Suspending jerkbaits

[Justin62882]

Of this has been asked and answered sorry for a repost but 

How do you guys make em suspend? I put mine In water and they float up. Just wondering different ideas. Also how do you guys test em. And let's say you test them how do you know what water temp to set them for to suspend. Do you set different ones for different temps? When you got one that will suspend in 38 degree water without making adjustments will same bait suspend in 45 degree water? And do you test the bait with Line attached? Thanks I need some help with this

 

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[drscholl14]

You can try heavier trebles, heavier split rings, just don't go too big or it will affect the action of the bait.  I throw the KVD jerks from Strike King and have never had one float on me.  What jerks are you using?

[Justin62882]

Rapala husky jerk and a lucky craft pointer 95. What temps does your bait suspend at? Let's say I add weight do I try to test line in water at lets say 40 degrees and I get it to suspend if i get to the lake and water temp is 45 degrees will it still suspend

[Bluebasser86]

 

[Justin62882]

Unless I missed a post in that thread I didn't see anything on if a suspending jerkbait that will suspend in 40 degree water if it will at 45. What water temperature did this guy test his suspension at? I'm mainly wondering if it'll stay suspending at different depths or if you got to set different jerkbaits for certain temperatures. surely water temp has an impact every few degrees

[Bluebasser86]

It's going to vary bait by bait, even baits that are "the same" are going to be different. Get some suspend dots and/or strips, some different size hooks and split rings, maybe some thin wire for wrapping around hook shanks if you want to go old school, and you can make adjustments on the water. IMO, a perfectly suspending bait is really only important in really cold water, and I actually prefer a bait that sinks very slowly in really cold water so when a fish pulls up behind it and stares at it, suddenly it's on their nose and they react. A bait that sits perfectly still allows them to analyze it too much for me. 

[Justin62882]

Thanks

[JustJames]

This^^^^^, but I use thin wire wrap around front hook if slow rise or add a clip/snap. The slow rise is good when you fish shallow, you can pause a while and don't worry about snagging. Husky Jerk 08 trends to slow rise.

to test it you have to know what temp of water you are going to fish your jerkbait most of the time. The changing in either slow rise/sink won't suddenly change in 5-10 degree different.

[Comfortably Numb]

I do major tuning with hook size/type or split ring size. Sometimes I will add an extra split ring. Suspend dots/strips are great for fine tuning

[deep]

On 2/8/2018 at 2:18 AM, Justin62882 said:

Unless I missed a post in that thread I didn't see anything on if a suspending jerkbait that will suspend in 40 degree water if it will at 45. What water temperature did this guy test his suspension at? I'm mainly wondering if it'll stay suspending at different depths or if you got to set different jerkbaits for certain temperatures. surely water temp has an impact every few degrees

 

Not sure if "this guy" refers to yours truly; but if it does, the short answer is room temperature. Figure 70 F. The long answer involves the line I'm fishing the bait on, usually fluoro. 45 degree water is less dense than 40 degree water IIRC. So a bait that suspends perfectly in 40 degree water should sink slowly in 45 degree water; but honestly I doubt I let the bait sit long enough (while fishing) to allow the density change (from 40 to 45 degrees) to affect my catch rate. Also, when the water is warmer, I tend to fish baits faster. So there's that.

 

*However*, some baits seem to be more susceptible to temperature changes. I do have two sets of certain baits; one set tuned for water above ~60F (give or take), and the other for under that temperature.

 

If and when I find a bait that catches a bunch of fish, I don't mess with it's buoyancy and use it as a reference to tune other baits. A jeweler's scale is a great tool to have btw.

 

In general, I hate to add weight. I feel it lowers the center of gravity and kills some of the action. (I don't have enough first hand data on whether or not that affects the catch rate). I've even messed around with putting bits of suspenstrips on the top/ sides too!