Hi guys, I'm a fisherman who fishes with cranks/jerks. The problem is, I can't tell which one is what, and I think they are fished differently. I will be purchasing a new rod and reel for these, so knowing what they are will help my decision. Can someone please tell me how to determine which lures are crank and which are jerk, and how to fish with each one? (I tried attaching a photo, but it said the file was too large. If someone could tell me how to lower the size of my picture that would be great.) Thanks!

How to fish is located in the sticky threads at the top of this page: 

and

also, articles here:

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing-lures-articles/

 

Jerkbaits are generally long and slender and cranks are a little shorter and stubbier.  

Jerkbaits are long and slender, often called minnow baits (Original Rapala) with short, narrow lips and most cranks are egg shaped and can have bills of different lengths and shapes.

Crankbait: Blue/White with Yellow stripe (the one pictured has a squarebill)
Jerkbait: The other one

Difference: To me, I categorize one as a twitchbait (Jerk) and one as a wobble (crank).

How to fish it: Google is your friend (as is Youtube)