Baby Jack™ Powers Justin Kerr to U.S. Open Win
Downsized Z-Man®/Evergreen ChatterBait® JackHammer™ Baby Jack™ Produces the Top Pattern at Lake Mead
LADSON, S.C. (October 22, 2026) – On one of the West’s toughest bass fisheries, with a tropical storm threatening to cut the tournament short, Justin Kerr found his edge in a smaller bladed jig. Fishing a 1/2-ounce Z-Man®/Evergreen ChatterBait® JackHammer™ Baby Jack™ in Morning Dawn, the veteran Western pro claimed his second WON Bass U.S. Open championship at Lake Mead.
Kerr entered the final day in fourth place. As the last angler to weigh in, he needed 13.33 pounds to take the lead. His five-fish limit went 13.41, pushing his two-day total to 26.30 pounds and securing the championship by 0.08 pounds. Six of his ten keepers came on the Baby Jack.
He did it on borrowed equipment. Kerr fished the event out of a borrowed truck and boat and left with $70,000 in cash and a new boat valued at $80,000, eighteen years after taking his first U.S. Open title in 2008.
Subtle Bait, Aggressive Bite
Lake Mead’s bass have seen bladed jigs for years, which is exactly why Kerr downsized.
“I chose the Baby Jack because Mead is obviously a really tough fishery, and the JackHammer and ChatterBait have been around for a while,” Kerr explains. “The Baby Jack doesn’t have as much wobble. It’s kind of similar to the StealthBlade™, but it has flash instead of the clear blade. It was something newer and more subtle.”
Subtle did not mean slow. Kerr paired the 1/2-ounce Baby Jack with an oversized soft-plastic trailer and burned it just under the surface, waking the bait through one to two feet of water.
“I caught them all between probably one and two feet of water,” Kerr recalls. “You would just wind that pink bait and watch it wake. A fish would boil right on your bait and the pink would be gone. It was a cool, fun bite for sure.”
Morning Dawn, All Day
The Morning Dawn pattern was not a guess. Lake Mead runs emerald-tinted and holds a heavy population of tilapia, many of them showing pink in their fins.
“The first day I got to the lake, I looked down by the ramp and there were about 10 tilapia sitting there,” Kerr says. “I already knew what that meant. With the tilapia and the water color, it was perfect conditions for that Morning Dawn color.”
A four-pound bass on his first day confirmed it, and he had a pattern he could commit to. That mattered more than usual once the weather turned. With the third day in jeopardy, competitors fished their best water hard rather than saving fish for later rounds, and when officials canceled the final round for unsafe conditions, the U.S. Open became a two-day sprint.
Small Blade, Big Money
The JackHammer family is a collaboration between Z-Man and renowned Japanese luremaker Evergreen International. Kerr’s victory adds another title to a strong 2026 for ChatterBait bladed jigs, which have accounted for more than $2.2 million in winnings so far this year alone. It also makes the case for the smallest member of that family. Where the full-sized JackHammer and Elite EVO™ deliver a wider, heavier thump, the Baby Jack trades it for a tighter vibration and a flash that pressured fish haven’t learned to ignore.
“With the Open having been around forever, it’s good to get a second win and separate myself,” Kerr says. “I’m just super grateful.”
The ChatterBait JackHammer Baby Jack is available in 1/4-, 3/8-, and 1/2-ounce weights and fifteen color patterns at an MSRP of $19.99.
On a lake where every bite mattered, the smallest JackHammer made the biggest difference.
