Some of my biggest and most aggressive fish have been caught on jerkbaits. In fact, when I'm fishing, the old saying is "when all else fails, try a jerkbait". There's good reason for that. They can be fished just about anywhere, anytime and still catch some fish or at least find fish. That is why they are a staple bait in my tackle box. No matter where I go, I have jerkbaits with me. Why have I had so much success with them? Well, hopefully I can help you have more success with jerkbaits too in this article.

First off is when to use jerkbaits. My favourite time to use them is early morning or late afternoon, when the fish are feeding heavily near the surface or on the surface. In these situations I will use dark coloured jerkbaits and cast them next to or past potential fish-holding cover. After letting them sit and allowing rings of wake to disappear, if I haven't had a hit yet I'll just use a simple stop & go motion with the bait. This is where the name "jerkbait" comes from. I simply jerk bait with ample force to get it to lurch forward a foot or so, reel up the slack, and keep repeating all the way to the boat.

If the fish are feeding right on top, you could even throw the jerkbait to the area where you see them feeding, and just twitch very lightly along the top until a bass takes it! This is a very deadly tactic on big schooling smallmouth but it will also work for largemouth when they're busting shad, smelt or shiners on the surface.

Jerkbaits can also be used in the afternoon or "high light" times. Here, you cast to shady areas where bass will be keeping their eyes out of the sun, or for smallmouth use a deeper diving suspending jerkbait over deep water humps, rocks, weeds, etc. Once again, my favourite retrieve is the stop and go style. This imitates a dieing baitfish really well, and I never met a bass that couldn't resist dieing food! Remember that during summer the bass will likely be ready to jump on your bait, but you have to get it close to them quietly so that they don't spook, especially shallow largemouth.

In the fall these baits can be deadly too. In early fall, bass go on a feeding binge, hitting any forage they can get. Dieing forage will never be ignored at this time, so a stop & go retrieve with a suspending jerkbait will do wonders for you. If suspending isn't your ticket, try a topwater style retrieve, or sometimes just reeling it slowly JUST below the surface will catch fish.

I don't have any experience fishing in springtime for bass since it's illegal in my area, but from what I've read and watched on movies, jerkbaits are deadly springtime baits too. I don't think there is a time of year when these things won't catch fish! Some of my other techniques for jerkbaits are:

Dead Sticking

Great for bass in windy conditions. As simple as it sounds too. All you do is cast your bait out into a choppy area, and just let it sit. Don't give it any action whatsoever besides the natural action the waves give it. I like to use this when fishing rip-rap, breakwalls or weedlines in heavy wind.

Chunkin' Through The Thick Stuff

When you think of jerkbaits, you think of fairly open water. There's a good reason for that, they are usually equipped with 3 treble hooks and are very snag-prone if retrieved through areas with heavy brush, logs, etc. But the best way to catch big bass is to throw them things they've never seen before. I mean chucking those jerkbaits where bass wouldn't expect to see them! What you need to first do is remove all of the factory-provided treble hooks. Then, add a single, weedless hook to the back of your bait. Simple enough, now you have a relatively snag-free lure! If your jerkbait doesn't run properly, add a suspen-dot or strip to the bottom of the bait. Now you can throw it right back where the big boys live! You will have a lot of missed fish, but if you miss him, chances are he'll come back and hit it again until he gets hooked. Great on bass after cold fronts.

Straight Retrieve

Just cast it out and reel it in! Good when bass are active, obviously. Also, if cranked slowly along the surface it can be deadly in shallow water situations. I like to use this when bass want slim profile-type forage in shallow water (since most jerkbaits are shallow running), or you can use this technique with deep-diving jerkbaits for suspended or deep bass.

Weed Whackin'

Find some weeds 1-2 feet below the surface. Use your jerkbait like normal until you start getting into the weeds... then just start ripping it as hard as you can through the weeds. Sometimes bass can't resist this method! Great when fish are active, or when they're inactive and you want a reaction strike.

Well those are just some of the ways that jerkbaits can be used. Now I'll talk about the equipment you need for jerkbaiting. I prefer a 6'6" Medium action pistol grip baitcasting rod, teamed with a Medium 5:2:1 gear ratio baitcasting reel and 10-14lb. test line. I like a softer tip most of the time, unless I'm using the "weed whackin" method, in which case I would want a fast action tip. Remember to use a methodical sweeping motion when setting the hook, and not ripping it as hard as you can. It's quite possible that with too hard of a hookset, you will rip the bait right out of the fish's mouth. Be ready with some needle nose pliers since it can also be a tricky and painful task to remove 3 treble hooks from a fish's face, especially in my area where northern pike are a possibility all the time.

And that should be all you need to begin catching fish on the versatile jerkbait. There are plenty of other techniques out there to use, but my favourite part of jerkbaiting is trying out my own new things. I'm always thinking of ways to edit my lures in some form or even just edit retrieve styles so that I'm showing the bass something different. I also recommend having a Color C Lector, because it will tell you which colour is most visible to the fish at a given time.

As always, stay safe out there, have fun and catch lots of fish! Good luck and tight lines!