snowplow Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Guys, I'm not that familiar with a jitterbug, but I'm trying to learn about that blade on the front. Do these things walk side to side or pop like a popper? I'm trying to figure out if that blade just pushes water or if it acts like a bill on a wake bait? Is it outdated? Are there better ways to do it? Or does it do something different than everything else? My goal is to find the bill that makes a wake bait have the widest wobble. Maybe this is or isn't that option but either way I've had these questions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User GreenPig Posted January 31 Super User Share Posted January 31 The jitterbug sashays side to side on the retrieve. It is outdated but a Musky Jitterbug at night can be phenomenal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipzLipz Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Outdated but very underrated. G700 is the Musky & next size down G650 5/8oz will also get hammered.🥷 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Functional Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 5/8 double jointed black jitterbug at night HAMMERS. GreenPig is right though it wobbles side to side in a straight line and gives a blub blub blub blub sound as it does it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User WRB Posted January 31 Super User Share Posted January 31 Jitter Bug has a unique gurgling blooping sound and surface crawling action no other lure has duplicated in decades. Very simple to use as you cast and retrieve without adding any action other than stop and go, the key to it’s popularity for over 75 years. Up grade the hooks. Tom 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipzLipz Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 The sound is pretty subtle IMO, especially the Musky version for its size. Best I could find quickly: Yes, as @WRB said, upgraded hooks & adding split rings are good ideas as well. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowplow Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 Okay, here's another question. Different but kind of the same idea. Take a wake bait bill and then compare that to a walking bait that just kind of has that open mouth. I'm also not really familiar with either of these baits. I've never done a whole lot of topwater. Which one goes wider on a steady retrieve? Which one goes wider when just jerking and pausing? What bill design or what lure gives the widest wobble? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newriverfisherman1953 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Jitterbug is dated but I wouldn’t say it’s outdated. It will flat catch ‘em. 🤪👍 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smells like fish Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Throw you a big Spro rat and hang on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogface Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 1/31/2024 at 5:12 PM, newriverfisherman1953 said: Jitterbug is dated but I wouldn’t say it’s outdated. It will flat catch ‘em. 🤪👍 I use them often. I have not seen another person fishing them in years. The obvious advantage is the fish have not seen it before. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fin Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 A jitterbug can skitter across the surface of the water, like a spider running on the surface, or some other insect flying just above the surface, touching the water. It's not like a wake bait that swims IN the water, although if you work a jitterbug slowly enough, it kind of swims like a wake bait, and yes it will wobble a lot. A wake bait is just a vertical lip. I don't think there are any special shapes that make it wobble more. Something like a Jackall Mikey, that is jointed, will appear to have the most wobble. Some jitterbugs are jointed too. On 1/31/2024 at 1:52 PM, snowplow said: Take a wake bait bill and then compare that to a walking bait that just kind of has that open mouth. I'm also not really familiar with either of these baits. I've never done a whole lot of topwater. Which one goes wider on a steady retrieve? Which one goes wider when just jerking and pausing? Not all walking baits have an open mouth. The ones that do have an open mouth are to make it "pop", or make it appear the lure is a small fish biting at something on the surface, when the lure is jerked sporadically. Some walking baits can go up to a couple feet side to side when worked by someone with experience. A wake bait doesn't really travel side to side like a walking bait. A wake bait travels in a straight line, but the tail of the lure swings. You need to spend some time on youtube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipzLipz Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 @Dogface I usually throw them every year, post spawn & either evening or late at night. Both the musky (now marketed as XL or Magnum) & next size down (650 - 3" 5/8oz) non-clicking version. I also have a weedless version with 2 fixed hooks coming out of the tail & rubber or vinyl skirt. Haven’t fished it in years but I should. When a bass does decide to hit one, they absolutely hit it to kill it. Both jitterbugs & paddle foot frogs have received some of the most violent, hard surface strikes I’ve encountered while bass fishing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User WRB Posted February 4 Super User Share Posted February 4 Lake Fork Tackle Hissy Fit is a Jitter Bug design with a clear bill and designed with a frog hook plus CPS spring attach a worm etc as a tail. Knock offs come and go but the old Jitter Bug just keeps on gurgling along. Tom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogface Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 2 hours ago, RipzLipz said: When a bass does decide to hit one, they absolutely hit it to kill it. Both jitterbugs & paddle foot frogs have received some of the most violent, hard surface strikes I’ve encountered while bass fishing. I had a good friend who has long since passed away. We would fish a particular shallow lake all night. We both preferred Jitterbugs especially on moonless nights because they caught fish and because we could hear the chug-chug and the explosion when they were hit. Good times!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazoo Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 I've caught a lot of bass using a black Jitterbug. In a world of whopper ploppers and fake rats/birds/snakes they are a classic standby. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User WRB Posted February 5 Super User Share Posted February 5 TW categorized Jitter Bug as a wake Bait in lieu of a surface crawler that it is! The folding wind crawlers dates back to Heddon’s Crazy Crawler, everything in that category mimics that lure. Tom 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Catt Posted February 5 Super User Share Posted February 5 In the still of the night! That's when a Jitterbug shines. I know I'm a dumb Coonass but I thought wake baits were subsurface. 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User casts_by_fly Posted February 5 Super User Share Posted February 5 12 hours ago, WRB said: Lake Fork Tackle Hissy Fit is a Jitter Bug design with a clear bill and designed with a frog hook plus CPS spring attach a worm etc as a tail. Knock offs come and go but the old Jitter Bug just keeps on gurgling along. Tom The lunkerhunt yappa frog is a direct JB knockoff in a hollow body frog design. With as much as I loved fishing a jitterbug and a HB frog it was a no brainer to buy when I saw it. The reality is a bit more mixed though. On a steady retrieve it will waggle and burble, but nowhere near what a jitterbug does. The soft bill isn't crisp enough and I think the tail dampens the waggle. I might try cutting the tail off one and see. Its also light. I know the spec is 1/2 oz, but it fishes like something that's 1/4 oz. Its also temperamental about the retrieve speed. It needs 'slow' to catch the waggle rhythm and that can be good some times, but sometimes I want to cover a little more water with it and it can't. It also doesn't fish well as a frog. Too heavy of grass and the lip catches worse than a popping frog. I wish it was great, but its just not there. I've seen the hissyfit, but for $10 plus whatever the trailer adds, I'm not sold that its going to light up my world. 13 hours ago, RipzLipz said: @Dogface I usually throw them every year, post spawn & either evening or late at night. Both the musky (now marketed as XL or Magnum) & next size down (650 - 3" 5/8oz) non-clicking version. I also have a weedless version with 2 fixed hooks coming out of the tail & rubber or vinyl skirt. Haven’t fished it in years but I should. When a bass does decide to hit one, they absolutely hit it to kill it. Both jitterbugs & paddle foot frogs have received some of the most violent, hard surface strikes I’ve encountered while bass fishing. 38 minutes ago, Catt said: In the still of the night! That's when a Jitterbug shines. SHHHH!! Don't tell anyone else. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fin Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 2 hours ago, Catt said: I thought wake baits were subsurface. I guess by definition that's true, but I imagine every wake bait has been worked on the surface at least some of the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbmaine Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 Knew an old timer who would only bass fish at night. he would troll a jitter bug along the lake shore. always caught fish. Even today I keep jitter bugs on hand. First top water bass I caught was on a Jitter bug, 60 + years ago. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallser Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 I caught my first big bass, a 4+ pound fish, trolling a Jitterbug, at a local reservoir. It was run by the local electric company. We hadn't even gotten out of sight of the dock. Turned around went back in. Had the fish weighed and my picture taken to put on the photo board. They worked great on the local farm ponds I fished when I was in college in NW Tennessee. I still have them in my tackle box and use them when I put down my fly rod. All the ones I have now I picked up at local fishing flea markets for a dollar or two. Cleaned them up, put on new trebles, replaced the skirts on the ones that have them. They'll be making the trip with me to NE Ontario this summer. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulVE64 Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 I caught a bat at night on a jitterbug 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fin Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 55 minutes ago, PaulVE64 said: I caught a bat at night on a jitterbug That would not be fun to unhook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbirdsley Posted February 6 Share Posted February 6 i’ve caught some very nice small river smallies on jitter bugs around dusk. Dated but, they still catch fish. I believe it’s more of a situational lure though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_ Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 On 1/31/2024 at 12:34 AM, GreenPig said: The jitterbug sashays side to side on the retrieve. It is outdated but a Musky Jitterbug at night can be phenomenal. There is very cool episode on The Big Bass Podcast where Ken Duke literally breaks down how and why the Musky Jitter Bug is possibly the best big bass lure in history. I have a cedar version from the fifties I am planning to send to a painter to refurbish! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.