Bass Fishing Tips for Beginners – About Jerkbaits

By Bassin Brad

As an ameture Bass Fisherman in the early 90’s , I started off by guessing which baits I needed to use to catch Bass. But one day at the grocery store I saw a Bass Magazine and purchased it. There was an article in it that focused on the Slug Go Plastic Soft Jerkbaits. Being that I had no clue at the time on lures, after reading the article, I imediately purchased a couple bags of Slug Go’s and Slug Go hooks. I felt at the time that this should be an easy soft lure to fish, you just put it on a hook and cast it out.

My first time on the water with Soft Jerkbaits was a success, call it beginners luck. But to be honest with you, it was the first time that I actually went out and focused on fishing strictly for Bass. My Brother and I were fishing the well known Lake Minnetonka, which has to be the best fishery in Minnesota, we were so excited to fish that Morning that we arrived in the dark. This was my first time on this Lake, even though we only lived about twenty minutes from it.

Any way, we started out that morning with our new Soft Jerkbaits, fishing them the way the article I read said to. We weren’t getting any bites on them at first, but as time went on and we got the hang of this lure, things started to warm up. I remember casting the lure out into the water, not at any structure or anything, just casting it out. As I let the plastic sink, I got slammed by a pretty good size Bass and was like a freak jumping all around the boat . Now this was the first Bass we caught on this Lure and were very excited. We kept casting to that same spot over and over again, catching Bass on a consistant basis. After the bite stopped and we felt that the fish were done biting, we trolled over to where we where getting these hits. Come to find out according to the depth finder, there was some huge brush or tree under the water.

Ever since that day I have been hooked on Soft Plastic Jerkbaits.

Okay, enough of my story, now lets talk about how to rig this great lure.

I use a 5/0 offset worm hook on 6 inch and 2/0 on 4 inch Jerks, don’t use a hook that is too large because it will reduce the action and don’t use one that is too small , it will result in missed fish.

I use a 6 1/2 foot medium action spinning rod, spooled with 6 lb test line for my 4 inchers and up to 10 lb test for my 6 inchers.

Rigging a Soft Jerkbait is easy, just remember that you have to get the hook to run as centered as possible down the middle of the lure. If you don’t, the bait will not swim correctly and you will end up will with severe line twist.
1) Insert the point of the hook right at the tip or nose of the lure, penetrating about a 1/8 of an inch.

2) Bring the hook through the body and twist the point of the hook back toward the body.

3) Don’t put the point into the plastic quite yet, but put it along side the lure. This will show you were the hook point needs to be inserted. This will help you rig it correctly and give the lure its action.

4) Insert the point of the hook in to the pre rigged location and tie your line directly to the hook eye.

How to fish Soft Jerkbaits

I like to fish with this Soft Jerkbaits when the water temps get into the 60’s and will continue to fish it all Summer long. I will use this bait about 90% of the time in shallow water in depths of 1 to 5 foot of water.

Now I know that the title of this lure can be misleading, but you do not want to Jerk it with sharp quick snaps of your rod. This is one of the mistakes I made when I first started with this lure. These lures are suppose to represent a dying bait fish, not a live and active one.

Instead, after casting it out, let it sink for a few seconds until you can no longer see it, with your rod tip pointing down close to the water. Use a sweeping motion of your rod to bring it back to toward the surface and then letting it fall again at the same time reeling in the slack of your line. Also, you will get a large amount of your strikes as the lure falls or sinks. When you feel a strike, point your rod tip at your lure, reel up any slack and set the hook to the side not with an upward motion. If Bass are being picking and not taking your lure, try sizing down to a 4 inch Jerk and slow down your presentation.

Other ways to fish Softer Jerkbaits

When I am fishing deep water, I will use this lure on a Carolina Rig and bounce my 3/4 once bullet sinker around rocky points.

I will also dog it over submerged vegetaion, trying to call Bass to the surface.

I think my favorite way of fishing Soft Jerks, is to skip them wieghtless under docks and other over hanging cover.

In conclusion:

Give this lure some time, work it until you’re comfortable and you will catch Bass with it.

As a Bass Fishing Beginner, I almost gave up on the sport of Bass Fishing due my lack of knowledge and frustration. Now I enjoy sharing my experiences with those who love to bass fish.

Article Source: ArticleBase