over 50 years, but I fish many other rivers as well like the Susquehanna and Potomac. I also fish tidal rivers like the Potomac, Chickahominy and the James. So, when W2 Publisher C.C. McCotter asked me what my top river baits were, I was honored to be able to share them with W2 readers.
The Jackhammer
The first lure that I used and is always a main stay in my tackle is the Z Man Jack Hammer bladed jig. This bait really shines especially in the spring when water temperatures hit 50 and above. When spring rains come and bring dirty, stained water and this bait out preforms others on a consistent basis.
I keep my color selections to only three colors. All work in stained or clear water. The first color is Hite’s Hot Craw, which I will have in three sizes: ½ ounce, 3/8 ounce and ¼ ounce. I use the ½ ounce when fishing fast, shallower current and/or deeper water such as 10 to 15 feet. When fishing this bait, I usually fish it with a slow retrieve contacting structure or fishing grass and ripping it out from the grass causing reaction strikes. If the water is dirty and fast, I will speed the retrieve up to keep the bait from dragging and hanging up.
Trailers will vary for me depending on the water clarity. The clearer the water the less thump I need. I like a trailer like a Keitec paddle tail swimbait when I need a little more thump. When I need less, I will use trailers like Yamamoto Zako or Missile baits Spunk Shad. I match trailer colors with the color of my bait with some contrast.
The two other colors are white and green pumpkin. These three colors will catch fish anywhere you fish.
I fish the Jackhammer on 15-to-20-pound fluorocarbon line on a baitcaster.
Swimbait
The next bait that brought me lots of success is a ball head jig with a swimbait. There are many versions out there some with under spin blades and some with different shaped heads. I keep it simple, and all will work in different situations. Again, my sizes are from 1/16 ounce to ½ ounce, which I use the 3/8 and ½ ounce on a baitcaster with 12-to-14-pound fluorocarbon line. The 1/16 ounce to ¼ ounce I fish on a spinning rod with 10-pound braid and 8-to-10-pound fluorocarbon leader. When I am using 1/16 to 1/8 ounce, I downsize my baits to a bait that’s 2.5 inches to 3.5 inches. If I’m using 3/8 to ½ ounce my baits will be 3.5 up to 5 inches all depending on the size of the baitfish in the area that I’m fishing.
The baits I use are ones that will give me either lots of action as in paddle tail swimbaits like Keitec Swing Impact Fat or Strike King Rage Swimmers or very little action like straight tail swimbaits such as Z Man Jerk Shadz or Strike King Baby Z-Too.
Me being an experimentalist, there are several baits I like to use such as the new Rapala Crush City Freeloader, Mooch minnow, Hog Farmer Spunk Shad or Sixth Sense Juggle minnow.
Colors can vary but I stick to colors that match the forage. If I’m fishing fresh clear water the bait forage can be threadfin shad, gizzard shad, blueback herring or panfish like bluegill, pumpkinseed, crappie but some rivers have chub minnows, sculpin minnows, natural minnows, fantail darters, black and longnose dace and stonecats. Make sure to do your research so you can match colors accordingly. The best colors that will imitate several different types of forage are a Tennessee shad, or Ayu, and different variations of shad colors with colors of whites and clears with flakes.
If I know that I’m fishing where smallmouth are, I like colors with some chartreuse or maybe a morning dawn color or even olive shad. When I have clear water, I will use small baits. If it’s lightly stained, I will use larger paddle tail baits. I won’t fish these baits when the water is heavily stained with visibility of one foot or less.
These baits really shine year around and the retrieve can be a slow retrieve crawling on the bottom or a moderate retrieve which can be fished weedless in grass as well as laydowns.
The Jerkbait
Another bait that has its place in your arsenal and one that has been a major success for me is the jerkbait. I know most people use them and they will also work year around. I have several favorites such as Megabass, Berkley and Rapala as well as Luckycraft.
Jerkbaits come in many colors and sizes. In Lucky Craft I will use the Pointer series in the 78 to 100 sizes in colors of chartreuse shad, aurora dace shad or ghost minnow. In Megabass, I like the 110 Jr, 110 and 110 +1 in colors northern secret and French pearl, mat pro blue, or mat shad all work great depending on the conditions. Berkley Stunna has the 112 and 112 plus one. I usually only rely on two colors from Berkely: northern lights and hankie pankie. These two colors have worked well for me no matter where I fish.
Rapala jerkbaits have been around for years. The X- Rap 08 has been one of the best of their line up and anglers have been using them since 2004. They are a smaller profile that will reach depts of 4 to 5 feet. These are an excellent choice if they are feeding on small bait fish. Colors of crystal shad, snowstorm, silver blue or olive-green work best. I use the 10-to-12-pound fluorocarbon line on a bait caster when fishing these jerkbaits.
If they are not getting to the depth that I need then I will add a small piece of lead tape to get the bait deeper.
Fishing jerkbaits can be very rewarding depending on the water temperatures. During the wintertime you fish them using slow-paced, small twitches with long pauses, where in the early summer to fall your jerks become more erratic and less pauses.
Another jerkbait that I will use in the summer and fall if they are pushing baitfish is either a ZOOM Super Fluke in white pearl, glimmer blue, baby bass or Yamamoto D Shad in olive shad. These baits are one of the best when they are pushing bait on the banks or to the surface.
I always fish these baits on a spinning rod with 10-pound braid and 8-to-10-pound fluorocarbon leader. If I’m fishing grass, I will use a 3.0 or 4.0 EWG hook and make it weedless, but if I’m fishing open water then I nose hook the bait with a 2/0 circle hook.
These baits work great with twitches and a pause as they slowly sink to the bottom. Fish can’t resist them especially if they are eating baitfish.
Now when the fishing slowed down for me, I had two baits that I would go to generate bites for me. The first one is a Yamatanuki 2.5-inch made by Yamamoto. This bait works so well I never go without it in my selection especially when the bite slows down. It mimics multiple species, and it’s weighted to sink fast. I have caught many different species on this bait from walleye, bass, carp to catfish.
I rig it on a spinning rod with a 10-pound braid and 6-to-8-pound fluorocarbon leader. I use a size one EWG hook and rig it weedless if I’m fishing faster current or in deeper water, I peg a 1/16-to-1/8-ounce tungsten weight to get it down faster and then crawl or hop it on the bottom.
My last and final top five bait of 2024 is the Ned head fished with several different baits. I use both weedless and regular Ned heads from Z Man. This bait is fished by many anglers and its possibilities are endless as far as baits.
My baits consisted of old wacky rigged stick baits that I would cut down to three or four inches. The Berkely max scent Lil Troopers are great baits as well as the TRD style Z Man or Yamamoto Ned baits that float making it stand up on the bottom. Small craw baits or even baits like hellgrammites, or the new 2.5-inch hula grub by Yamamoto work well on Ned heads and can make a good day out of a slow day when the fish are pressured or not willing to bite.
My color choices are basic green pumpkins with flakes or if the water is gin clear a watermelon red flake works well. Colors I rely on are Bama-bug, green pumpkin blue, watermelon red, and if smallmouth are in the mix, I like to use greens or blues with chartreuse, or morning dawn colors.
I always use a spinning rod with a 10-pound braid and 6-to-8-pound fluorocarbon leader. I normally use weights from 1/16 to 3/16 ounce Ned heads fished with a lift and drop technique.
I hope this helps you on your next adventure. Make sure you try one of these techniques and just maybe you may turn a good day of fishing into a great day. Hope to see you on the water.
Questions? You can reach the author at labhank12@gmail.com.
