Bass fishing with jerk bait

Jerk baits are very fun and productive artificial bass fishing lures. Jerk baits are basically plastic minnow or shad shaped "worms", designed to float and sink slowly, they appear to be an injured bait to the lunkers when worked properly.

First you must have a good, stiff, medium/heavy fishing rod to ensure a good hook set when the bass takes the bait.

A good quality braided fishing line is best since it doesn't stretch like monofilament fishing line does.

As far as fishing reels go, everyone has their own preference when working a jerk bait. I prefer a baitcasting fishing reel, it takes most people about 10 minutes to learn how to use one properly and at least 10 years to get good enough with one to hit your target everytime without getting a backlash, but worth it.

Rigging Your Jerk Bait

These plastic fishing lures are weedless when rigged properly. I prefer a 1/0 worm hook for jerk bait 5" and smaller, a 2/0 worm hook for 6" and larger jerk baits. First determine what is the top and bottom, front and back of the jerk bait, grasp it firmly near the front and insert the point of the hook into the head of the lure. You want to push the hook about 1/4" or just slightly more into the bait, then allow the point to exit at the bottom of the lure and pull the head up onto the worm hook shank so that the line appears to be protruding straight from the head of the jerk bait.

Most jerk baits have a small slit that the hook point and barb rests inside of the "belly" making it weedless, others you just simply pierce the bottom of the lure slightly so that the point is inside the plastic lure. This makes it weedless as well, the rest of the hook remains exposed and acts as a ballast to keep the lure upright.

Choosing The Best Color And Size

The whole color thing with bass fishing has always seemed kind of backwards to me, but what do I know, I am human. I have figured out what they like anyways, that seems to be the important part in this discussion. The main rule of thumb when bass fishing and trying to decide what color to use I have found, goes like this: The brighter the sky and clearer the water, the brighter the color of your lure, the darker the sky and darker the water, the darker you will want your lure. I know, sounds backwards to me too, but trust me, that is how it is.

Every manufacturer of jerk bait seems to have plenty of good colors to choose from, I prefer for all around use, a 5" jerk bait that carries the color name of "Arkansas Shiner" for most ponds, lakes, streams, rivers, and canals here in Southwest Florida.

Techniques

Just as the name implies; jerk the bait as you reel it in the imitate a wounded fish or worm. Just a flick of the wrist timed between turning the reel inward will create an erratic pattern that will excite the bass into striking.

If you would like to weed-out the smaller fry, I suggest a larger caliber jerk bait, they seem to draw out the big boys!

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