Tip of the Week
From PA Certified Fishing Guide
Will Stryeski, fish@shawneeinn.com
By adding weight you can alter how fast jerk bait floats up between jerks, causing it to look more vulnerable to both aggressive and non-aggressive bass. You can even make it neutrally buoyant, allowing it to stay deeper during the retrieve. Neutrally buoyant bait also has a slower action, which generates more strikes from less active bass.
Jerk Baiting the Big D
From PA Certified Fishing Guide
Will Stryeski, fish@shawneeinn.com
By adding weight you can alter how fast jerk bait floats up between jerks, causing it to look more vulnerable to both aggressive and non-aggressive bass. You can even make it neutrally buoyant, allowing it to stay deeper during the retrieve. Neutrally buoyant bait also has a slower action, which generates more strikes from less active bass.
Jerk Baiting the Big D
Many Delaware River Anglers are familiar with muskie jerk baits. These baits are 7-11 inch slabs of balsam wood or modern plastic with hi-tech balance, level-suspension and better action – which make for a farther cast.
In either case, the jerk bait gets its erratic action from a snap of the angler’s wrist, which distinctively slingshots the lure forward in a jerking motion, and can be manipulated into a repertoire of strike-triggering presentations by a seasoned angler - hence the name jerk-bait.
Jerk baits for bass are similar in action and effectiveness but smaller.
Many slender float-diving or shallow-running two to six inch minnow-shaped plugs, in combination with float-suspending or sinking properties, can be used as jerk baits for bass even though their standard use is with conventional retrieves.
When conditions are right, jerk bait can be the most effective lure a Delaware River angler can cast. They allow you to cover water efficiently and help to locate active fish. When fishing jerk baits, I am always moving and casting to shoreline cover or structure. I do not, however, use jerk baits when I locate a concentration of bass, because more subtle presentations, such as synthetic eel patterns, can pay off for less active fish.
There are two types of bass jerk baits. The difference is in their action. One has a tight wobble while the other has a wide wobble. Unless outlined in the packaging, the only way to determine if it is a tight or wide wobble is to actually watch it in the water at varying speeds. Depending on the fish’s mood, a change from one style to another often results in more strikes.
Tight wobble jerk bait works well when bass want subtle action. When jerked, the action is smooth with short glides. A tight wobble can be worked with greater speed when you are really covering water quickly and giving the bait hard jerks.
Wide wobble plugs are great when bass want a lot of action. When jerked these baits move erratically with a very distinctive side-to-side wobble. They are excellent during the summer when the pace of the entire ecosystem is in overdrive. Jerked, these baits move more erratic with the possibility of triggering hard strikes from every predatory fish that lurks in the Big D.
In either case, the jerk bait gets its erratic action from a snap of the angler’s wrist, which distinctively slingshots the lure forward in a jerking motion, and can be manipulated into a repertoire of strike-triggering presentations by a seasoned angler - hence the name jerk-bait.
Jerk baits for bass are similar in action and effectiveness but smaller.
Many slender float-diving or shallow-running two to six inch minnow-shaped plugs, in combination with float-suspending or sinking properties, can be used as jerk baits for bass even though their standard use is with conventional retrieves.
When conditions are right, jerk bait can be the most effective lure a Delaware River angler can cast. They allow you to cover water efficiently and help to locate active fish. When fishing jerk baits, I am always moving and casting to shoreline cover or structure. I do not, however, use jerk baits when I locate a concentration of bass, because more subtle presentations, such as synthetic eel patterns, can pay off for less active fish.
There are two types of bass jerk baits. The difference is in their action. One has a tight wobble while the other has a wide wobble. Unless outlined in the packaging, the only way to determine if it is a tight or wide wobble is to actually watch it in the water at varying speeds. Depending on the fish’s mood, a change from one style to another often results in more strikes.
Tight wobble jerk bait works well when bass want subtle action. When jerked, the action is smooth with short glides. A tight wobble can be worked with greater speed when you are really covering water quickly and giving the bait hard jerks.
Wide wobble plugs are great when bass want a lot of action. When jerked these baits move erratically with a very distinctive side-to-side wobble. They are excellent during the summer when the pace of the entire ecosystem is in overdrive. Jerked, these baits move more erratic with the possibility of triggering hard strikes from every predatory fish that lurks in the Big D.
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