Soft Plastic Jerk Baits In The Winter ?

[ChrisD46]

You hear a lot about fishing hard bodied jerk baits in the winter (or cold water conditions ) - but what about a soft plastic jerk bait such as a Zoom Super Fluke (or similar) ? The disadvantage of the soft plastic jerk bait is it won't suspend like a hard bodied jerk bait and it contains no rattles for attracting bass . However , you can kill a soft plastic jerk bait and let it spiral down through the water column like a dying shad which a hard bodied jerk bait can't duplicate ... So , for you soft plastic jerk bait lovers - do you put your super flukes , etc. away for the winter or continue fishing them (perhaps just more slowly) ?

[flatcreek]

I like to throw a super fluke in the winter.Like to kill it as you describe with a 4/0 ewg, 12inch leader with a barrel swivel.Also like to throw it on a ball head jig with the hook exposed through the back,1/8 or 1/4 oz let it fall and pop it.Throw em on a Carolina rig too.Super fluke and Super fluke jr just depends on the feed,they'll slam em

[flatcreek]

And don't forget to rig one on a fish head spin

[RB 77]

A go-to winter plastic for sure.

[bueshy]

Hard. Soft. Jerk away

[smalljaw67]

It depends on what your version of cold water is. Where I fish we are talking 35 to 4o degree water before we get ice, a hard body jerkbait sitting in a spot for 10 seconds and then barely moved will get a lot more bites than a fluke, we have tried it. There are applications with a fluke that work in cold water though, when the water temp falls below 50 degrees I will switch from a swim bait trailer to a fluke jr.  on my under spins. For smallmouth I fluke jr.  slowly dragged on a small football jig works well too, but if you fish it like a jerkbait, at least in my waters, you won't fair so well, and it is because of how it moves. When the minnow forage begins to die here, the bass don't eat them in the upper part of the water column, they will take them off the bottom, but if they are slowly rising or sitting still (suspending), then they will take them high in the water, I don't know why but that is how it seems to be. A popular thing to do now is fish small 3" to 4" swim baits on a jig head like a tube jig, basically dead sticking them on the bottom and only moving them a like bit. If you are further south and your water temps are in the upper 40s to low to mid 50s then a fluke should still be effective but most of us above the Mason-Dixion line know that they don't work the same as a hard jerkbait.

[bueshy]

8 hours ago, smalljaw67 said:

When the minnow forage begins to die here, the bass don't eat them in the upper part of the water column, they will take them off the bottom

Then why not let a soft jerkbait fall and sit on the bottom?

[fishballer06]

Both hard and soft body jerkbaits can produce in cold water. Both have their advantages though. Hard bodies can suspend/sink/float depending on model/hooks/line/etc, they also have multiple treble hooks to help with short strikes. Soft bodies are nice because they will sink, and they have action even whenever you're not doing anything. The soft body also feels more realistic in a fishes mouth whenever they grab it, so the fish should hold onto it longer, however the downside is you only have a single hook.

 

My advice is try both and see which produces better on that particular day, but certainly don't ever leave you flukes at home, regardless of the time of year.

[Montanaro]

Caught a couple last week on soft jerkbaits in a grass filled pond.  Water temps in low 40s.  Worked in aggressively but gave 5 second pause from time to time to keep it down and give followers a chance to swim up and grab it as it fluttered down.

[ChrisD46]

On ‎12‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 9:24 AM, flatcreek said:

And don't forget to rig one on a fish head spin

Good suggestions Flatcreek ! ... A ball head jig , under spin and probably even a scrounger near the bottom could prove deadly !

[ChrisD46]

I should have refined my post to say water above 50° degrees is Winter here in Georgia , certainly above the Mason Dixon line  is another story as smalljaw67 was nice enough to point out .

[flatcreek]

43 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

Good suggestions Flatcreek ! ... A ball head jig , under spin and probably even a scrounger near the bottom could prove deadly !

Casey Ashley proved it at the Hartwell Classic a couple years ago on his daddy's homemade spin just bumps it off the bottom

[smalljaw67]

47 minutes ago, flatcreek said:

Casey Ashley proved it at the Hartwell Classic a couple years ago on his daddy's homemade spin just bumps it off the bottom

That event changed my perspective on fishing under spins. I was using them in summer mostly trying to get suspended fish and I did catch some like that but seeing it in cold water made me try it. I found that water temps from around 60 to about 48 or so are prime for that fish head spin. I use a swim bait trailer until the water temps fall to 50 and below, then the soft jerkbait, for me a fluke jr, and then I reel slowly just enough to keep the blade spinning while it ticks the bottom, that has been so good that it is now a staple in my fall, winter, and spring fishing.

[Raul]

On 12/12/2017 at 4:43 AM, smalljaw67 said:

It depends on what your version of cold water is. Where I fish we are talking 35 to 4o degree water before we get ice, a hard body jerkbait sitting in a spot for 10 seconds and then barely moved will get a lot more bites than a fluke, we have tried it. There are applications with a fluke that work in cold water though, when the water temp falls below 50 degrees I will switch from a swim bait trailer to a fluke jr.  on my under spins. For smallmouth I fluke jr.  slowly dragged on a small football jig works well too, but if you fish it like a jerkbait, at least in my waters, you won't fair so well, and it is because of how it moves. When the minnow forage begins to die here, the bass don't eat them in the upper part of the water column, they will take them off the bottom, but if they are slowly rising or sitting still (suspending), then they will take them high in the water, I don't know why but that is how it seems to be. A popular thing to do now is fish small 3" to 4" swim baits on a jig head like a tube jig, basically dead sticking them on the bottom and only moving them a like bit. If you are further south and your water temps are in the upper 40s to low to mid 50s then a fluke should still be effective but most of us above the Mason-Dixion line know that they don't work the same as a hard jerkbait.

My man YOUR VERSION of cold water is :........reeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyy purty darn cold, I think it’s called ICE, isn’t it ?