Jerkbait Question

[Stratos92]

Want to start fishing a jerkbait this spring and looking for some advice on a good starting point. There are a ton of brands and styles out there ranging from $8 to $30. I think natural colors are the way to go... but where to begin with style and size??‍?

[roadwarrior]

Megabass Vision 110

Pick your favorite color.

[J Francho]

Lucky Craft Pointer SP 100 in Aurora black is always my starting point. At $16, it's a good middle of the road price point. 

[Darth-Baiter]

16 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Megabass Vision 110

Pick your favorite color.

my jumping off point is the Vision 110.   there are so many colors.  go crazy.  

[OkobojiEagle]

Lucky Craft Pointer 78 and/or 100

 

78 = silent

100 = rattles

[Happybeerbuzz]

There are many options but getting at least one Vision 110 is inevitable.  Unless you are an inaccurate caster and hit a lot of rocks or prone to overcasting into trees and plants, it would not hurt you to get one.  It is the gold standard of jerkbaits.  
 

In my opinion, the best budget jerkbait is the old and maybe new H2O Express.  I don’t know if the product changed with the packaging.   Also Yozuri is a good value option across their whole offering.  

[Dwight Hottle]

48 minutes ago, Stratos92 said:

Want to start fishing a jerkbait this spring and looking for some advice on a good starting point. There are a ton of brands and styles out there ranging from $8 to $30. I think natural colors are the way to go... but where to begin with style and size??‍?

 

If your willing to spend some time reading this thread covers it all. 

 

[Bird]

Spro and Lucky craft are 2 that I like.

 

[Jar11591]

Can’t go wrong with the Vision 110s. For a cheaper option I also love the Rapala X-Raps. 

[Stratos92]

Thank you all for the info. Dwight, I will check out the suggested thread. 

[gim]

I like the Vision 110 too.  The price is steep but I think they are a superior jerk bait.  Give one a try, and if it works, try another color.  This is how I started with them.  Most people can't afford to just buy a whole collection of them at once.  You'd go broke.

 

I bought a Shimano World Minnow this past winter and I haven't used it yet.  Will report my results in about a month after I have a chance to use it.

[Darth-Baiter]

20 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I like the Vision 110 too.  The price is steep but I think they are a superior jerk bait.  Give one a try, and if it works, try another color.  This is how I started with them.  Most people can't afford to just buy a whole collection of them at once.  You'd go broke.

 

I bought a Shimano World Minnow this past winter and I haven't used it yet.  Will report my results in about a month after I have a chance to use it.

100%
 

the 110

has a relatively fragile bill. I have never broken one, but I hear my friends cussing about it sometimes.  I think the thin bill is what gives the 110 it’s charms.  It takes tiny jerk motions to send it scurrying thru the water like a scared bait fish. The bites always comes on the pause.  Some pauses are 20 seconds….and you feel the yank.  No denying a jerk bait bite on the pause. 

[Obi_Wan]

I think it depends on where you go.  The most productive jerkbait in Canada for me has been a Berkley Cutter 110 in chrome and bronze, a Husky Jerk 10 or 12 in Olive Ghost, and a Suspending Rattlin Rouge Jr in bronze.  In Beaver Lake, a table rock shad color is the best.  On the local rivers, the Husky jerk in Olive Ghost and Blue back seems to be best.

 

I've never owned a lucky craft $20+ bait and probably never will.  I'm having plenty of success with $8-10 baits.

[GreenPig]

I fish MB, Rapala, Berkley, 6th Sense, Ima, Yo - Zuri, Strike King, Lucky Craft, Jackall, and H2O Jerkbaits in a plethora of colors & sizes. My #1 producer is a MB Vision 110 in Table Rock SP. 

[Susky River Rat]

My advice is do not get hung up on the brand. Decide the diving depths you want. Decide rattles or no rattles. Decide the size and profile. Each brand and style within that brand have different times and places. Above all of this it’s your pull pause cadence that will get the bite. I know the bait monkey wants your own tackle store in your garage ( I deal with it too) but, learn the ins and outs of the ones you choose to use. 

[PABASS]

My favorite jerkbait past few years has been the 6 sense Provoke, price is right and hooks are awesome and best of all the package is correct when it say suspends or floats.

Also a fan of Rapala shadow rap series, hooks decent but what the package states it will do, float, suspend, sink.

Strike king makes a good deep diving crankbait as well.

 

I wouldn't worry about size right way, I like jerkbaits with 3 sets of hooks but if your baitfish are smaller maybe go with a smaller size, I catch 10" LMB on larger jerkbaits all the time so for me size doesn't seem to matter.  Match the colors of forage in the water you fish.

 

General rule

Suspending is good in cooler water/summer and fall

Sinking fall season/summer

Floating summer/fall

But bass don't always read the same books we do so experiment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bush_man26]

I have been using the Berkley Stunna and Jackall Rerange more and more. I like the way the Rerange casts and the action is good in cold water. 

[Bdnoble84]

On 4/24/2023 at 11:41 AM, Jar11591 said:

Can’t go wrong with the Vision 110s. For a cheaper option I also love the Rapala X-Raps. 

I’ve had good luck on x-raps over the years once the water warms up. Earlier on, a husky jerk has produced some. I bought some vision 110 knock offs to custom paint and pulled up this nice smallie the other night. I like the action so i think they will produce.

[Texas Flood]

Depending on depth but I like the KVD 100 or 300. Cheaper and I wont shed a tear if I lose one like I would with a Vision 110.

[Bird]

Another Jerkbait that I actually do better with vs a top water Jerkbait is the Rapala Rip-Stop.

It runs just under the surface and very erratic, like throwing it in the morning.

[cvaicunas69]

Got an opportunity to do some jerkbait fishing this afternoon. Shad Rap did well, too afraid to throw the Vision's when bank fishing, too many baits end up snagged in rocks for my liking. The rip stop does well for me later on in spring, the erratic action is well suited for warmer water temps in my opinion.

[gim]

1 minute ago, cvaicunas69 said:

Shad Rap

The shad rap is a crankbait, not a jerkbait. Maybe you meant shadow rap, not shad rap.

[cvaicunas69]

15 minutes ago, gimruis said:

The shad rap is a crankbait, not a jerkbait. Maybe you meant shadow rap, not shad rap.

Sure did, and as you can probably tell, I almost never throw crankbaits, did not even second guess shorting the name

[thediscochef]

On 4/24/2023 at 10:20 AM, roadwarrior said:

Megabass Vision 110

Pick your favorite color.

PBs don't lie, mine came on a vision 110, GP Stain Reaction, all stock. Best tree branch I ever hooked into, it turned out to be a bass.

[Darth-Baiter]

yesterday, i fished the clearest lake ever.  i worked a jerkbait.  a V-110.  Elegy Bone.  no bites, but i had the opportuntiy to watcht the bait in action.  the tiniest jerk of the rod, slapping back slack line gets the bait to do this dance.  it darts.  it wobbles side to side in a twist.  the water was so clear i could see it coming back from a ways off.  

 

i am not entirely sure i have been working it correctly.  i think i over-jerk.  i can get it to dart and wobble way slower, keeping it in the strick zone..and i should wait longer at the pauses.