How does a suspending jerk bait stay/dive to a specific depth? IE: Fishing in 10 feet of water and then moving to another area with 5 feet of water. Are some models designed to only dive so deep?


Thanks
Bassin Butch

Butch, Jerk baits or minnow baits are designed to work a specific depths as are all lippped lures. The old Rapala sinker was designed to be a countdown bait and was the first primitive attempt at a suspending jerk bait (still effective) some time ago Bass Pros from Conneticut and down south started using whieghted "Spoonbill Rebels" and Rapalas to catch post cold front Bass and cover water very rapidly, it became another one of those "secret baits of the pros", sometime there after all kinds of tinkering went on with minnow baits and "Shad Raps" that worked out very well. In Candlewood Rich Zaleski and other Conneticut anglers used the large saltwater Rapalas in Green Mackeral to catch large limits from Candlewood early in the year. Along came the next generation of Jerk Baits the Lucky Craft Pointer 78's and the Bevy Shad along with my old favorite the "Rogue". All of these baits run different depths by varying line size and on the water tempeture itself. I use a Tony bean Smallmouth rod (Diawa) with 8# to 10# Berkley vanish or Bagley silver thread and a Diawa 1300 ss reel and my favorite of late is a Lucky Craft Pointer 78 in Table Rock Shad or Auraror Blue this bait will run about 4' deep and I vary retreves until the fish tell me what they want, if I need more depth I use a Bevy shad that I forward wheight and if I need say 10' I use my old deep Rogue or Long "a" minnow by Bomber. The Jerk bait pattern will work year round but I like it in the early spring Pre-Spawn period, the best time is when we have had a warm spell and the Bass have started to set up nests on the flats and then a big cold front pushes the Bass back to the first dropoff and they say suspended in the warm surface water ( they just pull back and stay at the depth of the flat over 15' of water ready to move back when the weather changes) I go at them with the pointer 78 with my boat positioned on the shallow side of the flat and cast toward deep water slowly or rapidly jerking the bait back in and I try to keep hitting these key areas and points until I feel I have established some type of Pattern based on the Bass and the migration routes they will use through out spring. If the structure is steeper and bluffy I paralle cast the "Bevy Shad" and if I think I am in a Historically good area or my intuition tells to I may stay there a good portion of the day and key on slides or steeper spots with diffreent colors and or sizes if I am catching or if my little hair jig fails me!!!! Hope this helps Good Bassin Dan Bass

Thanks for the great tips and your right on RE: the Diawa 1300ss one word (excellent), owned mine for 10+ years. I have a club tournament on 5/11 SE WI lake, water temp will be confirmed on 5/4 during my pre-fishing. Any temp better than another for jerk baits? Actual air temps in my area at this time of the year can change from 50 to 70 to 50 to 60 in a day. However: water temps remain stable for longer periods of time. Thanks
Butch

Butch, the jerk bait will work in all water temps, it has been my expierence that from 48 to 55 degrees I have had the best success. I have always had a problem if I tried to make the Bass hit a bait or technique that I had a preconcieved notion before I began prefishing. I try to start my thought process for any trip as a new page in the book but I start with the seasonal pattern, then base the weather patterns that have occurred combined with the type of body water I am going to fish. Once I establish where I belive where the majority of Bass will be. It is then and only then that I decide what technique or bait I will use. I am writing this in the hopes of not discouraging you but trying to help you with the prefishing thought process. For a long time in tournaments I always did better in lakes, rivers and ponds that I had not fished before and once I began treating every day on any body of water even the ones I had fished almost every week, I suddenly discovered Bass hiding in plain sight. Experience is a great teacher and we all learn from it and hopefully we do not use it as a crutch to our confidence like some many people do because we all like what we know and we will fish the same way becuase we are all creatures of habit. I wish I knew this years ago when I would fish the same way in the same spots week after week and believe the Bass would stay the same and come to me. I know how easy to think that if I fish the magic bait I will catch many more bass, but my first rule is find them and then use the best tool or technique to catch them. Good luck with your prefishing, If the water is in the low fiftys I would use a rat-l-trap and a tube or hair jig. Try to use the jerk bait and trap to cover water and then see if they want something slower. As a rule the lower the water temp the steeper the structure or contour. I like as the water warms dark bottom bays and there adjacent points always look for areas with a southern exposure. I also like areas that have an inflow that is of a warmer temp than the rest of the lake. These are the key starting areas after that I would try to establish migration routes that the bass use from year to year. Good Bassin Dan Bass

Dan thanks for the advice. I have primarily fished channels or sight fished at this time of year. However: I would like to give a jerk-bait a chance. Just needed to understand the mechanics of the lure. Good advice on the thought process thanks.

Thanks
Butch

Butch, god luck and feel free to ask any questions or to start any other disccusions. Good Bassin Dan Bass