Suspending Jerkbaits

[fishin' fool]

Well this is a relm of bass fishing I have not dabbled into (surprisingly). I want to learn to fish suspending jerks for prespawn bass. I just need the basics right now. What jerks truly suspend, rod length and action, cadence of moving the jerk, suspend time, and most important, prespawn location of bass!! Just the basic now, I'll try filling in the gaps on my own. Good fishin

[BigBassin144]

First off, no suspending jerkbait will suspend perfectly all the time, it all depends of water temps, the cooler the water, the more the bait is likely to float because the water becomes more dense when it is cold.

As for rod length, 6'6" should work fine. I've heard people use shorter and one guy told me he used a 7' rod for a day then wished he had a shorter one. Anyways, I'd go with a ML-M power rod cause you want a limber tip to give the bai the right action and not a lot of backbone cause you don't want to pull the bait out of the fish's mouths.

As for Cadence, try different things, jerk, jerk, pause. jerk, pause. Etc. Is all about finding what the bass want. The same goes for the pause. I've read you can actually dead stick the jerkbaits, waiting up to a few minutes before moving them. (I don't have the patience for that).

I'm sure you already know some suspenders: XCalibur Xs4, Rapala X-Rap and Husky Jerk, Smithwick Suspending Rouge, etc. As for colors, My personal favorite is Clown, or something that resembles perch, (gold or actually perch if I can find it) cause there are a lot of perch in the reservoirs I fish.

As for location, I won't be much of a help there, the reservoirs I fish are moslty man-made above ground reservoirs for the little towns outside Toledo.

Hope This Helps!

BB

[BigBassin144]

Try givin' this a read.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/...t_fishing.html

BB

[carolina-rig-01]

B.B. hit the nail on the head. you can add suspend strips or dots to help make them suspend. i really like the lucky craft pointer, it's a high dollar bait but has great action and you won't find sharper hooks on a bait out of the box. another good jerkbait that is cheaper is the x-rap which B.B. mentioned.

[Cranebird]

Use a 5 gallon bucket and thermometer to put the tap water at the normal fishing temperatures drop the bait in head first and see how it suspends and then adjust it to suspends perfectly level in the water using the suspend dots.

Also you can alter the floating jerkbaits. a dot behind the front hook will give them more depth without altering the motion of the bait.a suspend dot to the tail section and it creates a wide irratic wobble. C-Bird Bait

[pignjig]

FF- Just a quick tip, Jackall Lures has come out with a couple of new jerkbaits that are deadly, too. Although, you can't go wrong with what them other fellers done suggested, either. Good luck!

-Pig

[Patrick Krueger, Jr.]

The X-rap has set the bar pretty high, IMO.

[BigBassin144]

I do like the X-Rap. They just need to make it in Rapala's new Yellow Perch color. That would be great. There are a lot of different brands out there, you just have to find one you like. Like C-Rig said, Lucky Craft makes one, as does Daiwa, Yo-Zuri, BPS and more.

BB

[Rebbasser]

In addition to the others a suspending Smithwick Rogue is a good bait, too, although I seem to do best on a Lucky Craft Pointer or an X-Rap.

[MississippiBoy]

Hey guys, a random thought just ran by and smacked me on the head. When using a fluke, could you add suspendots to have them, errr, suspend? The slow fall they have is very effective, but I'd like a soft suspending bait sometimes. The problems I see are

1. Getting it under the surface without a bill like the jerkbaits have.
2. Getting the dots to adhere to the fluke's body.

Like I said, just a weird thought that popped up. Any thoughts?
Go ahead, fire away...I've got a thick skin.

[BigBassin144]

Originally Posted by MississippiBoy

Hey guys, a random thought just ran by and smacked me on the head. When using a fluke, could you add suspendots to have them, errr, suspend? The slow fall they have is very effective, but I'd like a soft suspending bait sometimes. The problems I see are

1. Getting it under the surface without a bill like the jerkbaits have.
2. Getting the dots to adhere to the fluke's body.

Like I said, just a weird thought that popped up. Any thoughts?
Go ahead, fire away...I've got a thick skin.

If the Fluke already sinks, then wouldn't adding weight (suspendots) make it sink faster? Just thought I'd thorw that out there.

BB

[pignjig]

Mississippi- I don't have the hang of posting pics yet or I'd have one for the Jackall Mask. It sounds like what you're asking about with the fluke idea. Sorry about yakkin' about Jackall twice in one post, but I thought you might be interested. I've had some luck with them and I'm the world's worst jerkbait fisherman. Hope this helps- www.jackall-lures.com. I don't have a dog in this, just thought you might find it interesting!

Good luck!

-Pig

[BigBassin144]

Pig, read, the post about the State Worm Rig, I just explained to Moose the easiest way I've found to post pics.

BB

[pignjig]

You sure did, BB. I should probably pm you later though 'cause I'm a dunce as far as computer stuff. Thanks for the help

-Pig

[BassAddict]

I love suspending jerkbaits. I've had my best luck on Rogues and Husky Jerks. I'm giving the X-Rap and LC Pointers a try this Spring. I've also had good luck with the KVD jerkbait by Strike King. I mostly use clown, silver black or blue back. In the LC I have American Shad and I have a blue back herring color X-rap. I'll be chunking them this weekend for sure! I fish them with a long pause 3-8 seconds when the water is below 55. I will fish it a little more erratic and with a shorter pause when the water is above 55. I love a jerkbait for early Spring no doubt!!!

[Cranebird]

[Bob Smith]

It's hard to beat the old standby, Rogues are the benchmark in my opinion. Yesterday evening I caught a couple of spotted bass out of Lake Allatoona on the Chrome/Blue back suspending rogue. They are not what I would call a neutral buoyancy bait because they tend to rise slowly, for most applications that is ok. The fish came up out of 7-8' of 52 degree water to nail the bait.

[MississippiBoy]

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

If the Fluke already sinks, then wouldn't adding weight (suspendots) make it sink faster? Just thought I'd thorw that out there.

BB

Awww, I had it ack-basswards...For some stoopid reason, I was thinking suspendots were bouyant, and would make the fluke suspend. But they're weighted, so they would indeed make it fall faster. I'm gonna go hide my face in shame now.

[Cranebird]

Hey Piggy n jiggy, How durable are those mask lures ? have you used the squirrel lure yet ? I like them and the Evergreen brand kicker eater.The Megabass live X leviathon is probably my favorite suspending stick bait except here in the colder water it will slowly sink on the suspend pauses. C-Bird

[zooker]

x-rap's a double dipper bait iffin i ever seen one...fresh water salt water it pretty much covers it all...


zooker

[lunker-lander]

Originally Posted by MississippiBoy

Hey guys, a random thought just ran by and smacked me on the head. When using a fluke, could you add suspendots to have them, errr, suspend? The slow fall they have is very effective, but I'd like a soft suspending bait sometimes. The problems I see are

1. Getting it under the surface without a bill like the jerkbaits have.
2. Getting the dots to adhere to the fluke's body.

Like I said, just a weird thought that popped up. Any thoughts?
Go ahead, fire away...I've got a thick skin.

Try worm nails or spikes chopped in half, and inserted in the body.

-Lunk-