Suspending Rogue Jerkbait : Favorite Colors ?

[ChrisD46]

Recently was given a Smithwick Suspending Rogue in Chrome / Blue / Orange by a friend ...Need a few more colors to go with it .

Mostly resevoir fishing for spotted bass and large mouth bass in stained but gradually clearing water color like most resevoirs this time of year in the SE.  ... I thought about adding Clown and either Gold or the new Lemon / Lime Crush  colors - what addtional color Rogues would you recommend or have had good success with in similar conditions  ? Thanks in advance !

[guisingerevan]

Jerkbaits are meant for erratic action so I normally go for the brightest colors possible unless the water is super clear. Normally purple darter or tiger roan for Smithwick's in my opinion. Caught my 2nd best bass on the purple darter. Take a look at the bomber pro long a jerkbait, much better action than the Smithwick's imo. The bomber was what I caught my best bass on. Hope this helps

[bartdude186]

I caught a few today on a foxy shad rogue, water had some stain to it after the rain that we have had and the foxy shad was giving off a nice roll of flash in the stained water.

[Hogsticker]

You are correct. The clown and gold, black, and orange have worked well for me.

[frogflogger]

flash in clear and flat colors in dingy water is how I select my jerks

[Jay Ell Gee]

Gold/black/orange with the blue eyes are a cult favorite down here in the stained waters of Louisiana.

[roadwarrior]

Pick the colors YOU like, they will work just fine.

 

 

 

[MacP]

Ayu, Blue/Orange/Chrome, Blue Chrome, Black Chrome.  I think that's all I use.

[WIGuide]

Pick colors you have confidence in, and some that match the baitfish in that area.

[ChrisD46]

Thanks for all of the replies - research indicates frogflogger has the general idea with respect to what those on the various Tours have to say .

I will add colors suggested here to have jerkbaits on hand for varying conditions ....Went to Dick's today and was curious as to why they had set up security cameras with armed guards in the fishing section  ? ...Oh , that was just the new MegaBass jerkbait display ($24.99 ea.) ... I left with a couple of Rapala Husky Jerks and one Suspending Pro Rogue and still had enough change left from a $20 dollar bill to hit the local burger joint drive thru on the way home ...  I now figure that if I can't get bit on a Husky Jerk , a Suspending Rogue or a Bomber Pro Long A then it ain't the arrow - it's gotta be the Indian !  All kidding aside , I wish I was knowledgeable and experienced enough to appreciate how the subtle nuances of a Lucky Craft or MegaBass jerkbait could significantly increase my catch ratio plus lead to bigger bass ...Perhaps one day .

[Bluebasser86]

Clown and Avacado shad are my 2 favorite Rogue colors. 

[ChrisD46]

Forgot to ask the following : Local store did not carry the standard Smithwick Suspending Rogue - but they did carry the suspending Pro Rogue ...What is the difference ? The main thing to confirm is does the Pro Rogue suspend in that 4' ~ 6' water depth as the standard Suspending Rogue does ?

[Fishes in trees]

The suspension depths listed on the packaging of most jerk baits is wishful thinking at best.  You adjust suspension depth with suspend dots & strips, lead tape, heavier hooks, lighter hooks, stuff like that.

 

For a couple of years, BPS listed the Stacy King Lucky Craft as "suspends at 8 to 10 feet"   No way, it floats.   One time at BPS I asked Stacy King about that and he said "advertising" and shrugged his shoulders.  Then he mentioned that he tuned his with suspend dots & strips.  He wasn't a big fan of the golf style lead tape or wrapping solder or wire around the hooks.  Of course that was several years ago, he might have changed his mine since then.

 

Of course, the Stacy King Lucky Crafts have been discontinued for a few years also.

 

The discontinued Stacy King Lucky craft baits were a plastic version of the BPS Balsa Hi-Back Shiner which was itself a knock off of the old

AC Shiner and boy did I get off track or what?

 

Anyway, back to the subject of Rogue colors.   There are a lot of Rogues out there that were seasonal colors, or made for a certain section of the country.  A one and done kind of deal.

 

I have one that was made for the Ozarks area.  It came out 3 or 4 years before the Table Rock Shad pattern became popular.

 

This Rogue has a white belly (no orange or red throat) blending into silver sides which blend into a purple back.  Right down the center of the back there is a bright chartreuse stripe..   The stripe worked at a strike indicator, as, on Table Rock, you could see it 5 feet down 40 feet away.  You lose sight of the stripe, set the hook, more often than not it was a fish.  Pretty clever idea.

 

Anyway, these were available at Rogers Lures in Liberty MO, for about 3 weeks one spring.  From time to time I ask about that color and it is gone.

 

I haven't had any luck calling Smithwick and finding anyone who could talk to me about that color.

 

I've only got one left and  I don't fish with it anymore, I consider it a collector item.