The Come Back Jerk Bait

As we are progressing from fall into winter no bait has shown its ability to catch a fish this fall like a jerk bait. We are moving into the coldest water of the fall and the start of winter it reminds of the success I have had fishing jerk baits over the many years they have existed. I can easily state that jerk baits have been a consistent performer of my fishing over many years especially in the cooling water temperatures. To me there are some important tips that make a jerk bait work for you.

There is without a doubt some different performances with jerk baits, many are subtle so as you choose your favorite make sure your jerk bait has plenty of side-to-side movement, that it responds to subtle tip movement and that you can cast it into the wind. Long cast are paramount for a jerk bait to attract a bite, bass are followers and react when something moves your bait in a way that causes them to attack it. With a long cast you have more of an opportunity for the bass to react to a movement you caused.

The key performance of jerk bait is all controlled by your rod performance, reel speed and wrist action. You just have to make sure your rigged properly, medium heavy rod, 6:3:1 reel speed and the ability to move your wrist sharply, quickly and precisely. The next key is your pause; I find that the colder the water the more patient you need to be with your pause of the bait. I have seen some days in the coldest part of the winter that you should pause as long as 10 seconds. I also make sure that I vary the tip action so the movement changes constantly through the retrieve process. Many times I do quick snaps in a row, other I leave a pause in-between the snaps, and I vary the pause allowing 2 to 10 seconds giving the bait time to attract a fish. Lastly I change the depth of the bait with tip presentation; the higher you hold your rod tip the shallower the bait will go. Hold it down it goes deeper, keep it up it stays shallow, all part of finding a retrieve that catches fish!