This article walks through 3 crucial things on bass fishing jerk baits to help you catch more fish. Undoubtedly, learning how and when to use a jerkbait bass fishing can be crucial to your success as an angler. Almost every year a professional angler ends up winning some tournament with a jerkbait tied on to the end of one of their rods. Yet, catching a bass on a jerkbait can be quite a challenge. Here’s the things I’ve learned to use a jerkbait succesfully when bass fishing. This post contains the best jerkbaits, when to use them, and some video to help you see what to do to catch bass on a jerkbait. Read on to soak in the stoke!
The jerkbait is considered one of the most lethal baits in bass fishing. It also has a reputation for catching beastly bass. Here are a few key determining factors to help you identify prime time for fishing a jerkbait. When any, or all of these conditions exist, give the jerkbait a rip for bass fishing.
The natural suspending action of a jerkbait imitates bait fish dying off in cold water. Although a jerkbait will catch bass all year, oftentimes the colder water will make it a better choice for getting bites than some of your other techniques. When water temperatures are around 50 – 60 degrees a jerkbait is often a great option.
The max you can get a good jerkbait to go is 12 – 15 feet. This can be a problem if the bass are hanging deeper than 20 feet. Especially, if the water is cold. They are just not as apt to swim up and eat from those depths because of the bass’s slow metabolism. The jerkbait ideally is the most effective when bass are shallower in cold water sitting in about 5 – 12 feet of water.
The jerkbait is a visual clear water feeding bait. This is why it works so well on smallmouth. In dirty water the bass are unable to see the dying movements as well. A jerkbait seems to perform better in stained to clear water conditions. Many jerkbaits come with rattles to help attract attention in those dirtier water conditions, but often when things are too dingy you are probably better off with a bladed bait of some kind.
Jerkbait bass fishing can be a ton of fun. It’s a quick ripping and reeling technique that can often produce some violent strikes. Here are a few key things to consider to make sure you are fishing this bait effectively.
It’s important the jerkbait sits completely at rest after you have ripped it a few times through the water. The natural suspending dying action of the bait not moving is what triggers that easy meal response in a bass. Make sure your line is slack on the top of the water when the bait is on the pause. Ripping a jekrbait on a semi-slack line will provide the bait awesome action. Plus, it will provide your jerkbait that imperative pause when you are through jerking it around.
You can rip a jerkbait in two different ways. The first way is just a quick rip out to the side of your body. The other popular way is to point your rod at the bait, and rip your rod tip down. I’ve noticed the majority of professional anglers use the later because it is a little easier on your body. Varying the number of rips, and how you jerk the bait will help you dial in to what the bass like.
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An important concept to understand to improve your bass fishing overall is why bass like jerkbaits. Oftentimes, a bass will strike a jerkbait at two different points. A lot of strikes will occur on the pause as the bait is suspended. The bait just appeals as an easy meal sitting their out in the open not moving. The other strikes will come when you quickly rip the bait away from the bass after the jerkabait has been suspending. This immitates a baitfish fleeing from a bass, and will trigger them to lunge out and grab it before it gets away.
Here is a break down of what happens when observing bass behavior with fishing jerkbaits. The initial rips get the bass’s attention. Next, when the bait sits still the bass will typically swim closer to examine it. Oftentimes, when the bass is examining the bait and it starts jerking away a bass instinctively reacts to eat it. Wallah! You’ve just kraked a bass on a jerkbait!
My personal best largemouth bass was caught at Lake Powell on a jerkbait. It was 26″ long and weighed in around 8lbs. For sure I’m on the jerkbait train for bass fishing. Give em a rip!
There are 100’s of jerkbaits out on the market for bass fishing. The one that works the best is the megabass vision 110. The action of it out of the package can’t be beat. The other important key is the colors of this bait. In my opinion they are un-matched by any other jerkbait manufacturer. Color is crucial with a visual bait like a jerkbait. The megabass vision 110 is an expensive jerkbait, but it works. Just start jerkbait fishing with the megabass vision 110 and you won’t go wrong.
Here is some video action of me out fishing a jerkbait. Unfortunately, I goofed up the camera angle in this clip. A lot of the action is kind of cropped out because of using the narrow camera angle. I should of been using the super view feature on my go-pro. Still though, it turned out well enough to where you can learn a lot and see how to fish a jerkbait. This was filmed at a time when all the above factors where in play which made the jerkbait a solid option on the water.
Hopefully, you enjoyed this post. More importantly I hope this information will help you catch more bass! My mission is to weed through the jungle to bring you the best stuff for bass fishing. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog for updates on fishing tips to elevate your game, and trip reports to see these techniques in action.
As Always,
Stay Stoked!
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2 Responses
I can’t afford the megabits 110. There are other manufacturers that make quality jerkbaits. What other mfgs do you recommend??
Honestly, I’ve used rapala, and lucky craft but have only caught a couple fish on them. The megabass is the only one I use. I’d be open to others if there where any I knew of that worked as well.