The soft-plastic jerkbait has had proven staying power as it’s been fooling bass for decades and catches them just as well in current times. They are a staple for bass anglers everywhere and one of Anthony Gagliardi’s top weapons well into the fall.
It was his primary weapon when he won the 2014 Forrest Wood Cup; three years later, he finished fifth in that same event on his home lake of Lake Murray, South Carolina, and he’s still throwing the soft-plastic jerkbait, both solo and on a double rig.
A Versatile Weapon
Gagliardi loves soft-plastic jerkbaits like the Berkley PowerBait Jerk Shad because of the diversity of places he can fish them, adjusting the action and rigging based on the season and circumstances.
“They are excellent this time of year around where I live and the fish are feeding on herring,” he said. “But, whether it’s herring or shad, they mimic baitfish very well. I like them because I can fish them fast or slow and high or low in the water column.”
While much of how he rigs and fishes them fits the bass chasing nomadic herring, he’s had success with soft-plastic jerkbaits for clear water largemouth, spotted bass, and during the inaugural Bass Pro Tour event on Lake Toho in 2019.
“In that very first BPT event, I caught them in open water with a double rig,” he said of the event where he won his round and eventually finished fourth. “I would never have thought that would be the way to do well in Florida in January, but it shows how versatile a soft plastic jerkbait can be.”
Since he often fishes them quickly, Gagliardi prefers weighted hooks with a screw lock keeper and pays close attention to the placement of the molded weight on the extra-wide gap style hooks.
“I use them that are 4/0 and 5/0 hooks and weighted versions around 3/32 to 1/8 ounce,” he said. “The weighted hook aids with casting distance to reach schoolers and lets me fish it faster and keep it right under the surface. I like the weighted hooks with the weight closer to the belly of the hook for cooler water for a more horizontal fall and when it’s warmer, I like the weight closer to the eye of the hook because it keeps the bait nose down when fishing it faster.”
Single Soft-Plastic Jerkbaits
Most of the time, Gagliardi is fishing a single bait during the fall, when he’s primarily looking for schooling bass. He fishes fast with a unique retrieve and to generate bites and simulate schooling activity.
“I sweep my rod quickly and then reel up the slack; that’s how I always start fishing it because it’s a good way to call up fish that are not schooling,” he said. “It’s just as effective as twitching it near the surface, and it’s not as hard on you. Most of the time, when you catch one, you’ll sweep, reel, and then he’ll be on there when you go to sweep again.”
Gagliardi will employ his sweeping technique when calling suspended fish from the depths, but if he can visibly see busting bait, he changes his tune.
“The schooling bite is a different deal, and I want to work my rod tip and let the jerkbait come across the fish,” he said. “I want to see my bait when they are busting on the surface and work it as fast as I can to keep it on top. The faster you can move something, the more it gets their attention.”
To be most effective, he prefers a high-speed Abu Garcia Revo reel spooled with 12-pound fluorocarbon and matched with a 7-2 medium heavy Level rod.
“The faster reel takes up a lot of line quickly and that’s important if you are out of position and need to get a good hook in them,” Gagliardi said. “It’s also what you need if you see fish schooling and need to get your bait back in to make a cast somewhere else.”
Doubling Down
Mixing in his single Berkley Powerbait Jerk Shad, Gagliardi will also rig two at a time with what is sometimes called the “Donkey Rig” with two baits on different hooks.
First, he’ll place his line through the eye of a swivel and tie a second swivel. Then he’ll connect a leader line of approximately 18 to 20 inches the swivel in line with his mainline. The second, free-swinging swivel, is where he will tie on another leader that’s half the length of the longer leader before connecting weighted hooks to each leader.
“Casting a double rig is hard because one bait goes one way and the other goes the other way, so I use a bobber stop in front of the top swivel to keep it in place,” Gagliardi said. “That makes it easier to cast and will still let it separate and slide up if you hook two at a time, which happens often.”
He fishes the double rig on a longer 7-10 medium heavy Level rod, fast reel and beefs up his line.
“You’d be surprised how far you can cast it with that longer rod,” Gagliardi advised. “Plus, you have that much more power with a bigger rod. I go up to 14-pound line because you run the risk of breaking your line if you catch two at once.”
For deciding between one or two jerkbaits, Gagliardi looks for clues around him.
“The single is the best option when fish are schooling because it’s easier to cast farther and more accurately,” he said. “It’s also more versatile, but if you start seeing fish follow fish you have hooked, it’s time to throw the double rig. Usually, the one following is going to be the bigger one.”
Photo by Jody White - A former FLW Tour Angler of the Year, Anthony Gagliardi is no stranger to the top of the standings. Back in five-bass competition on a consistent basis, the South Carolina pro is thriving, with a 10th-place showing to start the season at Okeechobee, a 29th at Smith and a runner-up finish on the home pond at Murray.
Gagliardi has finished in the top five in the FLW Tour standings three times before, and he nearly always qualified for the FLW Cup, so the idea that he’d win another AOY isn’t wild, especially given a little home cooking.
Obviously a great bet in the Carolinas and on clear, southern fisheries, Gagliardi has had a long enough career that you can find a bad event or a good event for about any situation you want. Of course, that’s not a knock – even Bryan Thrift doesn’t catch them literally every time. If forced to pick a stumbling block going forward, it might be the St. Lawrence. Though you’d think he’d be great when it comes to smallies, Gagliardi didn’t make the Knockout Round in the Bass Pro Tour event on Sturgeon Bay in 2020 and he’s got a bit of a checkered past up north. Still, he’s wildly good and likely won’t be the only pro slightly on their heels when smallmouth season fully engages.
Photo Jody White - Back in 2014, a lost 5-pounder late on the final day by Scott Canterbury opened the door for Anthony Gagliardi to overtake him by an ounce and win the FLW Cup on Lake Murray. Gagliardi now knows what it feels like to be on the other end.
Already with the biggest bag of the tournament sitting in his livewell the final day, the local favorite had one 3-pound, 9-ounce bass he wanted to cull out. He hooked the fish to do it, a 5-pounder that would’ve made weigh-in razor close. Unfortunately for him, he accidently left his Power-Poles down, the fish wrapped around one and it broke off.
Then again, if not for a “shank” on Day 1, Gagliardi might not have needed that fish at all to win.
Despite having a home on the lake, Gagliardi admits he doesn’t fish Murray all that often during this time of the year. So any advantage he had was definitely muted.
“I practiced herring-spawn stuff, and I didn’t find them,” says Gagliardi. “I had a handful of spots I’d caught them before, but they weren’t there in practice. I found some bedders. So that’s what I did the first day.”
Yet, he also caught a lone fish Day 1 on a herring-spawn pattern. So he decided to “keep them honest” and start on it Day 2.
“I caught a limit quick, and then I went to another spot and culled a couple times,” says Gagliardi. “I went sight fishing for a few hours and didn’t do any good. Then I went back to the herring and caught my two biggest. That just pointed me in the right direction. So that’s all I did from then on.”
Cycling through main-lake points, Gagliardi says he threw a lot of different things, but a Berkley PowerBait Power Swimmer on a 1/16-ounce head was his biggest player, with a Sebile Magic Swimmer and a double soft-jerkbait rig with Berkley PowerBait Jerk Shads also getting the call often. He threw the swimbait on a 7-foot Level medium-action spinning rod and Abu Garcia Revo MGX reel rigged with straight braid to short Gamma fluorocarbon leader.
While the switch allowed him to increase his weights every day, it ultimately couldn’t help him overcome that start.
“My Day 1 was a flop,” says Gagliardi. “It was teed up for me, and I just shanked it into the water.”
4. Anthony Gagliardi – Prosperity, S.C. – 51-4 (15)
Photo - Charles Waldorf If there is anyone Becker may be worried about most, it’s Anthony Gagliardi. After all, he was the obvious pre-tournament favorite thanks to being a local who has won more than once at the top level on Murray.
Then again, Gagliardi admits he’s surprised he’s done as well as he has this week.
“I keep telling people, I don’t fish here much during this time of the year,” says the 2014 FLW Cup champion. “I have a handful of spots I’ve caught them before, but they weren’t there in practice. So, I just went practicing like everyone else.”
Hence why he started Day 1 sight fishing. But eventually, he made the switch to the herring spawn, and his weights have kept going up, with today being his best day all week.
“I had a good day today,” says Gagliardi. “I caught more than 20 some fish, and I lost a legit 6 just as the rain started. But as soon as the rain quit I caught fish on my last five casts of the day. They just didn’t like that rain.”
Photo Kyle Wood - In a normal five-fish-limit tournament, five fish for 21-1 would be nothing to shake your head at, especially when your kicker is a 7-15, and the biggest bass caught in your group. Still, Anthony Gagliardi finds himself sitting in 15th place and 9-12 below the Toro Cut Line.
“If I didn’t catch that 7-15, I could be in a whole lot of trouble,” Gagliardi admitted. “Flipping these laydowns, I’m not going to catch a ton of fish to be able to keep pace with these guys. But I knew I was bound to catch a big one doing this, and I was right.”
While his focus is advancing to the Knockout Round, it’s easy for Gagliardi to find a silver lining in his performance thanks to his Berkley Big Bass of the Day. The South Carolina pro was fishing laydowns in Period 2 when he set the hook on the 7-15 lunker.
“I came up to a laydown I had marked during practice that had some depth to it,” Gagliardi recapped. “I knew when I pulled up it was going to be good. I made a pretty long cast beside the laydown and the fish got it on the fall.”
Gagliardi was using a Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Creature Hawg with a 5/16 tungsten weight to go along with a Level 7-foot-6 Heavy Flippin’ Stick and 50-pound Gamma Torque braid to catch the near-8-pounder. He knows he has work to do if he wants to advance to the Knockout Round, but if his 7-15 holds on for the big bass in his group, Gagliardi admits he wouldn’t be too upset heading home early if it meant he had $25,000.
“Most of the time, that ride home after you get knocked out isn’t a fun one,” Gagliardi said. “But if I’m going home with $25,000 in my pocket, I’m going to be just fine. Don’t get me wrong, I want to win, but it’s nice to have a backup plan.”