In May, one thing is for sure in the south, most of the fish are done spawning and they are focused on guarding fry and eating bait to recover from the spawn.
Two baits get a lot of my attention this month — Culprit’s Skinny Jerk and Fast Vibe.
First the Skinny Jerk — As fish are at the tail end of the spawn, they begin to focus less on the bottom where their eggs are and more towards the surface which historically makes May an excellent topwater month. The Skinny Jerk is deadly effective this month as the whole design idea was not something new, but a vast improvement over current soft jerk baits with hooking ability — it simply hooks fish better. With that said, the action is fantastic too. This bait is best fished in a couple of ways. Number one, if blueback herring are in the lake you are fishing — speed is the most important factor — Don’t be scared to simply reel it fast and skip in on the surface. Method number two, “walking the dog” underwater. Fishing the Skinny Jerk in this manner keeps the bait in the strike zone for a long time teasing bass into eating. To get extra casting distance and a little shimmy on the fall similar to soft stick baits use a 1/8 oz., belly weighted hook and it really goes crazy on the fall — try it!
The Fast Vibe is one of the most fun and effective baits Culprit has to fish. In May if you have a shallow weedy lake or if you find fish shallow in the backs of coves or creeks, this bait is extremely effective. Fish it like a mini buzz bait allowing the tail to buzz the surface. Fish often follow it several feet before eat it which makes it very exciting to fish with. Also, not may angler will think to throw this style lure in May outside of Florida, so it could give you an edge on your home lake to a great day. Fish with a 4/0 or 5/0 hook and 1/32 or 1/16 bullet weight and keep in on the surface reeling fast. Deadly in creeks and small rivers as well with clear water where you need them to commit to something without studying it too long.
Both baits work best in clearer water which often comes in May.
So this May, throw the Culprit Skinny Jerk and Fast Vibe and you will have “Confidence with Every Cast”.