Fall jerkbaits

[Mr. Aquarium]

I’m trying to learn jerkbait fishing betterI’ve seen first hand how good it can be. It’s never been my strong suit. 
Just looking for advice

 

Went out on Sunday, sunny and breezy. Had a ton of follows, schools off bass would follow, few hits but nothing solid. Had a giant follow it, and turned on the bait like she wanted to eat before she swam away, I think she saw the boat. Couldn’t get them to bit, couldn’t get any on the other gear I was usin. 

[PotatoLake]

I’d go either smaller or bigger with my lure sizes. Perhaps fish slower, or crazy erratic.

 

I’m no jerkbait master though, so maybe someone else would have better advice.

[PressuredFishing]

1 hour ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

I’m trying to learn jerkbait fishing betterI’ve seen first hand how good it can be. It’s never been my strong suit. 
Just looking for advice

 

Went out on Sunday, sunny and breezy. Had a ton of follows, schools off bass would follow, few hits but nothing solid. Had a giant follow it, and turned on the bait like she wanted to eat before she swam away, I think she saw the boat. Couldn’t get them to bit, couldn’t get any on the other gear I was usin. 

water clarity?

[OldManLure]

2 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

I’m trying to learn jerkbait fishing betterI’ve seen first hand how good it can be. It’s never been my strong suit. 
Just looking for advice

 

Went out on Sunday, sunny and breezy. Had a ton of follows, schools off bass would follow, few hits but nothing solid. Had a giant follow it, and turned on the bait like she wanted to eat before she swam away, I think she saw the boat. Couldn’t get them to bit, couldn’t get any on the other gear I was usin. 

You may be correct about her being spooked by boat.   I, too, have seen some nice fish turn away when they got close to my yak.  But a while back I realized I had a tendency to alter my retrieve when the bait, and not just jerkbaits, got to about 10’ or so from me.  I was speeding up on the reel and raising my rod, I guess to get ready for the next cast.  So I consciously stopped doing that.  I can’t say with certainty that it has been the reason, but I have noticed I am hooking significantly more fish in that 10’ circle around my yak.  I’ve even been splashed on a couple occasions when my topwater was hit.

[RDB]

It’s not any more difficult than walking baits or other lures where you impart the action.  Just make sure you throw slack between jerks as that creates the erratic, side to side action.  Often they will hit on the pause and you will detect on the following jerk.  If you are getting followers, mix up your pauses and cadence.  I also believe when fish seem interested but won’t commit, they are telling you there is something they don’t like, so I will try another color or size to see if they will commit.

[jimmyjoe]

57 minutes ago, PotatoLake said:

Perhaps fish ..... crazy erratic.

 

   That would be my advice. I tried a jerkbait today, and couldn't get bit until I really snapped the lure like crazy.                 jj

[papajoe222]

The first thing I do when I observe fish following my jerkbait, is change my presentation. Faster jerks, longer jerks (more of a quick sweep) more subltle twitches. If they still won't commit, I go to a smaller bait, or switch to a Fluke.

[Darth-Baiter]

Longer pauses.  Change up the velocity of the jerk. 
 

So much fun. I get hit mostly on the pause. 

[Bluebasser86]

I'm not normally a big believer in color mattering but with jerkbaits it can be a huge factor. 

[padon]

just like any other time i see fish reacting but no committing. try to vary the retrieve, faster, slower, more pauses , more violent jerks. if that doesnt work try a smaller or larger bait. lastly change the color , go with something totally opposite. like go to a clown or something with orange or chartreuse.

[Mr. Aquarium]

10 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

water clarity?

Clear.  I fish a lot of clear ponds. From deep and sandy to shallow and weedy 

Great info guys. I started off with a lucky craft lightning pointer, forget what color it maybe American shad, it had a bunch of flash and a blue back. That’s what the follows came on and the big bass. I figured it would call them in from a good distance or off the bottom with the flash and clear water. It was shallow tho no more then 8 feet deep.  With all the follows I would think it would be a good day or get a few reaction bites.  It was the first cold day we had all week. No huge cold front but it was 40 In the morning and warmed to about mid 50s. 
I switched to the same bait but in blue gill color, no follows but had 2 maybe 3 small hits. I also tried an Swaver like a jerkbait to get a bigger bite. 
 

fished another pond loaded with pickerel and good bass. This one much shallower and much more weeds. Couldn’t buy a bite on a jerkbait. Figured the pickerel would be all over it. 

[Hook2Jaw]

I barely carry more than two colors in baits I like, but of those baits I like my Jackall Reranges and Provoke 106s come in three different ones.  A ghost, something blandly natural, and something bold.  Try changing colors. 

[thunderblack]

love jerkbait fishing here. I fish them all season. Try size changes as others recommended. Also try pausing longer before continuing your retrieve. I also like to switch colors often. I can fish a certain color with nothing for an hr and then get 5 in a row on a silver, or perch color. Mix it up but 9 times out of 10 they want the JB. 

[PressuredFishing]

3 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Clear.  I fish a lot of clear ponds. From deep and sandy to shallow and weedy 

Great info guys. I started off with a lucky craft lightning pointer, forget what color it maybe American shad, it had a bunch of flash and a blue back. That’s what the follows came on and the big bass. I figured it would call them in from a good distance or off the bottom with the flash and clear water. It was shallow tho no more then 8 feet deep.  With all the follows I would think it would be a good day or get a few reaction bites.  It was the first cold day we had all week. No huge cold front but it was 40 In the morning and warmed to about mid 50s. 
I switched to the same bait but in blue gill color, no follows but had 2 maybe 3 small hits. I also tried an Swaver like a jerkbait to get a bigger bite. 
 

fished another pond loaded with pickerel and good bass. This one much shallower and much more weeds. Couldn’t buy a bite on a jerkbait. Figured the pickerel would be all over it. 

Your color choice of using flash for schooling. Bass in clear water is good, I would stick with it, perhaps try different sizes, or different retrieves. If you are getting bites you are doing something right

[Scott804]

I would honestly recommend starting with the new Berkley Stunna 112 jerkbait while learning. It is a slow sinker instead of a suspending jerkbait and I think that makes it a lot more forgiving in a sense. A large part of the jerkbait learning curve is learning to tune them and it can be super daunting at first. They also come with primo hooks and that is a pretty big deal with jerkbaits. Don't be afraid to be aggressive with it in the fall. Just caught four non-stop hitting it hard about an hour before typing this. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

9 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

Your color choice of using flash for schooling. Bass in clear water is good, I would stick with it, perhaps try different sizes, or different retrieves. If you are getting bites you are doing something right

Exactly what I was thinking, bring them in from faraway something natural but flashy. Definitely should of change retrieves. Jerk jerk pause. Maybe a second or 2. Maybe 3, no counting, should of tried longer pauses 

I went ape **** with buying jerkbaits. I’ve had some of the smaller pointers from years ago, then I bought some lucky crafter lightning pointers, staysee and regular pointers  last year, as well as smithwick rogues. Also a buddy gave me a megabass vision 110 and I believe a strike king that looks almost identical. I did also find a vision 110 in some weeds.   
 

the lucky crafts I tried to pick the colors that I believe would work the best. Ghost shad, perch, bluegill , sexy shad, and the blue flash