Britt had invited me down to experience the pre-spawn smallmouth bite on the New River near his New River Outdoor Company headquarters at Pembroke, Virginia.  I could feel his anxiety build when what he expected would be a reliable bite was not materializing as hoped.

“I’ve got a new Lucky Craft model you might want to try.  It’s the Pointer 95 Silent – no rattles, no weight transfer.  It’s a completely silent suspending jerkbait for those finicky bass that may be turned off by sound.  I’ve already caught ice-out largemouth with it.  Let’s see what it does on river smallmouth,” I explained.

Within the next half-dozen casts, Britt had the first New River smallie of the trip hooked on the Pointer Silent.  The brown bass performed an aerial somersault before coming to the net.

As the morning continued, the Pointer Silent was the only suspending jerkbait that enticed smallies into attacking.  Unfortunately, I had only one of the new baits with me, so we took turns catching fish with it.

Britt noted: “This new bait casts well, achieving almost the same distance as a Pointer 100…except distance is reduced when casting into the wind – as would be expected without the weight transfer system.”

We assumed the slight pressure slowed the jerkbait bite, and the bass that were still feeding became more selected in what they were willing to strike.