So I've been dabbling with jerkbaits. Are the like squarebills, where you just what you like and throw'em and if the fish want a squarebill they will hit them? I know that with jerkbaits there is floating vs suspending. Is it simple as pick what I like in the color I like and throw them?

 

I have a couple Original floating minnows, but I don't think of them as jerkbaits even though they are.

 

I have a 1/4oz Rapala Ripstop I found.

 

I have an 1/8oz X-Rap I found.

 

I have a couple of Rebel and others that were gifted to me.

 

Jerkbaits are somewhat confusing to me, but since I have the soft jerkbait, AKA fluke, bite down pretty good, I think I can handle it. I've been just working them like I work flukes.

It’s how the lure is retrieved and you can jerk retrieve the original Rapala minnow. What changed the jerk bait definition is suspending minnow lures like Smithwick Rogue. The Rogue would “walk the dog” underwater and stay at the depth you started. This created the “jerk” bait category, before this they were called “rip” baits. 
The Japanese refined the lures with Lucky Craft Pointers followed by Megbass with new shape 110.

To effectively walk the dog jerk bait you rod should be around 6’8” MF that allows the downward jerk motion.

For what it’s worth the old Smithwick Suspending Rogue catches a lot of to this day.

Tom

The X Rap is a killer lure.  Its beauty is that it can be fished a number of ways that produce…steady retrieve, stop and go, twitches, jerks.  It suspends on the pause, and its feathered rear treble is a real tease.  Though I’m targeting river smallies, it has caught quite a few walleye and several muskie.  It is, in my opinion, a must have lure.

Snap, snap, pause. Repeat. They hit it on the pause. The colder the water, the longer you should pause.

 

It takes some cadence to get the retrieve down. Once you dial it in, it’s a very effective presentation. Took me several seasons to get the hang of it.

 

 

I definitely have my PB with a jerk bait. After watching Hank Cherry win the bass master classic, of course I went out and bought a few Berkeley STUNNA’s. I have the 110 that goes 6-10’ as a suspending jerkbait. I love them. PB on it. 🤩

And for me, when that LMB hit that STUNNA, it was soo hard, almost as good as a top water blowup. It hit on the pause, smoked it!!  😂

Jerkbaits are my jam.

They have a special place in my heart and also take up quite a bit of space in my rig.

Early- and late-season smallies can be complete suckers for a jerkbait;

including some real bruisers.

Like any technique I fish, I can make it as simple or as complicated as I want.

This is one where I've gone WAY down the rabbit hole.

Specific rods, reels, line, terminal tackle, where & when to fish them,

might just be scratching the surface.

It was a personal choice but it's paid off for me a few times. 

Or you could simply cast one out and reel it back, that works sometimes as well.  

Have fun and good luck.

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

46 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Jerkbaits are my jam.

They have a special place in my heart and also take up quite a bit of space in my rig.

Early- and late-season smallies can be complete suckers for a jerkbait;

including some real bruisers.

Like any technique I fish, I can make it as simple or as complicated as I want.

This is one where I've gone WAY down the rabbit hole.

Specific rods, reels, line, terminal tackle, where & when to fish them,

might just be scratching the surface.

It was a personal choice but it's paid off for me a few times. 

Or you could simply cast one out and reel it back, that works sometimes as well.  

Have fun and good luck.

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

That was a great video A-Jay!!!   I can’t believe the quality and quantity of stuff you have. Definitely makes me feel better that I see some of my products in your collection. 
 

Strike King and ZMAN plastics. 
Suffix 832 Advanced Superline on both my main reels, 1 spinning and 1 casting. 
 

Thank you for sharing with us, really enjoyed watching that!!

13 hours ago, gim said:

 

 

 

That girl is P H A T fat.

 

I have a feeling her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.

12 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Jerkbaits are my jam.

 

Specific rods, reels, line, terminal tackle, where & when to fish them,

might just be scratching the surface.

 

 

Assuming you are fishing the Megabass Visions, do you swap out the hooks?

 

They seem very sticky to me right out of the package but it seems like some don't like them.

 

Thanks!

Lots of good info found here. 

 

2 hours ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

Assuming you are fishing the Megabass Visions, do you swap out the hooks?

 

They seem very sticky to me right out of the package but it seems like some don't like them.

 

Thanks!

Yes, I change hooks AND hardware.

There's some additional info here . . .

 

A-Jay

Thanks everyone for sharing all this information. I'm still working through it.

 

I target largemouths. How does that change things in regards to my use of jerkbaits?

47 minutes ago, Bazoo said:

Thanks everyone for sharing all this information. I'm still working through it.

 

I target largemouths. How does that change things in regards to my use of jerkbaits?

A bass is a bass when it comes to jerk baits. They all respond to floaters, suspenders & sinkers. Fast retrieves or slow retrieves all work based on the fishes mood. Just keep trying until you figure it out. And remember to mix it up until you find out what is working.   

Largemouth love jerkbaits just like a smallmouth does. Some of my biggest winter largemouth have fallen for jerkbaits, and some of my best number days in the cold weather months have been on them also. They're probably one of the baits I'm the biggest believer in color making a difference, because the fish get to look at them so much when you're doing long pauses. There's days when slight changes in color, retrieve (rythme, speed, number of jerks, distance of jerks, how hard you pull, ect), size of bait, suspending vs sinking, the list really goes on the variables that can impact how productive a jerkbait may be on a given day. When you get the right combination though, it can really be lights out and that slack line "tick", or having them just pull the slack out of your line is so much fun. 

1 hour ago, Bazoo said:

I target largemouths. How does that change things in regards to my use of jerkbaits?

 

Only thing I can think of would be matching the hatch.

 

Smallmouth guys might like a perch color while a largemouth guy might like more of a bluegill color.

 

Just figure out the forage in your waters.

14 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

 They're probably one of the baits I'm the biggest believer in color making a difference, because the fish get to look at them so much when you're doing long pauses. There's days when slight changes in color, retrieve (rythme, speed, number of jerks, distance of jerks, how hard you pull, ect), size of bait, suspending vs sinking, the list really goes on the variables that can impact how productive a jerkbait may be on a given day. When you get the right combination though, it can really be lights out and that slack line "tick", or having them just pull the slack out of your line is so much fun. 

Totally agree with this ~

A huge part of my addiction to fishing these baits is how angler input has a huge effect on the bite.

I just love persuading a big fish to bite.

A-Jay

 

This is a great thread.

 

I would like to ask for information about how to choose between floating, suspending, and sinking lures?

 

In Florida because of the incredible density of vegetation I have to deal with, I primarily go with floating and suspending and avoid the sinking because it can quickly get tangled up in the vegetation. So I have generally thought keeping my lures from sinking into it was the way to go.

 

And if I had to pick one, it would be the suspending lures first and floating second and sinking almost never.

 

I was wondering how others approached this decision?

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Totally agree with this ~

A huge part of my addiction to fishing these baits is how angler input has a huge effect on the bite.

I just love persuading a big fish to bite.

A-Jay

 

That's what it is all about. 

3 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Largemouth love jerkbaits just like a smallmouth does. Some of my biggest winter largemouth have fallen for jerkbaits, and some of my best number days in the cold weather months have been on them also. They're probably one of the baits I'm the biggest believer in color making a difference, because the fish get to look at them so much when you're doing long pauses. There's days when slight changes in color, retrieve (rythme, speed, number of jerks, distance of jerks, how hard you pull, ect), size of bait, suspending vs sinking, the list really goes on the variables that can impact how productive a jerkbait may be on a given day. When you get the right combination though, it can really be lights out and that slack line "tick", or having them just pull the slack out of your line is so much fun. 

 

Jerkbaits are the only lure you have to carry a lot of different baits. Like you mentioned subtle differences make a major difference in the amount of fish caught. This is where those expensive JDM baits are worth the money.  Latest 2 favorites of mine are the Vision 110 Jr in FA Wakasagi and a Imakatsu RipRizer unknown color( color is written in Japanese).

 

Allen 

I've personally not had as much success targeting largemouth with jerk baits.  That doesn't mean they don't work though.

 

The smallmouth I am targeting with them are prespawn or in the fall and the water is cold, clear, and on big water; the largemouth are not necessarily prespawn, the water is murkier, warmer, and on smaller lakes.  Plus the lakes I target largies in are much weedier; treble hooks with weeds don't mix very well.  

 

There are obvious differences in why my results may not be the same.

 

@Bazoo other game fish species willingly strike them too.  I frequently catch walleyes mixed in with the smallmouth and northern pike when I am targeting largemouth.

 

 

I just watched a podcast on YouTube by Travis Manson (Smallmouth Crush) interviewing David Chong a well known tournament angler in Canada. His home water is lake Simcoe. His favorite smallmouth bait is the jerk bait. When asked what his PB smallmouth was he replied 8.7 lbs caught in late October on Simcoe fishing a jerkbait deep. He also mentioned that he had 39 smallies over 7lbs on Simcoe. This podcast was done 4 years ago. I can only imagine what his total over 7lbs is today. He really opened my eyes to his analytical thinking about electronics & smallmouth behavior towards jerk baits. 

2 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I just watched a podcast on YouTube by Travis Manson (Smallmouth Crush) interviewing David Chong a well known tournament angler in Canada. His home water is lake Simcoe. His favorite smallmouth bait is the jerk bait. When asked what his PB smallmouth was he replied 8.7 lbs caught in late October on Simcoe fishing a jerkbait deep. He also mentioned that he had 39 smallies over 7lbs on Simcoe. This podcast was done 4 years ago. I can only imagine what his total over 7lbs is today. He really opened my eyes to his analytical thinking about electronics & smallmouth behavior towards jerk baits. 

I happened to watch that one myself recently.

It's interesting how Mr. Chong discusses gets his jerkbaits down below 25 ft.  

Who would have guessed ?

😉

A-Jay

JBs IMO are one of, if not the deepest rabbit holes in fishing.  There are so many variables at play, it can make your head spin.  

As virtually impossible as they are to master in a lifetime, don't make the mistake of avoiding them.  JBs are a bait where the cost for a quality bait is validated, particularly in the winter. 

Like a jig or worm, start small. 

Unfortunately the price hike has made many JBs I consider to be of decent quality to cost nearly as much as the higher end baits.  

The 1/4oz rip stop is a good place to start.  The small size will put up numbers of both total fish and species.

The Husky Jerk is a good one too, but the hooks aren't very good, you need to change them.  

Its essential that you ensure the hooks are sharp.  its not as important now, but when it gets really cold, the slack line won't allow you notice the bite very well.  You want the hooks to be sharp enough to hook the fish as he tries to blow it out of his mouth or if he swipes at it.

It can be frustrating but stick with it. IMO catching fish on JB is about as fun as it gets.  

 

 

JBs IMO are one of, if not the deepest rabbit holes in fishing.  There are so many variables at play, it can make your head spin.  

As virtually impossible as they are to master in a lifetime, don't make the mistake of avoiding them.  JBs are a bait where the cost for a quality bait is validated, particularly in the winter. 

Like a jig or worm, start small. 

Unfortunately, the price hike has made many JBs I consider to be of decent quality to cost nearly as much as the higher end baits.

An X rap 08 is great place to start if you already have one or can get one for $12.

Husky Jerks are good when the water cools down, but the hooks arent great.

 

 

My apologies, accidental double post.

Please delete 

On 10/6/2025 at 10:58 PM, A-Jay said:

Like any technique I fish, I can make it as simple or as complicated as I want.

 

Yep.  JB's are my favorite technique and the one I've spent the most money on.  I have three JB specific rods and three deep Plano boxes for them.  From Lucky Craft to Megabass to Rapala to Berkely to ... you get it...   Right now I'm on a Rapala Mavrik kick.  They're a nice V110 'copy' and aren't $25 each.  Emerald shad has been my best performer this season.

 

I only carry a few when I'm on my kayak and the whole kit & kaboodle when I'm on the ranger.

 

I purchased most of my V110s from Kittery Trading Post in Maine.  They have flash sales throughout the year and their discount code always worked on Megabass products.