My Jerkbait Game is No Good

[matbellon3]

What are some of the must have/ must try jerkbaits?  I have never really fished them that often but it is one of the techniques I plan on working on this year. I already have few One-Tens but other than those I am lacking in the world of jerkbaits.

[Reel]

Jackall Rerange

[thediscochef]

I've only caught two jerkbait fish but they were both on the cheapest ones I own. H20Xpress Ultimate Jerk Shad. I find I'm more likely to throw a lure somewhere good if I'm not afraid of the replacement cost.

[DogBone_384]

I throw 110’s, Reranges, and Rapala’s most of the time.  They all work well and I’ve discovered the trick is finding the cadence and force of the jerk that triggers the bite.  

 

It took many trips taking just jerk baits for ‘the light bulb’ to go on, but it did.  

 

Keep at it, and good luck.  You’ll get it.

[A-Jay]

6 hours ago, matbellon3 said:

What are some of the must have/ must try jerkbaits?  I have never really fished them that often but it is one of the techniques I plan on working on this year. I already have few One-Tens but other than those I am lacking in the world of jerkbaits.

I'm still working on learning these baits myself.

110's are good baits.

 Seems they will get bites for me most anytime the bass are willing to eat a jerkbait. 

Most quality baits will work IMO.

I'd recommend getting one or two in each of three categories;

shallow running, deep running & 'silent'.

Then it's a matter of figuring out where & when to present each.

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

[Deleted account]

10 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

I throw 110’s, Reranges, and Rapala’s most of the time.  They all work well and I’ve discovered the trick is finding the cadence and force of the jerk that triggers the bite.  

 

It took many trips taking just jerk baits for ‘the light bulb’ to go on, but it did.  

 

Keep at it, and good luck.  You’ll get it.

Yup, know what your JB is doing with your input, and what it is doing without your input, and pretty much any will work. Right now in most places (Sorry Michigan) one can go with a more aggressive JB and cadence as the water temps are on the upswing, and fish are in the right places. 

[Captain Phil]

I don't fish a lot of jerk baits.  I know they are effective, but I use other options I like better.  I have had the best jerk bait luck with the traditional Rapala minnow.  I throw these lures with 8 pound mono on a spinning rod.   I find that anything heavier reduces the action.  This lure gives me two presentations in one cast.  At first, I twitch it on top like a traditional top water lure.  If that does not draw a strike, I pull it under the water and jerk it back to the boat.  There are days when one works better than the other.  This is a shallow water technique that works in Florida especially in the spring.

[Catt]

23 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

They all work well and I’ve discovered the trick is finding the cadence and force of the jerk that triggers the bite.  

 

C'est Fini! ?

 

[Dens228]

I love early spring and late fall for jerkbaits, occasionally throw them in clear water in the summer but usually don't think of them during the summer. 

 

I was really looking forward to the jerkbait bite last fall but couldn't buy a bite for some reason. My biggest bass of the year was caught early spring last year on one. 

[DitchPanda]

I've thrown several different brands nd models...for where and how I fish the rapala shadow rap shallow is my go to.

[Aaron_H]

2 hours ago, thediscochef said:

I've only caught two jerkbait fish but they were both on the cheapest ones I own. H20Xpress Ultimate Jerk Shad. I find I'm more likely to throw a lure somewhere good if I'm not afraid of the replacement cost.

 

+1 on the H2O. Don't be put off by the price or it being a store brand, bass will absolutely smash it (some of the big girls seem to like it, too).

 

I'm still learning my way around the technique, but I've had some good days on a handful of Rapala baits, as well. Shadow Rap, Shadow Rap Shad, Husky Jerk, and the RipStop in warmer water have all been pretty solid producers for me.

[gim]

When I first tried fishing jerk baits about 6 years ago, I didn’t catch a fish for the first 2 seasons. I gave it a fair amount of time too during the spring time when they generally shine. I just about gave up on them completely.

 

Year 3 something changed. I started working it slower and more methodically with longer pauses. I began to catch fish on them. One specific day I caught a lot of smallmouth of good size.

 

Sometimes it just takes a while to get the hang of a specific strategy or lure. Nowadays I am not afraid to use them in midsummer for largies too. I am skittish of using the expensive mega bass visions in pike-infested waters though.

 

Loading up on mega bass visions all at once would drain your bank account quickly. For that reason I buy one here, one there. It’s like collecting tools. Generally you build a collection of them over time, not all at once.

[Hook2Jaw]

I own one Vision 110, I haven't caught a fish on it.  I don't know why it doesn't produce for me, maybe I've got a bad one -- that idea is unsettling.  I'm glad I don't need to buy more, they're entirely too expensive, I daresay, for what they are.

 

Megabass annoys me charging so much.  You're not getting 25 dollars worth of product.  I've caught a lot of jerkbait fish these past two Fall to Spring periods, and I can tell you the baits that work for me.

 

First, the Jackall Rerage 110.  I don't think there's a jerkbait on the market that casts as well as the Rerange.  It also suspends well out of the box and has great action.  The long casts will get this bait deeper than others in it's class.  I prefer to have a ghost, matte, and chrome finish with me.

 

Second, the Strike King KVD Deep.  This bait casts decently, but where it really shined for me this year was being able to get deep on a short cast.  I'm sure there's a time and place for it to be in 10', but that situation didn't arise for me this year.  It suspends well and has a great side to side action.

 

Third, the Yo-Zuri 3DB Jerkbait 110 is very similar to the Jackall Rerange in build and capability, but it doesn't cast nearly as well without the tungsten weight transfer system.  The aforementioned covers water in relatively open areas, this bait has become my cover jerkbait simply because it hurts less if I lose it.  I fished last weekend, and boated a nice 4# on the 3DB.

 

Honorable mention to the H2O Express Ultimate Jerk Shad.  I caught a 7# on it the first winter I threw a jerkbait, and while I don't buy them anymore, I wouldn't hesitate to throw them if I didn't have the above three options. 

[scaleface]

I was having a particularly tough summer day . Bass were just slashing at cranks . A couple of fish were hooked in the face and that was it . Eventually I came up with the idea of a suspending jerkbait . Tied on a Rapala X Rap and that was the ticket . It was a slobber-knocker after that .

[BlakeMolone]

H2o Ultimate jerkshads, pointer 78s, and the rarely talked about pointer 95 silents ?. Jerk it on slack line and start out fishing it faster than you would think, if you don’t get any bites then slowly slow down. I mostly jerk pause, jerk jerk pause but I do try to mix up the cadence so it’s not so robotic. 

[Mbirdsley]

11 hours ago, scaleface said:

I was having a particularly tough summer day . Bass were just slashing at cranks . A couple of fish were hooked in the face and that was it . Eventually I came up with the idea of a suspending jerkbait . Tied on a Rapala X Rap and that was the ticket . It was a slobber-knocker after that .

Speaking of which, where do the x-raps belong in jerk bait world? Meaning are they more of summer time jerk bait? Seems like it has to much of slashing action for colder water.
 

  That’s one that is widely available around here but, it’s not one a lot of people talk about 

[scaleface]

I cant tell you . The only time I have used them are in the summer .

[Reel]

Some will disagree with this but the worst thing you can do with a jerkbait is to give it too much action and not pause long enough.

[Bird]

All the water I fish is gin clear and suspending jerkbaits are dynamite during prespawn.

 

I mainly throw Luck E Strike in only 2 colors.

Bone for overcast and clear with blue back on sunny days.

The fish seem to prefer a simple sweep of the rod, enough to get the bait to wobble and move forward say 2 feet and pause.

 

Jerkbaits can catch fish year around here and I like to move to top water versions in warmer months and work them much more aggressively with hardly a pause.

Oh, and give me water like glass.

[BrianMDTX]

I’ve caught more bass on a Googan Scout in Pro Blue than all my other jerkbaits combined.   It’s actually a great lure and the hooks are extremely sharp. 
 

[Bluebasser86]

I use a lot of the 6th Sense Provoke 106, Strike King 300, and Duo Realis Rozante 77sp. The H2O is a great bait to learn with because they're cheaper so you don't have to worry as much about losing them but they're still very effective. Yo-Zuri makes a bait that is flat on the sides that has a very nice roll and flash that I've had a lot of success with as well. 

[Aaron_H]

2 hours ago, Bird said:

Oh, and give me water like glass.

 

Interesting! In my limited experience with jerkbaits so far, I feel I have had better success on days with a little chop on the water than the days where it was slick calm.

[FryDog62]

Arguably the first yet most forgotten jerk bait of all-time is the Husky Jerk. I use it extensively when the water is below 50 degrees because it has less side-to-side (but enough) action to work exceedingly well when its super cold. Fish don't want something overly erratic in cold water, it doesn't look natural. But the HJ does for that time of year. Plus at about $5-6 per lure I'm not as concerned when they get sheered off by a scud missile pike. 

 

Above 50 degrees I use a lot of different jerk baits but am looking forward to trying out the new Berkley Stunna this year... 

[BlakeMolone]

3 hours ago, Aaron_H said:

 

Interesting! In my limited experience with jerkbaits so far, I feel I have had better success on days with a little chop on the water than the days where it was slick calm.

It’s such a pain but fishing a jerkbait on wind blown banks when the wind is HOWLING has gotten me some good ones lately. One four pounder hit right as the wind caused the slack in my line to wrap around the tip of my rod, thankfully didn’t loose the fish or break my rod tip ? 

[detroit1]

The baits you already have will work. Learn where,when, and how to catch fish with them, and then add to your arsenal as you see fit. You may find out that you don't like fishing with jerkbaits anyway. There, i saved you a few bucks..no thanks needed.