Suspending Jerk Baits

[gimruis]

Another vote for the MB 110 here, but I am in the same boat as @MN_Bassin24 with an abundance of aggressive pike waiting to bite them off.  Second choice would be the Berkley Stunna.

The rapala versions are fine as a cheaper alternative, but I would suggest changing out the trebles as they are very thin, light wire hooks.

 

Have not tried the Shimano World Minnow.  I am hoping Santa drops off one for me.

 

As for colors, I prefer natural colors like perch, bluegill, and bone (white).  A bluegill MG 110 worked very well for me last season all the way until early July.  I think jerkbaits generally were designed to be fished in colder water where you can pause them for a period of time, but they can also be fished fairly effectively when the water is warmer too.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Jerkbait fishing is only second to Topwater in terms of fun imho.

 

You are constantly active, constantly connected with your cadence and movement of the rod, you're moving lots of water.....I just lock in way easier on a Jerkbait.   Keeps you busy, thinking, and a bit less cold.   

 

Ultimately the thing that makes Jerkbaits so addicting is that when they work, they work so spectacularly!     You can pile up a fish count faster than perhaps any bait when they are working.   The majority of my memorable "numbers" days have been on a Jerkbait, and the best Bass fishing day of life was on a Jerkbait bite.      

[Dwight Hottle]

22 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Another vote for the MB 110 here, but I am in the same boat as @MN_Bassin24 with an abundance of aggressive pike waiting to bite them off.  Second choice would be the Berkley Stunna.

The rapala versions are fine as a cheaper alternative, but I would suggest changing out the trebles as they are very thin, light wire hooks.

 

Have not tried the Shimano World Minnow.  I am hoping Santa drops off one for me.

 

As for colors, I prefer natural colors like perch, bluegill, and bone (white).  A bluegill MG 110 worked very well for me last season all the way until early July.  I think jerkbaits generally were designed to be fished in colder water where you can pause them for a period of time, but they can also be fished fairly effectively when the water is warmer too.

 

Smallies like bone better than a bulldog. Match the hatch for color based on your bait sources or bright colors for off color water. 

 

16 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Jerkbait fishing is only second to Topwater in terms of fun imho.

 

You are constantly active, constantly connected with your cadence and movement of the rod, you're moving lots of water.....I just lock in way easier on a Jerkbait.   Keeps you busy, thinking, and a bit less cold.   

 

Ultimately the thing that makes Jerkbaits so addicting is that when they work, they work so spectacularly!     You can pile up a fish count faster than perhaps any bait when they are working.   The majority of my memorable "numbers" days have been on a Jerkbait, and the best Bass fishing day of life was on a Jerkbait bite.      

 

Well said except for the last sentence. I fixed it for you. The majority of my memorable "big fish/quality" days have been on a Jerkbait, and the best Bass fishing day of life was on a Jerkbait bite.      

[AlabamaSpothunter]

1 minute ago, Dwight Hottle said:

 

Smallies like bone better than a bulldog. Match the hatch for color based on your bait sources or bright colors for off color water. 

 

 

Well said except for the last sentence. I fixed it for you. The majority of my memorable "big fish/quality" days have been on a Jerkbait, and the best Bass fishing day of life was on a Jerkbait bite.      

Haha, that's true for sure about quality fish.     Two members in the "latest Catch pic" thread recently caught pigs off Jerkbaits.   One was over 7.5 and the other was 8.6  IIrc.   @Aaron-H  @thediscochef

[gimruis]

16 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Smallies like bone better than a bulldog. Match the hatch for color based on your bait sources or bright colors for off color water. 

I wasn't specifically referring to targeting smallmouth.  Although initially when I got into using a jerk bait, it was in the spring for brown bass.  The last couple of years I have found myself using them a fair amount for largemouth too.  The primary forage where I target smallmouth is perch, and the primary forage where I target largies is sunfish/bluegill.

[Spankey]

I can’t set here and talk a good jerkbait game because I’m not the king of jerkbaits. I never dedicated enough time at it to get good. I sort of fish them sort of like in between a jerkbait and a crankbait. It gets me fish. Rapala puts out a few variations that work well on the river. 

[drakesndrum]

Lucky Craft Pointer 78s, 97s, and 100s are great for river smallies as well.

[NavyToad]

Megabass 110s are my favorite, but not necessary to catch fish. Berkley Stunna and will catch plenty. Just ask Hank Cherry.

[thediscochef]

I get lucky with a jerkbait once in a while. I like the action of the sixth sense 106x a lot, but I've caught the most LMB on Academy brand jerkbaits. My PB was on a vision 110 in bone. A caught a 15ish-lb gar on a kvd300. Jerkbaits are tons of fun once you figure out how to get a bass to take one.  My best days are still on lipless and chatterbait, but we skipped moving bait season so I figure I'm gonna be throwing a ton of jerkbait until water gets to 55+ again (probably march)

[Smells like fish]

My first look at the Stunna. For $5.60 each it kills my soul that I didn’t get in when they had all the colors available. A good looking lure. Much thicker lip. Profile more like an Ito Shiner. Heavier built hooks. And a fish catching reputation. If I go to my shop these are like $16.something out the door and after the PF sale, I can’t pay that price ?

[Bankbeater]

I fish a variety of different jerkbaits, but most are husky jerks and rogues.  I usually stick to natural colors, or clown.

[Smells like fish]

I threw 5 brands recently in mid 40’s water.

 

The 110 silent slow floats. I added a #3 split ring to the back hook and it super slow sinks with a head down tail up looking great. 

 

A little slower was the Stunna sinking at approx 1” a second. Looks good.

 

An older Rick Clunn STX floated, not a slow float either, that sucker popped up fast.

The X Rap work’s amazing. Sits horizontal and maintains its depth. 

 

2 different Rogues were floating too, even though they’re suspending models. 
 

What’s all this mean? Nothing really. Just observations I thought I’d mention that I saw in my water with my lures and rig. 

[TnRiver46]

6 hours ago, Smells like fish said:

I threw 5 brands recently in mid 40’s water.

 

The 110 silent slow floats. I added a #3 split ring to the back hook and it super slow sinks with a head down tail up looking great. 

 

A little slower was the Stunna sinking at approx 1” a second. Looks good.

 

An older Rick Clunn STX floated, not a slow float either, that sucker popped up fast.

The X Rap work’s amazing. Sits horizontal and maintains its depth. 

 

2 different Rogues were floating too, even though they’re suspending models. 
 

What’s all this mean? Nothing really. Just observations I thought I’d mention that I saw in my water with my lures and rig. 

X rap has always suspended perfectly for me too, although I typically read that it won’t stop floating 

[DogBone_384]

On 12/21/2022 at 11:33 AM, Smells like fish said:

For $5.60 each it kills my soul that I didn’t get in when they had all the colors available.

 

TW has them on sale right now for $10.49 .... that's like getting gas for under $3.00/gallon today...

[Jar11591]

On 12/23/2022 at 8:01 AM, TnRiver46 said:

X rap has always suspended perfectly for me too, although I typically read that it won’t stop floating 

X-raps are the only jerkbaits I’ve used that perfectly suspend out of the package. All the others including Husky Jerks, Visions, STXs, and Rogues require some fiddlin’ to get a perfect suspend for me. 

[TnRiver46]

17 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

X-raps are the only jerkbaits I’ve used that perfectly suspend out of the package. All the others including Husky Jerks, Visions, STXs, and Rogues require some fiddlin’ to get a perfect suspend for me. 

Me 3! 
 

although instead of fiddling to get them to suspend, I just keep twitching 

[Blue Raider Bob]

On 12/20/2022 at 11:42 AM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Jerkbait fishing is only second to Topwater in terms of fun imho.

 

You are constantly active, constantly connected with your cadence and movement of the rod, you're moving lots of water.....I just lock in way easier on a Jerkbait.   Keeps you busy, thinking, and a bit less cold.   

 

Ultimately the thing that makes Jerkbaits so addicting is that when they work, they work so spectacularly!     You can pile up a fish count faster than perhaps any bait when they are working.   The majority of my memorable "numbers" days have been on a Jerkbait, and the best Bass fishing day of life was on a Jerkbait bite.      

Looking forward to the excitement of Jerkbait fishing but one question comes to mind......what makes it different from crankbait fishing? Seems like one and the same. Not knocking it all all but just wondering what to look forward to. Got my MG 110 in the mail and can't wait to chunk it somewhere!

[AlabamaSpothunter]

6 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Looking forward to the excitement of Jerkbait fishing but one question comes to mind......what makes it different from crankbait fishing? Seems like one and the same. Not knocking it all all but just wondering what to look forward to. Got my MG 110 in the mail and can't wait to chunk it somewhere!

Great question.    

 

Two big reasons for me.   Firstly, when the Jerkbait is working, many times it's REALLY working.   Many people will talk about their biggest numbers day being on a Jerkbait.   I remember as a kid catching a 100 smaller sized Bass in a Golf Course pond on a small Jerkbait.     All my buddies caught 10-20 fish, I was a legend to them after that day ?

 

I've had great crankbait bites, but nothing like what I've had numerous times with the Jerkbait.

 

Secondly, crankbait isn't nearly as exciting sans catching a big fish on them.    Outside of squarebills or some shallow running stuff, it can be a real chore to chunk and wind deep running cranks.   

Along this point, the connection you have with the jerkbait is much greater than the crankbait.   A jerkbait seems to keep my attention completely, adjusting pause rate, cadence rate, twitch strength, etc.   Lastly, fish tend to hit the jerkbaits like a train, much more sensorial hookup.   So many times with a Ccrank next thing I know I've got a fish on the hook.     

 

I think Jerkbaiting is more of an artform than Crankbaiting, I know some will disagree likely, but you are totally in command of a Jerkbait.   

 

Can't wait until you get on that hot jerkbait bite, it'll happen and you'll know exactly why some are so addicted to these things.

[A-Jay]

24 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Looking forward to the excitement of Jerkbait fishing but one question comes to mind......what makes it different from crankbait fishing? Seems like one and the same. Not knocking it all all but just wondering what to look forward to. Got my MG 110 in the mail and can't wait to chunk it somewhere!

Don't ask why !

Just hope & pray that at some point you are able to tap into

The Magic that is the omni powerful Jerkbait.

#brownbasscrack

btw- IMO, the Megabass ITO Vision 110 is a great place to start.

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

[roadwarrior]

On 12/27/2022 at 11:41 AM, A-Jay said:

IMO, the Megabass ITO Vision 110 is a great place to start.

 

                                       

[Blue Raider Bob]

On 12/19/2022 at 11:33 AM, KSanford33 said:

I've been a Rapala guy for decades, so my choice is the Shadow Rap, but I'm sure the other ones people have recommended work as well.

 

 As far as the river part goes, they absolutely work for that. I've found they work amazingly well if you can find some eddies. Let the bait get down to whatever depth you're looking for, then let the lure drift into the eddy, jerking it occasionally. It looks like a baitfish caught in the current and smallies love that. I've done it in the Mohawk River, which likely isn't as big as the Cumberland and Tennessee, but I'm sure the fundamentals are the same.

Tried the jerkbait in the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers the last two days. No luck. The rivers are low so there is not a lot of current to form eddys. I will keep trying.

Thanks

[Tennessee Boy]

8 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Tried the jerkbait in the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers the last two days. No luck. The rivers are low so there is not a lot of current to form eddys. I will keep trying.

Thanks

Current shouldn’t be a problem for the next few days.  ?

[TnRiver46]

9 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Current shouldn’t be a problem for the next few days.  ?

Hahaha. Believe it or not the flood gates in lenoir city closed sometime between Sunday and Tuesday. But it was sure storming, I’ll have to drive across again and will report back . 

[Tennessee Boy]

20 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Tried the jerkbait in the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers the last two days. No luck. The rivers are low so there is not a lot of current to form eddys. I will keep trying.

Thanks

How deep are you fishing them?  One lure you may want to add to your arsenal is a countdown Rapala.   It will slowly sink down to where you need it when the fish are deeper.   It’s a good bait for bluff walls on the rivers this time of year.   

[RHuff]

I have caught a lot of fish on the Rapala Shadow Rap and Shadow Rap Shad...

 

A good alternative is the Strike King KVD 300 series the smaller one with two trebles..  it's a good size that matches the forage where I live. A few colors I would recommend is the silver/black back, pro blue, and the white or white/yellow bottom...

 

Tip: If you want to see one of the most aggressive bites known to man try throwing one (Pro Blue) in warm clear water with smallmouth.... Cast it out and let it set for a second and start twitching it at warp speed constantly.... think let it hit the water, let it set for a second or two then jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk, jerk...... hard and fast all the way back to the boat....  

 

I would almost call the way the smallmouth attacks it as murder.....  The point is let it set to get their attention but try to work it fast enough that they don't get a good look at it... it drives them absolutely nuts..  this technique shines when you notice the fish coming up to your bait but dodging away at the last second...