Jerk bait hook question

[Mike L]

Feller’s

First off, I rarely throw a jerk bait. 
Since moving to Floria some 40 yrs ago
70% of my fishing is done with a plastic of some sort of all shapes and sizes in all conditions. 
However, I’ve accumulated about dozen or so over years and I want to start to use them again. 
 

So excuse this silly question....

I know I want to change out the hooks so my question is..

When you change your hooks do you put the same size back on, or do you go up?

Also, after doing a search some guys put one larger size in the front and some put it on the rear. 
 

I know the bigger one on either end will cause it to sit either nose down or tail down. So Which do you prefer?

 

A lot of hits seem to be on the rear treble so I’m thinking that’s where the larger size would go, but a wounded or dying fish will mostly sit motionless head down.  

I just wanted to check. 
 

Thanks
 

 

 

Mike

[galyonj]

12 minutes ago, Mike L said:

When you change your hooks do you put the same size back on, or do you go up?

 

 

I almost always go with the same size I took off.

 

One thing you want to keep in mind is that jerkbaits, especially, are sensitive to changes in hardware, and that changing hardware (for instance, switching from #6 to #4 hooks) will change not only the depth at which a jerkbait rests in the water, but also the lure's pitch at rest.

 

And neither of those are necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes a slightly different look -- even if we think it looks dumb -- is all it takes to get bit.

 

Another thing that I've seen mentioned here (maybe @A-Jay?) is going to a red front hook with the goal of giving the fish that little bit of color to focus on when they strike the lure.

[MN Fisher]

I go with the same size - though I do upgrade to a stronger hook.

 

Except on the Rapalas that come with a #7...you know how hard it is to find #7 trebles? I go with # 6 in those cases.

[Mike L]

Thanks fella’s

Got it!

 

I’ll change to the same size. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

[galyonj]

You got me thinking.

 

I've personally seen largemouth sit and stare at a jerkbait without losing interest for way longer than I ever imagined one would be willing to, and then rocket in to wallop it as soon as the lure twitches at all.

 

We know that bass (and probably every other fish) prefer to consume prey from the end that has the least chance of causing injury to themselves. For example, you always see crawfish pincers sticking out of the gullet instead of a crawfish tail. And vice-versa for other finned critters.

 

But they're not all that bright, so they'll still try to eat it however it ends up in their mouth.

 

So part of me wonders if the back-hook strikes are due to timing, like because they struck or slapped at it and got to the lure to mouth it right as the lure started to dart forward. And because jerkbaits don't really move very far (depending, of course, on how hard you're working it) with each pop, the result is a hookup or foul-hook with the rear treble instead of a miss altogether.

[Mike L]

I know bass invariably will hit the head but almost all jerk bait strikes I see or had are almost hooked from the rear. 
 

Since I don’t use them much at all the logical thought for me anyway, is that a larger rear hook could result in more hook ups. 
But then the static profile is tail down. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[OkobojiEagle]

Suspending jerkbait = exactly the same weight

Floating jerkbait = one size larger if the new hooks don't catch on each other when cast

 

oe

6 hours ago, Mike L said:

I know I want to change out the hooks

Why?

[Mbirdsley]

The mustard kvd 1x short 1x strong regular or needle points will allow you to upsize 1 size.  Due to how short they are and the way the hook points are.  Maybe won’t be the same wieght but, they won’t tangle 

[Mike L]

3 hours ago, OkobojiEagle said:

Suspending jerkbait = exactly the same weight

Floating jerkbait = one size larger if the new hooks don't catch on each other when cast

 

oe

Why?

I don’t know, 

Just thought I should after reading some old threads on here that got me thinking that maybe I should. 
 

Thanks for the info

 

 

Mike

[Michigander]

Depends how neurotic you want to get with the hooks. Some people do a lot of tank testing to make sure it suspends to their liking and has the orientation in the water they are looking for.

 

I just replaced with hooks that are a similar size back when I still used trebles and that was fine most of the time.

[SC53]

Mike there was an article on here not long ago where a pro was talking about subtle changes to jerk baits. Hook size and even split ring size to get them to suspend or slightly sink. 
 

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/early-spring-stickbaits.html

[Mike L]

1 hour ago, SC53 said:

Mike there was an article on here not long ago where a pro was talking about subtle changes to jerk baits. Hook size and even split ring size to get them to suspend or slightly sink. 
 

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/early-spring-stickbaits.html

Excellent 
That cleared up a few things. 
 

Thanks 
 

 

 

 

Mike