Jerk bait techniques

[InFishingWeTrust]

I see people fishing jerk baits different ways. See some people do more of a pulling action, some jerking it, even some just casting and retrieving it. I personally always have fished them by jerking it on slack line. How do you guys fish your jerk baits? What are some techniques you use? Do you see a difference in production one way you fish them from another? Maybe a technique works better for different jerk baits? Like to hear how every one does their thing with jerkbaits. Maybe enlighten some of us on new techniques. 

[A-Jay]

This thread is LOADED with a Ton of Solid information on fishing a jerkbait.

A-Jay

[InFishingWeTrust]

Thank @A-Jay read half way through it. Had a lot of info but Im more wanting to see what retrieves work for people. At work right now so dont know if at the end speaks of it more. Saw alot about brands, tuning, suspending, floating, sinking, etc. Retrieval methods was my main focus. Seeing if some one can enlighten me on something new. 

[roadwarrior]

Videos from our library:

https://www.bassresource.com/content/search?SearchText=jerkbait&BrowsePageLimit=30

[WRB]

Watch MLF series, KVD is an artist using jerk baits, none better.

I thought my jerk bait retreive was too fast and now after watching the MLF pro's work a jerk bait my retreive was suttle by comparison.

Tom

[38 Super Fan]

An aggressive 3-1 retrieve is day in and day out what works best for me. The 2-2 is probably my next best. But you should always mix it up and let the fish tell you.

[InFishingWeTrust]

39 minutes ago, WRB said:

Watch MLF series, KVD is an artist using jerk baits, none better.

I thought my jerk bait retreive was too fast and now after watching the MLF pro's work a jerk bait my retreive was suttle by comparison.

Tom

Yeah I generally work them slow. I dont watch to many bass tournaments though. Will have to check it out. I generally watch YouTube videos but only the ones I feel like are informative.

1 hour ago, roadwarrior said:

Videos from our library:

https://www.bassresource.com/content/search?SearchText=jerkbait&BrowsePageLimit=30

Thanks

41 minutes ago, 38 Super Fan said:

An aggressive 3-1 retrieve is day in and day out what works best for me. The 2-2 is probably my next best. But you should always mix it up and let the fish tell you.

Yeah I always mix it up. I generally dont keep a pattern though. Will try it out. Usually I go between 1-4 jerks let is pause and keep as random as possible. 

[LonnieP]

2 minutes ago, InFishingWeTrust said:

Yeah I generally work them slow. I dont watch to many bass tournaments though. Will have to check it out. I generally watch YouTube videos but only the ones I feel like are informative.

Thanks

Kvd has a jerk bait fishing video on YouTube. Very informative 

[InFishingWeTrust]

1 minute ago, LonnieP said:

Kvd has a jerk bait fishing video on YouTube. Very informative 

I will check it out 

[OkobojiEagle]

3 hours ago, InFishingWeTrust said:

I see people fishing jerk baits different ways. See some people do more of a pulling action, some jerking it, even some just casting and retrieving it. 

Which anglers are catching the bass?

 

oe

[InFishingWeTrust]

7 minutes ago, OkobojiEagle said:

Which anglers are catching the bass?

 

oe

All of them. 

[A-Jay]

THIS ~  will improve your cold water jerkbait results For-Ever.

A-Jay

 

[38 Super Fan]

3 hours ago, InFishingWeTrust said:

 

Yeah I always mix it up. I generally dont keep a pattern though. Will try it out. Usually I go between 1-4 jerks let is pause and keep as random as possible. 

A lot of times having a consistent cadence is important. When I say mix it up, I mean change what you're doing every few casts, but not within the same cast.  (Not that just randomly jerking the lure won't work too, but I don't think it's usually ideal)

 

I agree with the others about watching KVD. You'll see what I mean about being aggressive and having cadence.

[Deleted account]

7 hours ago, InFishingWeTrust said:

I see people fishing jerk baits different ways. See some people do more of a pulling action, some jerking it, even some just casting and retrieving it. I personally always have fished them by jerking it on slack line. How do you guys fish your jerk baits? What are some techniques you use? Do you see a difference in production one way you fish them from another? Maybe a technique works better for different jerk baits? Like to hear how every one does their thing with jerkbaits. Maybe enlighten some of us on new techniques. 

There is no wrong way to fish a JB. While I like some JBs for certain situations, I think all (most) will catch fish if given the right action and cadence. I like to "learn" a JB by watching it in a pool or clear water so I can get a picture of what my input is doing and comparing it to known ones, besides that what the bait does at rest and how well it casts are the other important factors. Like most other things it comes down to confidence. The last thing I'll mention is that I find a bunch of folks have trouble buying into the "Just do this and the fish will be there, either on the next jerk or the pause" thing, once I get someone to accept this, its usually on to  the next lesson.

[InFishingWeTrust]

1 hour ago, 38 Super Fan said:

A lot of times having a consistent cadence is important. When I say mix it up, I mean change what you're doing every few casts, but not within the same cast.  (Not that just randomly jerking the lure won't work too, but I don't think it's usually ideal)

 

I agree with the others about watching KVD. You'll see what I mean about being aggressive and having cadence.

I see. I just figure a dying bait fish isnt doing a routine. I do catch fish that way though. 

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

THIS ~  will improve your cold water jerkbait results For-Ever.

A-Jay

 

Going to have to try that out 

[A-Jay]

8 minutes ago, InFishingWeTrust said:

Going to have to try that out 

Good.

Have the net & scale handy.

A-Jay

[InFishingWeTrust]

40 minutes ago, reason said:

There is no wrong way to fish a JB. While I like some JBs for certain situations, I think all (most) will catch fish if given the right action and cadence. I like to "learn" a JB by watching it in a pool or clear water so I can get a picture of what my input is doing and comparing it to known ones, besides that what the bait does at rest and how well it casts are the other important factors. Like most other things it comes down to confidence. The last thing I'll mention is that I find a bunch of folks have trouble buying into the "Just do this and the fish will be there, either on the next jerk or the pause" thing, once I get someone to accept this, its usually on to  the next lesson.

I do test all my baits out before I fish them. Usually just in the water in front of me before I fish it.  New baits I will sit there and try retrieves and not even fish for the first 10 min or so. 

7 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Good.

Have the net & scale handy.

A-Jay

Will do

[Catt]

5 hours ago, 38 Super Fan said:

An aggressive 3-1 retrieve is day in and day out what works best for me. The 2-2 is probably my next best. But you should always mix it up and let the fish tell you.

 

Rogue Wrist! ?

 

Do that all day long & my wrist is toast but worth it!

 

[tkunk]

Not many people seem to know this, but jerkbaits work really well for smallies in the summer. On a warm, windy day, when there's a lot of bait in 0-15 fow, it's impossible to fish a jerkbait too fast or aggressively. It's my favorite technique.

[InFishingWeTrust]

35 minutes ago, portiabrat said:

Not many people seem to know this, but jerkbaits work really well for smallies in the summer. On a warm, windy day, when there's a lot of bait in 0-15 fow, it's impossible to fish a jerkbait too fast or aggressively. It's my favorite technique.

Thats the main species I fish. First smallie of the year I pulled out the Shenandoah was on a jerk bait. 

[TOXIC]

To me the name says it all "Jerk" bait.  It's made to be jerked.  That's not to say other techniques won't work but I jerk the crap out of them for smallmouth.  They key to me has always been the cadence or how long to let it pause, that's where you have to experiment.  Sometimes it's a constant and sometimes you have to let it sit.  Won't take long to figure it out.   

[InFishingWeTrust]

53 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

To me the name says it all "Jerk" bait.  It's made to be jerked.  That's not to say other techniques won't work but I jerk the crap out of them for smallmouth.  They key to me has always been the cadence or how long to let it pause, that's where you have to experiment.  Sometimes it's a constant and sometimes you have to let it sit.  Won't take long to figure it out.   

Yeah Im going to do a lot of experimenting this spring. I fish the Shenandoah a lot. A lot of the time they will hit it on the pause while go down stream for me. I fished jerk baits before just not as heavy as I plan on doing it this year. Usually I'm throwing a keitech a lot of the time. Fishing rivers with current have you noticed big difference with cadences? 

[TOXIC]

You won't get the full effect of the pause unless you are in slackwater.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  

[InFishingWeTrust]

22 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

You won't get the full effect of the pause unless you are in slackwater.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  

Yeah. Smallies will still hit it. My first of the year was on the pause I was just drifting with the current. One reason I want to fish it more. Kind of cut down on the power fishing to a sense on floats. Going to do a lot shorter sections this year though to have more time to fish spots. 

[Bluebasser86]

I let the conditions and fish tell me what retrieve I need to use, but normally start with a jerk, jerk, pause cadence.