Jerkbaits – Kings of Spring

One of the deadliest baits for spring bass is the jerkbait. There is something about that stop-and-go action that really triggers fish in cool-water to bite.

Jerkbaits designed for bass comes in three general models—floaters, sinkers and suspending. When conditions are tough, the suspending models are much better than floaters or sinkers. However, when fish are active, you’ll often find that bass respond to baits fished more aggressively.

I like to fish jerkbaits on fluorocarbon line, which not only sinks (giving the bait subtle movement); it offers the advantages of low/zero visibility and a bit of stretch. I typically fish jerkbaits on a spinning rod for ease of casting and cast with the wind for distance. As soon as the bait splashes down, I reel quickly to take it subsurface, and then make a series of rapid downward sweeps of the rod to get the bait down to its maximum diving level.

Once there, pause the bait and let it hover for a few seconds, before retrieving it with single strokes of the rod tip and plenty of pausing between each stroke. In really cold water (40-45 degrees), deadsticking the bait can be deadly when nothing else works.

Bass pro Steve Daniels taught me an important tip for fishing jerkbaits that has served me very well over the years. He recommends introducing a small amount of slack line before making the jerking motion. This makes the bait move more erratically.  You want to hear a small “hiss” with every down-stroke on the rod.

Smaller bass tend to respond better than big fish when fishing these baits more aggressively, but I have taken some giants on jerkbaits, especially once I get the pattern really nailed down (including bait color and getting the bait to suspend with little or no movement up or down). The bites can be surprisingly aggressive at times, while other times you’ll feel nothing until you attempt to twitch the bait. That’s why I like to fish jerkbaits with a soft-tipped 6-6 rod when fishing from a bass boat or a seven-footer when fishing from a deep-V.

Lure designer Patrick Sebile is known for his unique baits, and his two jerkbait models are no exception.

Take the Stick Shad, for example. This bait has a modified shad profile, but also does a great job mimicking other key forage species like shiners. The bait doesn’t feature a diving lip like most other jerkbaits—and it reacts much differently as well. When twitched or jerked with a slack line, it darts from side to side. And the lure is liquid filled—this makes the bait tail-heavy on the cast for better distance and accuracy.

The Sebile Bonga Jerk is another interesting bait. It features a pronounced keel that offers very little friction in the water so the bait glides long distances with each down-stroke, yet it keeps the bait stable during high-speed retrieves that trigger bites from species like stripers.

The profile is deep like a number of key forage species in fresh and saltwater, and the larger models are built tough to land big-powerful species. The Bonga Jerk comes a floating model only and three sizes….from 3 ¾ to and 6- and-a- half inches.

There are times when nothing works better than jerkbaits. If you don’t fish them, or fish them often, you may want to give them a serious look.–Steve