Jerkbaits!

[Jake P]

I am going to give jerkbaits another shot this weekend and really focus on learning with them. What are some recommendations as to what types to buy? So far im holding xcalibur eeratic shad jerkbaits. Also, im not looking for 15$ lc's.

[airborne_angler]

I started throwing Rapala Xraps at a local pond last year and just tore up the fish. Thinking it was just the small pond,I tried on a local lake and boated 2 dinks while battling seriously fierce winds. I'm totally stuck on Xraps.

[B@ssCrzy]

Depending on how deep you are fishing the Original Floating Repala is a killer. Which is why it has been around for years and years.

[SAC2]

look into suspending rogue's too. they have a nice action and if you tie a feather on the back hook its even better. i like x raps too, there are a bunch of color choices that makes covering all the forage bases easy. those suspending types are good this time of year (well in my neck of the woods at elast, water temp around 48). when tehy get a little bit more feisty, floating jerks work well too. the bps jerkbaits are nice and should be checked out for a decent cheap alternative

[Crestliner2008]

Good information thus far. I might add this caveat: Take along a small roll of tin solder wire. The smallest diameter you can find in the hardware store. You see, most every jerkbait out there will vary in it's suspending capabilities. Some suspend great in 45 degree water....others in the low 50's. And they will change through the course of the day as the water warms.

Check your bait with a short cast and reel in. Stop it near the boat and check to see if rises or suspends where you stopped it. This is very critical early in the season. If it rises, wrap a small section of the solder around the shank of the forward treble hook. Check it again. Add/subtract as needed to get it to suspend properly BEFORE you start to actually fish it. I'm a firm believer in this technique and it has produced some nice catches for me over the years.

I'm not a big fan of "suspend" dots or strips however. You see, jerkbaits do a little dance when paused. Adding anything to the BODY of these lures, has a tendency to dampen this shimmy or dance. Which can trigger violent strikes. Start off with Husky Jerks or X-Raps and you can't go wrong. Just start your retrieve and pause for long periods; increasing shortening the pauses throughout the day. Soon you will graduate to Pointers as these type of suspending jerkbaits are pure dynamite, especially early in the season. Good Luck!

[Nice_Bass]

I like rouges based on results and price. My one complaint on them is they are very light baits, so in high wind I do prefer an LC pointer- but obviously that is not what you want to spend so really a rouge is hard to beat.

[SAC2]

Good information thus far. I might add this caveat: Take along a small roll of tin solder wire. The smallest diameter you can find in the hardware store. You see, most every jerkbait out there will vary in it's suspending capabilities. Some suspend great in 45 degree water....others in the low 50's. And they will change through the course of the day as the water warms.

Check your bait with a short cast and reel in. Stop it near the boat and check to see if rises or suspends where you stopped it. This is very critical early in the season. If it rises, wrap a small section of the solder around the shank of the forward treble hook. Check it again. Add/subtract as needed to get it to suspend properly BEFORE you start to actually fish it. I'm a firm believer in this technique and it has produced some nice catches for me over the years.

I'm not a big fan of "suspend" dots or strips however. You see, jerkbaits do a little dance when paused. Adding anything to the BODY of these lures, has a tendency to dampen this shimmy or dance. Which can trigger violent strikes. Start off with Husky Jerks or X-Raps and you can't go wrong. Just start your retrieve and pause for long periods; increasing shortening the pauses throughout the day. Soon you will graduate to Pointers as these type of suspending jerkbaits are pure dynamite, especially early in the season. Good Luck!

these are great tips from a smallmouth king! take his words as the gospel. best thing you can do is pick something that you have some confidence in be it color or shape or size, and then go out and throw it. that is the best way to learn what to do, and to see how the bait works and fish react. i struggle with spinnerbait fishing and ill sometimes make trips with just my spinnerbait box in order to work on technique. and don't get frustrated if youre not catching them either, its only fishing!!

[mrmacwvu1]

rouges x-raps are my favorites outside of pointers

look around and if you can find pointers on the cheap

buy one and the next thing you know you will have 15 in the box

[roadwarrior]

The McStick is a fine lure and a little cheaper than the Pointer:

http://www.spro.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=84

[BradH]

I have pretty good luck on rogues and husky jerks. I picked up a bunch of McSticks over the winter for $5-$8 each and I really like them. They cast much better than the rogues/husky jerks and produce just as well in mid 30s water temps, a factor for me fishing the SD/NE border. I like the xrap jerkbaits but they are less consistent for me in cold water than the husky jerk. You are quite a ways south of me so it might be different there. If you want to get deeper I like the xrap deep #10 better than the deep down husky jerks. It looks and acts alot like my lone LC Staysee and can often be had for around $5 if you keep your eyes open. I do most of my shopping in the off season at the bargain bins, hahaha. If you want to work over the top of some vegetation a floating rapala is hard to beat. Pull it down till you hit the weeds and let it rise.

[Dwight Hottle]

Mid price range look at the rapala husky jerks & bomber long A's. As others have told you pointers are indepensable. But wait until you have had some sucess with a jerkbait then expand your arsnel.

[BigBrotherThunda]

Post spawn winners are the Norman Razr Minnow and the Strike King Wild Shiner, on shad heavy lakes the 3.5 inch Yo-Zuri Crystal minnow is a beast. All less than half the price of the LC's....that said, i d**n near throw pointers and the MB visions exclusively, am having good luck with the erratic shad so far this year though.

[smalljaw67]

I have pointers but I don't think you need to spend that kind of money to have success with jerkbaits. I fish them all year, not just during the spring but I use different kinds in each season. The suspending models that are really good is the suspend rattlin' rogue, it is even better now as most are thtrowing the expensive Japenese lures so the fish don't see the rogues too often plus they have a unique action and roll that other baits don't have. X-Raps have been very good too me and they have more than enough colors to match any situation. In late spring when the water warms up that fish are chasing a bit more but not quite ready to hit on top is when I fish my "transition jerks", these are floating model jerkbaits that rise slower than normal flaoting baits, I like the floaring super rogue and the Rapala Flat Rap, these baits come to the surface much slower and they both have a ton of flash to call fish from a distance. And then we have the summer were I really like the floating rattlin' rogues, to be specific, the shallow diver which weighs 1/3oz and dives to 1' to 2', these are worked very quickly and are only paused for a second or 2, they can also be used as a topwater bait and the other one is the Rapala original floater, it works the same as the rogue but I would say this is a better bait than the rogue at triggering a topwater strike while the rogue has better action on the move. Pointers and megabass vision 110's have their place but you don't have to spend that much for quality jerkbaits that work good and produce fish.

[Bluebasser86]

I really like the Erratic shads, X-raps are alright, not my favorite but they will catch fish. The old rogues are probably the best bait to cost ratio you can get for jerkbaits.

[WookieeJedi]

Another vote for the Rogue here. I have had a gold/orange belly in my box as long as I have been fishing. I really believe 90% of a jerkbait's effectiveness is in how you fish it, not how much you pay for it.

[roadwarrior]

Really...

I gave my Rogues away years ago. I talked with a rep at the Bass Pro Classic Sale several years ago.

My complaints were terrible hooks, inconsistent QC (3 in 10 "suspend" ), poor quality finish and TERRIBLE

casting characteristics (hook-in-mouth disease). His "confidential" reply was "We replace every lure a customer

doesn't like. The lures cost nothin'."

I have caught tons of fish on Rogues, but the lure still sucks. There are SO MANY better alternatives.

[WookieeJedi]

The hooks on every Smithwick lure I have ever owned have been awful. That is saying a lot, my gradfather used to be a friend of the family and tested out some prototypes back in the day in Shreveport. I stil have a few of them, lousy hooks and all. I tend to replace hooks on hardbaits so much I don't even think about factory hooks on a lure anymore. I'll bet that has something to do with all those Smithwick lures I grew up fishing. I stand behind the Rouge, though, just know going in that it will need new hooks.

[Mumpy]

Went to Dicks after work today, they've got their fishing sale going on atm. All Rapala Lures were 20% off and the KVD 1.5.s were buy one get the other 50% off. So I walked out with some XRaps and some new 1.5's in Bluegill color.

[Jake P]

Grabbed some Husky jerks in silver. It is the most natural color for the lake i fish, thanks for the suggestions guys! Im gonna give these a shot this weekend.

[jeb2]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the new STX by Luke "E" Strike. Great jerkbait and suspends much better out of the box than it's $25-30 competitor. Catches fish at least as well, too.

[ww2farmer]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the new STX by Luke "E" Strike. Great jerkbait and suspends much better out of the box than it's $25-30 competitor. Catches fish at least as well, too.

I bought some and jave played with them when I went out the other day. They do suspend great, much better in 38-40 water than any other jerkbait I have had (Xraps, Husky jerks, suspending thunder sticks, etc...) I was pleased with them.

[Diablos]

Yo-zuri pins minnow will always be a favorite.

[smalljaw67]

The hooks on every Smithwick lure I have ever owned have been awful. That is saying a lot, my gradfather used to be a friend of the family and tested out some prototypes back in the day in Shreveport. I stil have a few of them, lousy hooks and all. I tend to replace hooks on hardbaits so much I don't even think about factory hooks on a lure anymore. I'll bet that has something to do with all those Smithwick lures I grew up fishing. I stand behind the Rouge, though, just know going in that it will need new hooks.

I like rogues and a lot were made with the rotating xcalibur hooks, they rusted quick which is there only downfall but I would put them up against anything made by Owner or Gamakatsu in a heartbeat! The limited series uses round bend Gamakatsu trebles so your statement is way off, but I expect that from those not fishing a long time because most peoples exposure to that bait has been the cheap version which is a good bait but yes, the hooks aren't great, they are sharp but the break and bend easily. I will still buy a cheap rogue and just replace the trebles with Mustad triple grips, it is not different than buying a strike king lure and doing the same thing because a big company like strike kind is also guilty of using some cheap hooks that need replaced right out of the box.

[WookieeJedi]

Those triple grips are good hooks. I haven't bought a new rogue in a long time (1996), so maybe the hooks have improved. I use mine until the paint is worn off, then I repaint them. You are right about some other companies also being guilty of cheap hooks, I just got 2 Bomber crankbaits, an A6 and a fat-free fry. The fry had really small, cheap wire hooks and the split rings were terrible. The A6 had really good hardware, and all the hooks need is a little red dye.

[Bluebasser86]

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the new STX by Luke "E" Strike. Great jerkbait and suspends much better out of the box than it's $25-30 competitor. Catches fish at least as well, too.

Don't know how I forgot about them, I just put over 30 fish in the boat with one 3 days ago . Very good baits and they casts way better than the old rogues. I replace the hooks on mine but they got the split rings taken care of them now so the hooks are the only tweaking you have to do.