Jitterbug

[Jonas Staggs]

Anyone still throwing jitterbug? What about their new 2.0 version? I have the old one. Haven't caught anything with it yet, but man their 2.0 version sure does look cool. Tempted to add it to my top water lure collection. 

[GreenPig]

I'll throw the black musky JB at night and the frog musky JB in ponds. 

[Mobasser]

Old school favourite of many bass fisherman. Years ago I did well walking banks at night and casting the black 5/8 oz jitterbug.

[bulldog1935]

my biggest bass as a teenager, 6-1/2 lbs, was caught on a jitterbug - she took the lure on a long rest between slow retrieves.  She had plenty of time to inspect it in the middle of the clear cove, and still ate it.  

[Mr. Aquarium]

I throw the giant 8’inch musky jitterbugs at night. 

[Jaderose]

A fine old lure.  Caught many working one parallel along grass lines.  

[mtb.mike]

1 hour ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

I throw the giant 8’inch musky jitterbugs at night. 

That's not a Arbogast Jitter bug is it?

I don't think they made a large jointed model. Plus it looks like it has a polycarbonate lip.

Either way I like the looks of that lure.

[Mr. Aquarium]

49 minutes ago, mtb.mike said:

That's not a Arbogast Jitter bug is it?

I don't think they made a large jointed model. Plus it looks like it has a polycarbonate lip.

Either way I like the looks of that lure.

It’s a Livingston walking boss II. Great bait. Tons of rattles. This fish was caught on a windy night during the pause. 
 

also check out lemires plug works. He makes a 3inch and 5 inch saltwater  jitterbug baits. All wood, through wire baits. 

[Jonas Staggs]

Here's the one I have. I have considered painting it black or maybe at least the blade/scoop black.

 

Their new version is jointed and has feathers tied to the treble 

 

 

[Fallser]

The majority of my bass fishing is done with a fly rod.  When I'm using spinning tackle my top water selection is "old" school.  Jitterbugs, Zara Spooks, Tiny Torpedoes and a couple of other lures with props.  There are a couple of fishing flea markets around here, and I can usually find Jitterbugs that need a bit of rehab for a dollar or two.  I've got a couple of them that I work on when I'm not tying flies.  It wouldn't be that hard to replace the hooks with the new set-up.  It looks like they raided the aisle for kids craft projects for the hackle they used in the back hook.  I have much better hackle than what they're using.

[Guitarfish]

Definitely an old favorite.  I love fishing in the dark and listening to the Jitterbug just gurgling along.  I stop it as if it was a real frog stopping for a quick look about, then start it up again.  Usually gets nailed about then.

[Jigfishn10]

8 minutes ago, Guitarfish said:

Definitely an old favorite.  I love fishing in the dark and listening to the Jitterbug just gurgling along.  I stop it as if it was a real frog stopping for a quick look about, then start it up again.  Usually gets nailed about then.

There is just something about fishing a top water at night.

Actually, if you think of, if you have issues hooking fish on topwater because you're pulling the bait out it mouth before it has it, night fishing will teach you to set the hook by feeling the added weight of the lure.

[Guitarfish]

Yep, and every one feels like a big one,  at least for the first few seconds. 

My wife is not keen on me going alone anymore so who knows when I'll feel the hit again.

[Big Hands]

My adult daughter started fishing with me this past summer and after seeing bass chasing bait on the surface became interested in catching one. We had a 'night fishing' event (they only allow night fishing a few times a year on the lake I fish) in September and I bought her a black jitterbug for the occasion. 

 

She got a small swirl on it after only a few minutes which prompted her to keep throwing it. After a good while, she got a HUGE swirl on it right next to the boat that even got my heart racing. To her credit, she kept tossing that jitterbug for another hour and finally that big kitty just couldn't take it any longer.

 

Now she loves topwater fishing even more.

[Jigfishn10]

SAHWEET @Big Hands, what a memory your daughter has with dad!! Congrats to you both.

[Michigander]

I only throw them at night. I have better presentations for daylight hours. But the audio feedback it gives you at night really helps to fish it effectively.

[PotatoLake]

I got the 2.0 last year and only fished it a couple times. No bites. I Didn’t give it a fair shake.
 

It was the all black with red feathers. Looks and sounds cool when retrieving it back. I’ll try it again this spring.

[Mr. Aquarium]

43 minutes ago, Michigander said:

I only throw them at night. I have better presentations for daylight hours. But the audio feedback it gives you at night really helps to fish it effectively.

I’ve caught some big fish fishing the musky 8 inch jitter bugs like the poppa chubby and walking boss during the day. It looks like an injured squirrel or bird  that fell off a tree  when you start reeling 

[Bankbeater]

A jitterbug is one of my summertime confidence baits.  I've had good luck fishing them along rip rap at night.

 

[scaleface]

I never had a lot of luck with jitterbugs and havent thrown one in years . I have one of those black Musky jitterbugs for night fishing but never caught anything with it . I did hear big explosion's fishing it but dont know if they were bass or frightened carp . I just got a 2.0 Hula Popper . Gone are the old hook hangers . I  would like to see  a 2.0 Mudbug .

[Captain Phil]

I learned to bass fish with a friend of my father.  He was a Chief in the Navy stationed at the old Opa-locka naval base.  Most of our fishing was done in the summer.  We fished the Everglades at night around the old bombing range off highway 27.   This was before electric trolling motors, so we would take turns fishing and paddling. All he used at night was a black Musky Jitterbug.  I can still remember the plop-plop-plop sound they made coming through the dark.  We caught a lot of big bass with that lure.  As an experiment, we alternated between black and white lures.  The black lure always caught more fish. 

[Guitarfish]

Captain,  I kept waiting for an alligator to appear in the story. 

 

I wish the good Lord would give us an opportunity to just go back in time once, for a week to fish again with an old friend.  Gosh I miss my old mentor.

[papajoe222]

I use the muskie sized (XL) Jitterbug a lot when night fishing with fairly good success.  I remove the side hooks and add a belly hook. I've caught everything from 1lb to 6+lb on them, though the smaller fish tend to shy away from it.

[Jonas Staggs]

I have only gotten 4 top water bites in my life. Bites not landed. 2 on a pocket frog. 1 on a torpedo and 1 on a toad dangle.

 

Maybe what I'm doing wrong with the jitterbug is fishing it during the day! I'm gonna have to paint it black now. That big metal scoop looks like it would scare the fish. I have the smallest jitterbug. 

[MGF]

I just noticed that my old jitterbug was gone from my old box and came across one on a store shelf and snatched it up. I'm going to give it a shot on the river this year...if warm weather ever gets here.