There's a ton of good threads on Jerkbaits, but I had a few questions about tuning them to improve the action. I don't have the luxury of owning a pool, so all I have is a bucket of water to gauge the Jerkbaits ability to suspend the way I want it. But, it got me thinking, how exactly do I want it to suspend? Dropping it in a bucket can't be like casting it out and reeling it down to desired depth. Plus, after an hour of messing around with suspend dots extra split rings and new hooks, I still cannot get the lures to suspend perfectly in my 5 gallon bucket. Eventually, after 10-20 seconds they either hit the bottom or rise to the top. I've been tuning the Luck-E-strike STX RC 4 in model and the smithwick rattling rogue 'pro model' suspending. Is perfect suspension what I'm looking for? Where is the best place to put those suspending dots? Should I use extra split rings instead? I'm going to work on a rapala husky jerk 10 and a Lucky Craft pointer 78 sp later today as well. Will these modifications affect their darting actions when jerked?

Nate... I think you'll need to downsize to a Pointer 65 for your 5 gallon bucket... sorry it was just too easy.  Water temp will determine whether your bait suspends and that variable is constantly changing (especially in the early Spring).  I start the season with enough suspend STRIP (not dot) on the belly of the bait to suspend level.  I carry a small retractable Xacto blade and slice off very small pieces of the suspend strip as the season progresses and the water warms.  This process needs to be done while fishing and can't be duplicated effectively in a bucket at home.

 

oe

Haha... That's a great idea with the strips and modifying on the fly. Thanks.

I like a slight nose down attitude on the pause (while the bait is suspended).