Proper Jerkbait Technique

[Tizi]

I got my dedicated rod/reel/line for jerkbait fishing.  I am using Vision 110 and 110 +.  My question is this:  I have heard that reeling the lure is not going to catch many fish, the lure must be jerked to create erratic motion.  Jerk, jerk, pause, jerk, pause.  My question is, how do you get the lure to depth doing this?  Could I reel to get lure to depth, then jerk?

[Black Hawk Basser]

Yep, reel a few turns to get it down.  Or, sometimes when the fish seem aggressive, I will make 5-10 jerks at the beginning of the retrieve to get it diving down to depth.

 

I am not the most proficient jerkbait guy, I'm sure others will have some input better than mine.

[gilkeybr]

I generally skip the cranking it down portion.

 

Also, don't rule out any actions.  More times than I can count i've gotten bites while fishing jerkbaits from reeling it back in, doing short pulls instead of pops, etc.  You don't know what the fish want that day until you get the first bite!

[sully420]

Go on YouTube and watch zona live with kvd. Watch how he fishes his jerk bait its amazing and you will learn from the master. Great episode anyway.

[jbsoonerfan]

I have had a lot of success in recent years on a jerk bait. That being said, I went many years without even throwing one because I didn't really know how to use them. Once I got the hang of it they quickly became one of my go to search baits. Always be ready to get bit on the pause as well, seems as though that bait just sitting there will cause the fish to hit it.

[Vilas15]

You can fish them however you want. Crank it straight in, pull it with the rod then pause to crank up the slack, twitches only, try any and everything to see what works. Fish it like a jerkbait for the first half of the cast, then crank it in the second to cover water a little faster than twitching all the way to the boat. My dad doesn't even know you can twitch a jerkbait. Just cranks husky jerks and x-raps. Jerkbaits and husky jerks especially are really good for trolling walleyes, different fish but same concept. Don't feel like you're doing something wrong by cranking it to gain some depth immediately.

[Dwight Hottle]

You can either reel it down or pull it down with a long sweep of the rod. Then pause it before starting your jerk cadence. 

[TotalNoob]

30 minutes ago, gilkeybr said:

Also, don't rule out any actions.  More times than I can count i've gotten bites while fishing jerkbaits from reeling it back in, doing short pulls instead of pops, etc. 

Great point. I'm by no means an expert but I've spent the last 18 months learning jerkbaits more than any other presentation and it's become my favorite. This is partly because my multi-species fishery includes Walleyes which jerkbaiting from shore in low-light or zero light hours can be deadly for. A lot of bass are caught, too. Jerkbaits seem to be exceptionally effective for multiple species, whether targeting them or not. 

 

There is a lot to jerkbaiting successfully, far more than I can possibly offer but here are some key things I've learned/experienced using jerkbaits on my fishery, things I wish I knew from the get-go:

 

1) It's most effective in Spring and Fall, though it does seem to work all year. The "jerk-jerk-pause" deal is associated with a wounded/dying bait fish or otherwise prey fish. This happens primarily in the cooler waters of Spring or, as I've found particularly effective, when the shad are dying off in the Fall. The "pause" is when the lure suspends in the water column and represents an easy meal with minimal energy expenditure, an attractive scenario for Spring and Fall fish when water temps are lower and their metabolisms aren't at their peak. 

 

2) When paused, you must not reel up all your slack. Pick up most of it, enough to be able to get a hookset, but not all. It's crucial that the jerkbait sit completely still/suspended for the duration of your pause. The pause/complete suspension of the jerkbait is the most natural part of the presentation and often what triggers the strike. This can't be overstated. Additionally, you need to have some slack in your line when you begin your next set of twitches/jerks to give it the typically desired erratic/darting action. 

 

3) Have a plan for your cast. What I mean is, make sure you're giving yourself the best chance to force an interested fish into striking. Active fish may hit it over open water or followers may strike when it speeds up suddenly as you reel it in. I've had the most success when bringing it across or near natural ambush areas. Setting yourself up on one side of a point and working it across or working it adjacent to some kind of cover or directly above submerged cover. From a shore-fishing perspective I can't begin to tell you how effective the shoreline itself is at triggering strikes. By this I mean that when casting out from shore and working it back toward the shore (typically ~45° angle casts) interested fish will pick up on it at some point in the strike zone and will be forced into a decision of whether or not to strike before it gets too close to shore/shallower water than they're willing to go. The majority of my jerkbait strikes come in the final 1/3 of the retrieve when shore fishing. The same concept of working it toward very shallow water can be replicated from boat I've found, typically something like setting up on a point and casting out at an angle that brings it back toward shallow water.  

 

The game of jerkbaiting is primarily converting interested followers into eaters; planning your casts around as many natural ambush spots and/or manipulating shallow water with casting angles will up your strike probabilities. 

 

Other things I've learned to consider when using jerkbaits: 

 

1) If you use fluoro, count on your jerkbait being lower in the water column as you work it back. This can be used to your advantage or detriment.

 

2) Not all jerkbaits of the same line & manufacturer are created equal. Out of the box, some jerks will suspend, rise, or sink (some a little, some a lot) regardless of manufacturer or stated suspension. It's helpful to know what your jerkbait is doing when paused. You can quickly test them out of the box in a small tupperware/storage type container to see how it suspends exactly. Don't assume the same jerkbait you bought two months ago and lost yesterday will behave the same as the replacement you just bought. 

 

3) Water temperature matters. Because colder water is denser, a jerkbait that suspends in 60° water will act differently in 40-50° water.  

 

4) In general, I've found jerkbaits to be a little more effective when there's at least a little breeze or slight chop on the water. This is hardly a hard and fast rule though.

 

5) Fall Jerkbaiting: More and Faster jerks/twitches (a more aggressive overall cadence) can definitely be effective in triggering strikes. Fish still seem willing to move some reasonable distance to grab it. Spring Jerkbaiting seems to be a little tricker, at least for me. I'm not sure hard/fast rips are so effective in Spring. What I mean is, the fish don't seem to react to jerkbaits in 45° Spring water the same way they do in 45° Fall water (at least not for me). Perhaps the fish are more responsive to a more aggressive cadence in the Fall when there's a mass die off of shad happening.

 

6) Don't count out the night bite. Fishing after dark isn't for everyone but some quality catches can be had in the late evening or early morning hours (before sunrise) on jerkbaits.

 

That's all I can think of right now and this response got crazy long, hopefully there's something useful in there for someone entering the world of jerkbaiting. 

[Bluebasser86]

When the water is very cold, short "pulls" with no jerk at all is often my best retrieve. Jerkbaiting effectively takes a lot of trial and error.

[TOXIC]

There are almost as many different Jerkbaits as there are Crankbaits.  Different Jerkbaits are designed to work in different depths depending on bill size just like a Crankbait.  Then there are floating models, sinking models and suspending models.  Some then modify the action with "Suspend Dots" or pinch weights on the line to customize the action.  There are also different lengths and sizes of Jerkbaits.  All of the advise above is good but ultimately you have to pick the right bait for the conditions you are fishing and the species you are after.  Your retrieve is only 1 part of a pretty involved process.  It's a great bait and if you can maneuver around 2 or 3 sets of treble hooks, they are fun to fish.  

[Fishes in trees]

Be aware that nearly all jerk bait makers lie when writing down how deep their baits will dive. They almost always take suspend dots or suspend strips to get them as deep as packaging says they will dive.For fishing jerk baits deeper, the spoonbill type with the larger bill is an option.