Today I went out with nothing but one rod and a bait tied on for about two hours at a local body of water. I tied a jackal gantarel Jr and was using a slow reel method, a slow retrieve with pauses, and a light twitch stop after swimming. I ended up getting one bite and saw the fish flash, but It was a pounder or two and I think he just nipped at it without swallowing it. Because I want to learn more about the jackal Ganterel Jr, How do you guys fish it? I got my bite on a very slow steady retrieve, It doesnt look as good twitching it hard like a S waver does, so I was wondering how to work it more effectively. (Also interesting to note I went yesterday and the day before with normal baits under same cold 60 degree weather conditions and only got 2 or three bites over those last two days, perhaps the fish are just so pressured upsizing is having a similar effect downsizing has???

Hard twitch's with S-Wavers isn’t the best method for me, slower rod sweep and let the lure do it’s thing.

I haven’t had good success with Bluegill imitators outside the spawn cycle, rats worked better for in the fall.

Tom

168 S waver, I work that bait only with my reel, a couple of handle turns to get it to change directions, then a pause, then maybe burn it with 2 turns of the reel. This gets some good action on the bait.

19 minutes ago, WRB said:

Hard twitch's with S-Wavers isn’t the best method for me, slower rod sweep and let the lure do it’s thing.

I haven’t had good success with Bluegill imitators outside the spawn cycle, rats worked better for in the fall.

Tom

Ah yes, I forgot to mention this was a large pond, there are small baitfish like minnows and bass do eat those to, they get 2-3 inches.

11 minutes ago, Hammer 4 said:

168 S waver, I work that bait only with my reel, a couple of handle turns to get it to change directions, then a pause, then maybe burn it with 2 turns of the reel. This gets some good action on the bait.

Interesting, what colors are your favorite, I got a phantom trout and bone

I have baby bass and trout. both seem to work.

2 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

Today I went out with nothing but one rod and a bait tied on for about two hours at a local body of water. I tied a jackal gantarel Jr and was using a slow reel method, a slow retrieve with pauses, and a light twitch stop after swimming. I ended up getting one bite and saw the fish flash, but It was a pounder or two and I think he just nipped at it without swallowing it. Because I want to learn more about the jackal Ganterel Jr, How do you guys fish it? I got my bite on a very slow steady retrieve, It doesnt look as good twitching it hard like a S waver does, so I was wondering how to work it more effectively. (Also interesting to note I went yesterday and the day before with normal baits under same cold 60 degree weather conditions and only got 2 or three bites over those last two days, perhaps the fish are just so pressured upsizing is having a similar effect downsizing has???

 

I've caught bass, even a handful of 18-20", on both the Gantarel and the Gantarel Jr.  I'd say half of those bigger bass were on the splashdown or the very first twitch after a 5-15 sec pause.  The rest were on a very fast retrieve with frequent cadence breaks or pauses.  That said the bait definitely shines in early spring and late fall/early winter for me.  Which leads me to what it's best at doing for me, fooling decent to large northern pike in SW Michigan.  

 

Our lake is clear to crystal clear water with heavy weed growth.  Most of my fish, both bass and pike, are on the last visible edge of the weed line, usually 12-15' deep with the weeds reaching between 5-7' of the surface.  I think that's why splashdown/pause/1st move is so effective when they're positioned in the weeds, and burning/pausing is effective when they're positioned on the deep water side, or at least this is my best guess.

 

scott

There is no magic retrieve for every day. That bait will get bit on any number of retrieves but only the bass can tell you. I fished Fork 3 straight days and caught fish on the Jr with a different retrieve each day. That being said, a retrieve of 4 med speed cranks followed by 2 twitches and then a 3 - 4 count pause generated the most followers/lookers and the biggest bass over those 3 days.

The Gantarel Jr was one of the more disappointing swimbaits I've owned. Wasn't overly impressed with the action and it wasn't a producer for me. I've had more luck with soft gills or waking gill baits that swimmers and gliding gills though. 

I had one magical day during the spawn with a Jr, 4 fish in 6 casts each fish was between 4 and 6 lbs. (This a large pond/small lake with no shad). I've not caught anything on it since, but that's not fair as I don't throw it much outside of the spawn window. I was doing a half turn of the handle at a time, with a pause, twitch. Since it hovers with a slow rise, I think I might have been sticking it right where they were nesting, and obviously the big girls did not like that. 

19 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

Interesting, what colors are your favorite, I got a phantom trout and bone

Lite Trout is far and away the best S-Waver color. Don't know what it is about that color but for some reason the bass hammer it!

15 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

The Gantarel Jr was one of the more disappointing swimbaits I've owned. Wasn't overly impressed with the action and it wasn't a producer for me. I've had more luck with soft gills or waking gill baits that swimmers and gliding gills though. 

Ah interesting, Yeah I was a little dissapointed with the action as well, I guess I really like it because its in that 3-4 foot zone so its really good in ponds compared to others on the market like soft plastic bluegills, Not to say they dont work, but the bass are suspending below the surface for me at the moment and the bottom has a ton of aquatic snails and algae. speaking of aquatic snails, are these good or bad for a pond??? every cast I get a few on my hooks if they reach bottom, wasnt sure if they where good or bad. They look like this and only get as big as a dime, even sometimes a little smaller. Not sure if they will hurt the pond, never seem them before in all the years of fishing this body of water.