Jerkbaits in toothy critter water

[Cgolf]

On a recent thread I commented about losing 2 shadow raps in short order to big musky, and have seen them take other jerkbaits in the past. Because of the toothy critters, shadow raps are at the high end of my budget for jerkbaits.

 

How much will using even a short steel leader screw with the action of any jerkbait including the Megabass baits. Most cranks I can get away without a steel leader, but with jerkbaits and the bait often being on slack line I am defenseless against a toothy critter mouthing the whole bait and biting it off. What options are there other than the steel leader?

[Siebert Outdoors]

In my experience its going to mess up the action and reduce your catch rate.  I fish Lake St Clair and its the same exact way.  I will lose a couple jerkbaits per week but I see it as worth it due to the increased catch.  I have also caught a few nice musky off no leader jerbaits.  One of the biggest musky's I've ever caught was this way.

[WIGuide]

Personally i don't use leaders with a jerkbait, I just take my chances and for whatever reason, I actually have pretty good luck not losing them. 

[A-Jay]

39 minutes ago, WIGuide said:

Personally i don't use leaders with a jerkbait, I just take my chances and for whatever reason, I actually have pretty good luck not losing them. 

 

~x2~ Never go leader either on the jerkbaits. 

 

Which is really rolling the dice in my own waters as there is a Very Healthy population of toothy face Mutants free roaming around.  But despite that - I don't get many in the fall.  A few in the spring, but less in the late fall, which is when the majority of my own Jerkbaiting (is that a term?) takes place.

 

However, Spinnerbaits, Lippless Baits, Chatterbaits & even some jigs get a wire trace, especially if & when presented on the deep weed edge.

A-Jay

 

[Dogmatic]

I personally don't use a leader, mainly because I'm  lazy, just accept the occasional loss, but this might be an option if it's a big problem for you. 

 

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

 

~x2~ Never go leader either on the jerkbaits. 

 

Which is really rolling the dice in my own waters as there is a Very Healthy population of toothy face Mutants free roaming around.  But despite that - I don't get many in the fall.  A few in the spring, but less in the late fall, which is when the majority of my own Jerkbaiting (is that a term?) takes place.

 

However, Spinnerbaits, Lippless Baits, Chatterbaits & even some jigs get a wire trace, especially if & when presented on the deep weed edge.

A-Jay

 

If you ever fish shallow sand flats definately go with a leader, I have seen multiple 50s up on these shallow flats in clear water even during mid summer. Guessing plentiful panfish pull them up there to feed. Last summer they were so aggressive I had a pike and a musky pop their heads out of the water to swipe at my leaderless lipless bait as I lifted it in the boat, wish I had the GoPro on for those.

 

The times I lost mine were the May opener and later August. Jerk baiting is something I am trying to learn, but if losing baits becomes a big thing I may fall back on other less expensive techniques. That said I must be doing something right to get the big girls to bite. I just want to add another option to catch fish for me when the bite gets tough. 

[A-Jay]

22 minutes ago, cgolf said:

If you ever fish shallow sand flats definately go with a leader, I have seen multiple 50s up on these shallow flats in clear water even during mid summer. Guessing plentiful panfish pull them up there to feed. Last summer they were so aggressive I had a pike and a musky pop their heads out of the water to swipe at my leaderless lipless bait as I lifted it in the boat, wish I had the GoPro on for those.

 

The times I lost mine were the May opener and later August. Jerk baiting is something I am trying to learn, but if losing baits becomes a big thing I may fall back on other less expensive techniques. That said I must be doing something right to get the big girls to bite. I just want to add another option to catch fish for me when the bite gets tough. 

I've have had my fair share of run ins with the teeth patrol ~ here's a couple of examples from this past fall. I did manage to get some video footage of these as well.  

 Like I said I use a trace of wire when needed.  It is my experience that although a heavy Mono or Flouro leader may delay or even prevent some bites offs,  a thin knottable wire works better for me.

A-Jay 

 

[TnRiver46]

Does anyone ever eat pike? Maybe that would make them think twice about biting off all your lures. 

[A-Jay]

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Does anyone ever eat pike? Maybe that would make them think twice about biting off all your lures. 

 

I do not but many a human do consider them very favorable table fare.

btw - if you get a pike that does strike after you eat it -  be worried.

A-Jay

[Cgolf]

46 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Does anyone ever eat pike? Maybe that would make them think twice about biting off all your lures. 

 

I have never tried it, but I have heard pickled pike is incredible. The only issue with them is they have a Y bone is more difficult to filet out. 

4 hours ago, WIGuide said:

Personally i don't use leaders with a jerkbait, I just take my chances and for whatever reason, I actually have pretty good luck not losing them. 

 

How do you manage, I lost 2 shadow raps in 40 casts, one was on the 4th cast, granted the lake is pretty thick with muskys, but that is crazy. 

 

It might be a case I need to move them more or go with less slack in the line, because I was missing some bass that were there and then gone when I gave a jerk after a pause 

[Dogmatic]

1 hour ago, cgolf said:

 

 

How do you manage, I lost 2 shadow raps in 40 casts, one was on the 4th cast, granted the lake is pretty thick with muskys, but that is crazy. 

 

Sheesh!...so much for being "the fish of a 1000 casts"! ?

 

[Hurricane]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I've have had my fair share of run ins with the teeth patrol ~ here's a couple of examples from this past fall. I did manage to get some video footage of these as well.  

 Like I said I use a trace of wire when needed.  It is my experience that although a heavy Mono or Flouro leader may delay or even prevent some bites offs,  a thin knottable wire works better for me.

A-Jay 

 

 

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I've have had my fair share of run ins with the teeth patrol ~ here's a couple of examples from this past fall. I did manage to get some video footage of these as well.  

 Like I said I use a trace of wire when needed.  It is my experience that although a heavy Mono or Flouro leader may delay or even prevent some bites offs,  a thin knottable wire works better for me.

A-Jay 

 

Awesome fish Ajay

[smalljaw67]

I have lost numerous Pointer 100s, and a single Megabass Vision 110 to the toothy ones and I found a solution. The Storm Twitch Stick, it has a similar profile and action as a Pointer 100, it has good finishes but nothing close to LC but the bait does have great triggering properties. The bait is $5 and it is that good I'd even pay $10 for a few of the colors but the best thing is the price, if a toothy fish grabs it and you lose it, the hurt isn't too bad.

[Megastink]

I fish lakes with a lot of chain Pickerel in them. Losing baits is part of the game. I lost a 110 two winters ago and haven't thrown them in those waters since. I save my high dollar baits for tournaments. If I'm fun fishing, I'll choose a Strike King KVD J300. They work very in my waters. We've got some whopper Pickerel up here in PA too, so no matter what I'm throwing, I'm always a little nervous.  

[fishwizzard]

Man, if I could consistently catch huge pikes like in these pictures, I wouldn't bother with bass.  

 

We only really have pickerel around here and I loose the occasional perch spinner to them, but have never had them bite off a larger bass lure.  I did a little test trying to use like a 20lb  leader to my 6lb braid mainline but I could never get the knots to hold.   

[Scarborough817]

i've had my fair share of teeth try to take jerlkbaits but they have never succeeded in breaking my line, now it may just be that i'm lucky.

 

1 minute ago, Bunnielab said:

Man, if I could consistently catch huge pikes like in these pictures, I wouldn't bother with bass.  

 

We only really have pickerel around here and I loose the occasional perch spinner to them, but have never had them bite off a larger bass lure.  I did a little test trying to use like a 20lb  leader to my 6lb braid mainline but I could never get the knots to hold.   

 what knot were you using to tie the leader? also what kind of braid was it?

[fishwizzard]

The braid was Suffix 832 and I was using an Alberto.  The issue seemed to be that the mono was so stiff that it would let the braid loosen over a few casts.  I don't know what the brand of line was, it was given to me off of a large spool when I needed some some leader for surf fishing.  The 12lb that I got to work was YZH, so maybe I just need to try a more supple heavy line.  I am throwing like 1/16-1/8oz spinners so more then a foot or three of leader kills my casting but I am finding that a the heavier leader helps keep the lure down during the retrieve, so it's something I want to keep playing with.  I am going to buy some of that tie-able wire soon to see how it works.  

[A-Jay]

 

23 minutes ago, Scarborough817 said:

i've had my fair share of teeth try to take jerlkbaits but they have never succeeded in breaking my line, now it may just be that i'm lucky.

 

 what knot were you using to tie the leader? also what kind of braid was it?

 

I been using a uni to uni-knot to connect braid to a mono leader for several years and when tied correctly and re-tied when needed, it's NEVER let me down.   I've attached a thread (and video) of a 25 lb plus pike that I fought & landed with spinning gear while smallie fishing.  This battle lasted over 15 minutes.  The 10 lb Sufix 832 braid and 10lb Berkley Big Game (green) mono leader that included a uni to uni knot was certainly tested but did it's job. There are certainly any number of connection knots that when tied correctly would have worked here - the uni is the one I choose & have confidence in; especially after this event.    I'll admit and you'll hear in the video - I was intially a little concerned.  

A-Jay

 

[Fishes in trees]

There aren't any toothy fish where I fish.   However, if there were and I didn't want to use wire, I think I could make a leader out of 60 or 100 lb fluorocarbon leader material that would work great.

[Attila]

Tonnes of toothy critters up here where I live.  I use a very light leader if I'm targeting pike (spring of the year) but remove it once bass season opens up.  I've caught a lot of musky on jerkbaits up to around 40" with no leader as due to its erratic action I find they're normally hooked on the outside of the mouth, in the summer at least.

 

I forget the name of the leader, will post it when I get home.

[Bradfords Gone!]

I use a small barrel swivel on the end of my braid and tie 1 foot of 30 lb mono. I guess i'm lazy but it works for me. I only have to deal with pickerel.

[papajoe222]

On 12/20/2016 at 6:52 PM, cgolf said:

 

the lake is pretty thick with muskys, but that is crazy. 

 

It might be a case I need to move them more or go with less slack in the line, because I was missing some bass that were there and then gone when I gave a jerk after a pause 

Two things I'll add; First, WHERE IS THIS LAKE that's thick with muskies?????

Second is you need to remember that in muskie and pike waters, bass are not at the top of the food chain and you will do better fishing for them in non-prime habitat.  Stay away from flats with cabbage or pond weed. Coontail and hydrilla offer better cover for them and make it difficult for the longer fish to move around in.  Small, isolated pieces of cover are another great target and mid-day dock fishing can be very productive, but avoid flats and docks early and late in the day.

Now back to that first thing I mentioned...................

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, papajoe222 said:

Two things I'll add; First, WHERE IS THIS LAKE that's thick with muskies?????

Second is you need to remember that in muskie and pike waters, bass are not at the top of the food chain and you will do better fishing for them in non-prime habitat.  Stay away from flats with cabbage or pond weed. Coontail and hydrilla offer better cover for them and make it difficult for the longer fish to move around in.  Small, isolated pieces of cover are another great target and mid-day dock fishing can be very productive, but avoid flats and docks early and late in the day.

Now back to that first thing I mentioned...................

My guess is you have fished the area;) pm me if truly interested. 

 

And Delavan over Geneva? I grew up down there and remember when they completely drained Delavan. Just wish I had fished more when I was a kid with Geneva 3 minutes from my house.

[Attila]

Follow up; here's the leader.

 

["hamma"]

  We have alot of pickerel laden waters over here, and I've found that if your getting more hits from them, move out just a bit deeper, and the bass will outnumber pickerel.,..Only exception being frog fishing lillies in the summer.