(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
An elongated, minnow-shaped jerkbait is one of the most natural-looking lures in any angler’s arsenal, but “for some reason, a lot of people are scared of it,” said MLF Pro Circuit competitor John Hunter. He relied on jerkbaits for an incredible level of co-angler success early on and has continued to utilize them extensively since he transitioned to the front of the boat.
Despite their lifelike appearance, he thinks that many would-be experts fail to recognize these lures’ value because they put them down when they don’t experience immediate success.
“It’s kind of a commitment bait,” he said, adding that jerkbaits are “a great way to locate active fish.” In order to make the most of them, you need to fish them properly.
Hunter ignores conventional wisdom that the key is finding the right rhythm. “Forget about your cadence,” he said. “Bait in the wild does not have a cadence.” Forage prey act erratically, and their motions are “pure chaos.”
He does, however, tailor his retrieves to water temperature and seasonal differences. When the water is over 50 degrees, he’ll work the lures back quickly. When it’s colder than that, he’ll integrate more and longer pauses. He’s “not moving it a ton,” just a few inches forward at a time, but the side-to-side gait and water movement attracts sight-feeding fish. The one exception to this rule is during the post-spawn, when fish are “acting funky.” If they’re following a lot and not committing, he’ll add more pauses. The key is to envision a bass behind your lure at all times and then make it move the way you think it could be triggered.
Once he gets a bite, the key to driving the hooks home is not to “slack-line him like you’re cracking one on a jig,” but rather to just “lean in and start cranking him to you.” While numerous pros disagree with his preferred rod angle, he likes to keep the rod tip down during the fight to prevent the bass from getting its head up. If you’re going to lose the fish, it’s most likely to happen on a jump. Also, he says that because these lures can tear out easily, “do not trust the drag.” If he’s being manhandled by a fish, or sees that it is not hooked well, he’ll depress the thumb bar and keep his thumb on the spool to control the release of line.
He also checks his hooks regularly throughout the day. While they may be super-sharp out of the package, after they’ve been snagged on docks and rocks a few times – or extracted from the mouth of an overzealous bass – they tend to dull and he won’t hesitate to change them out.
If you catch one fish on a jerkbait from an isolated piece of cover like a sand spot or a grass clump, don’t hesitate to fire back in there on the next cast. This is especially true if the fish absolutely inhales your lure and has it sideways in its mouth like a dog bone – that’s a signal that it was competing for the prize. Also, in extra shallow water, when he’s afraid that the lure will bury into vegetation, sometimes he’ll make a couple of “upjerks” with his rod to keep it from getting bogged down.
If you want to learn some of the additional ways that Hunter gets the most out of his jerkbait tool box, including his seasonal approach to using them around various kinds of docks, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
