Jerkbait smallies

[singingdog]

I know there are some folks out there that excel with jerkbaits for smallies. I thought it would be good to share some Ontario specific (most of the articles out there are for other regions) jerkbait tips. Some specifics to consider:

1. Water temps

2. Lure selection/colour

3. Retrieve speed/cadence

 

Any other specifics that you are willing to share.

[fishindevil]

The big one for me the last few weeks has been depth !!!! Has made all the difference since August !!!!

[Pigeontroller]

In the clear waters of Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara, jerkbaits do well when the water is below 60 degrees(spring NY season)

 

#10 Xraps in white, Olive, yellow perch and silver.

 

Sometimes the key is the.......................pause.

Edited September 17, 2013 by Pigeontroller

[Old Ironmaker]

In the clear waters of Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara, jerkbaits do well when the water is below 60 degrees(spring NY season)

 

#10 Xraps in white, Olive, yellow perch and silver.

 

Sometimes the key is the.......................pause.

Bang on comment. Line clarity is key for us here on Erie as well. As the fish are coming from below, contrast from below a bait is greater and then the fish has a better chance of seeing the line I believe.

[Rich]

When I was growing up on the shore of Lake Erie it was commonplace, go to the pier early in the morning for sunrise. Cast the beach side of the pier with jerkbaits, work em fast, really really fast. We used to slam them some days. Occasionally two on the same bait would happen. This was all through summer and into mid-september. As it got later the pauses got longer. In late november we paused the jerkbait up to a full 30 seconds between twitches. Beware of pike.

 

I'm no expert on the subject but thought I'd share my limited experience.

 

Ripplin' Redfins were the hot bait for that when I was young.

[MCTFisher9120]

Vision 110's by Megabass. I was throwing the 110+ a slightly deeper version over 16-22 FOW this past Monday. Caught largies suspended in the deep water. Water temps were at 68 degrees every spot gave me 2 or 3 fish and many small pike.

 

I'm no pro this was one of my first times working Jerkbaits, I practiced a double twitch then reeling a ft or so, big twitches with the bait caster made the bait move 2-3ft to either side, incredible darting action.

 

6'8" Medium Ex-Fast Action Cumara on a Chronarch 50Mg.....10lb Fluorocarbon held up great I like Sunline FCSniper.

 

Cheers

 

MTBF

[musky_hunter]

I mainly use jerkbait in the fall for smallies, never had much luck in the largies. I like lipless for largies more.

 

Depending on lake i'm always throwing a Megabass 110 or OSP Rudra

 

Rods: Megabass XX Jerkbait Special and Simax TS Jerkbait

Reel: Megabass IS63 and Daiwa Fuego

Line: 20lb SX1 or 12lb FC Sniper.

[ah_long]

I sold off all my Vision 110 and I'm now moving to DUO 100 and 120SP, can't wait for their release of the 110SP and deeper diving versions

 

I like not only the action of the DUO SP jerks but also their ability to turn 180.. and losing them doesn't make me feel as bad as losing a 110

 

I'm throwing them on 30lb 832 w/ 10lb Sniper Leader, thinking about moving over to Seaguar InvisX for a little more stretch

 

In terms of color, you just gotta experiment. There are times you need to trigger a reaction strike rather than a feeding strike.

 

I'm using a Daiwa Sol on a Steez 631 rod

 

I'm actually thinking about getting a spinning rod to match up with my Stella 3000FE for jerkbait duties. This way, I can move from heavier JB to lighter ones without being restricted by the baitcaster.

 

I do mostly jerk pause, jerk jerk pause and try to identify a pattern for the day. On certain days, you need to rip it fast and suddenly kill it in order to trigger a strike.

Edited September 19, 2013 by ah_long

[singingdog]

Hmmm. I've been hearing about the Duo jerks. Any Ontario retailers for them?

[Dan668]

Luckestrike rc stx. On sale they cost 6 bucks. Switch out the hooks. They preform better than my vision 110

[msp]

Jerkbait smallies are very fun.

A couple of points

- a softer rod helps keep the fish pinned. I use a 7 ft extra fast medium action baitcast rod with a Calcutta 151 loaded with 30 # braid.

Sometimes switching to a medium action spinning rod with 20# braid if its windy

If there are no toothy fish around , sometimes I will use a 12# flouro leader. If pike and musky are around i will use a 50# flouro leader. If the smallies are very active , i will tie direct to 30# braid. sometimes this is a pain because the front hook gets tangled on the line especially when using the more eratic jerbaits like lucky craft amd megabass

- typically I start with a very fast retreive and cover water as quickly as possible. Trolling motor on high, jerk, jerk ,jerk with the occasional rip up. the odd rip up can cause a reaction strike. when the water temps drop like mid to late October, I will slow down considerably. Looooong pauses and slower jerks.

- Always keep an eye behind the bait as fall smallies typically school up and chase baits together.

- Always have a throw back bait ready. when they follow the bait to the boat and wont hit the jerkbait, throw a tube or grub out and you can usually pick up a couple of extra fish.

- Go back to basics......... especially when the water temps are getting very cold, smallies dont want the fancy eratic, expensive Japanese jerkbaits ( way too much action ) Standard Husky jerks and Rogues excell at this time

- Livewells can be a huge advantage at this time when they are schooled up. holding them in the livewell before leaving the school helps. released fish can spook the school making the other fish very weary. make sure you release them back to the lake !

[Jigger]

Was wondering the same thing. Also, I remember a fellow angler poining out that dressed trebles in the fall outdid bare jerks 9/10.

[JoshS]

Jerkbait smallies are very fun.

A couple of points

- a softer rod helps keep the fish pinned. I use a 7 ft extra fast medium action baitcast rod with a Calcutta 151 loaded with 30 # braid.

Sometimes switching to a medium action spinning rod with 20# braid if its windy

If there are no toothy fish around , sometimes I will use a 12# flouro leader. If pike and musky are around i will use a 50# flouro leader. If the smallies are very active , i will tie direct to 30# braid. sometimes this is a pain because the front hook gets tangled on the line especially when using the more eratic jerbaits like lucky craft amd megabass

- typically I start with a very fast retreive and cover water as quickly as possible. Trolling motor on high, jerk, jerk ,jerk with the occasional rip up. the odd rip up can cause a reaction strike. when the water temps drop like mid to late October, I will slow down considerably. Looooong pauses and slower jerks.

- Always keep an eye behind the bait as fall smallies typically school up and chase baits together.

- Always have a throw back bait ready. when they follow the bait to the boat and wont hit the jerkbait, throw a tube or grub out and you can usually pick up a couple of extra fish.

- Go back to basics......... especially when the water temps are getting very cold, smallies dont want the fancy eratic, expensive Japanese jerkbaits ( way too much action ) Standard Husky jerks and Rogues excell at this time

- Livewells can be a huge advantage at this time when they are schooled up. holding them in the livewell before leaving the school helps. released fish can spook the school making the other fish very weary. make sure you release them back to the lake !

 

I agree. I haven't fished fall smallies for the last two years so I'm no expert but one thing I noticed when using jerkbaits is not to fish them too slow unless the fish tell you to. I noticed ripping them good at first generally enticed more bites and less follows, most of the time. If they're not hitting that, slow down. I always had a tube,senko and dropshot rigged for the throw back. Fall smallies are awesome, especially when the footballs school up and fight for your bait.

[landry]

The luck e strike rc stick is a great cheap bait. Basically a vision 110 rip off with junk hooks.

I am gonna order some duos after hearing about them here. When is the 110 coming out?

[ah_long]

Hmmm. I've been hearing about the Duo jerks. Any Ontario retailers for them?

 

https://www.facebook.com/BassCityFishing?ref=hl

 

you guys might wanna wait off for DUO, from what I know, these guys should be doing a promo really soon!

Edited September 19, 2013 by ah_long

[ah_long]

All DUO stuff will be buy 1 get one half off (along with two other brands) from Sept 27~30, probably the best price I've seen including TackleWarehouse

[EC1]

I love fishing jerkbaits the most for smallies. If your jerkbaits suspend, the windier the day, the better. I believe that the windier days has the water stirring up more so that your jerkbait is not the only thing that is loud and crazy.

I believe a jerkbait is able to call up fish from distances about 20 feet until the cold really starts setting in. Then, you will need it very much in their face or near bottom.

Suspendots/strips are pretty important.

Know your jerkbait intimately, how hard you need to rip the bait, what it does on the pause.

Find out which of your rods you like best for jerkbaits. I've tried 7' MHM to 6'3MHF, 6'6MXF, 6'6MF. All work except you need to set your drag properly.