As someone who recently got into Jerk baits, everything you're saying lines up with my experiences. I just got into walleye fishing about a year ago after almost strictly fishing for trout and Bass in Colorado. Ever since i hooked my first big walleye, i've been obsessed with catching them on the jerkbait, my go to's have been the Rapala Shadow rap in purpledescent, and a suprisingly cheap jerkbait, the Smithwick Rattling Rogue, honorable mention to Dyanmic lures HD Trout for finesse.
I'm a braid guy also. The first advice I got when I moved into North Dakota was to use steel leaders to avoid getting bitten off by pike. But the problem with that in my mind was that if I did that, pike would be all I would ever catch because everything else would run away from my leader. So I did some digging, and my go-to leader now is 17 lb flouro. I can still catch the more skittish fish, and I have never gotten bitten off, as long as I re-tie after about the fourth or fifth pike.
I have landed plenty of sturgeon and pike on 6-8lb mono or co poly plenty of 30+ inch pike and several 50+ inch sturgeon you don’t need super heavy line you just need finesse
Why would a fish be scared of the steel leader when they're not scared of the hooks??? I think it's bullshit. At least then start using a thin titanium wire because nylon and fluorocarbon are not safe for pike.
I just found my new fishing instructor… thanks for explaining everything so simple … easy to understand gave me all the info I wanted .. nothing less or extra .awesome . Thanks 🙏🏼
Great jerk bait breakdown. A lot of anglers have tons of gear, but a rare few know how to fish all the techniques. I have several x-raps in lots of sizes and patterns, but I have never really dedicated my self to the jerk method until I was getting skunked on pressured crappies. I switched to my smallest x-rap (size 04 perch) and proceeded to catch 10-12” crappies consistently over the next couple of hours. I hit my limit, but kept fishing because I couldn’t believe how effective that little jerk bait was! Keep up the great info!
The Pink and Orange Rapala X raps are the best lures for Walleye. I caught almost all my walleyes on them since they first came out. I would recommend jerking but also trolling. They are definitely the king of Walleye lures.
Got a 42 inch musky on the Maverik this summer on 8lb flouro. It was a brand new lure fresh out of the box and I sure got lucky with where hooks were positioned to keep my line out of teeth. It broke a treble barb and bent another but I got it in and released in good shape.
I lead core line these in 33 feet of water mid summer on most local lakes with good success. I keep it around 3 feet to 5 feet off the bottom on clear lakes. Watching the line is great but with lead core that isnt very obvious. Still a great way to trigger fish.
I recently started experimenting with jerk baits when fishing for walleyes and small mouth bass, this video was honestly great and very educational. Thanks a ton!
Killer vid! On my trips I've tried to explore a variety of lures, but have only recently tried jerks! Tricky figuring which of my baits sink rise and how deep, but ALWAYS fun!
Funny that you say medium light because I actually prefer my jerbaits on a medium heavy purely because when I cast I feel like I can actually use the weight of the lure
Medium Heavy will work but you do stand the chance of losing the fish much easier with the light hooks that come on jerkbaits. I prefer to have some flex to absorb head shakes during the fight so the hooks don’t tear out.
I’ve always done best on the smaller flat sided jerkbaits for Muskies. Jakes, Bucher Raiders, etc. I have heard that the Livingston JerkMaster 251 is a good one too. Also, a big husky jerk is a pretty dang good early spring bait as well.
I’m brand new to jerk fishing. I don’t have a boat, sadly, and fish from the rock break walls etc on the shores of Lake Michigan. I aim for smallmouth mostly. Not having access to a depth finder, I am guessing the water is about 10 to 15 feet deep off the rocks, getting deeper obviously the farther I cast. I am wondering if you could recommend a jerk bait for this kind of fishing? For example, which depth should I aim to get down to for the Smallies that live near the rocks? I don’t know if I made any sense… thanks in advance
Not sure if this was asked yet but how would a steel leader effect the action of the jersey bait. Asking because I see a lot of anglers using them for pike and walleye up here in the north Canada area
Definitely affects them. It makes the front sink and hampers the action of the bait on the jerks. I much prefer a heavier flourocarbon leader tied directly to the bait for pike.
So, I've never had success with these baits, but after watching your video, I'm realizing that I have been using them wrong. The other possibility I see is the amount of detail you go into with each name brand lure's attributes. In your opinion, once I correct my technique, how much or little success will I have with my cheap ten-dollar-a-dozen lures?
If a bait has the right action and the right buoyancy it won’t matter to the fish how much it costs. 😂 the issue with cheaper baits is typically inconsistency. They aren’t produced very precisely and often one bait runs great while the next sucks. All you can do is try them!
flouro makes baits lose neutrality - braid requires a leader - I use mono for forgiveness re treble hooks and a baitcasting medium fast action - use only spinning gear if it is windy or smaller baits - I tend to fish for largemouth with Japanese finesse on spinning and bigger or any deeper diving jerkbaits (Smithwick Rattling Rogue or Rapala ) on baitcasting - colder the water the more subtle the approach - and this Big Tip "on a rising bait up size the front belly hook to get better casting, depth and action plus not lose as many fish!!" skin hooking a bigger fish and taking the time to land it or heavier bigger round gap hooks can be more forgiving. Jerbaits, I see most guys throw in open water but I try to glance off cover or tear out of early weed growth like a Crankbait with a snap and longer pauses. these two tips up size hooks with testing for proper buoyancy then trigger fish near cover have me catch fish even in pressured waters.
Wow this fisherman has such experience and awesome knowledge will put this I. My library. He paid the price to get where he is. I bet lots of trials and errors.
@@calebwistad Exactly, in your area. Should have addressed it as so bc in CA, it's mostly summer bait. Some YTubers understand this so they address it. I understand regions work differently. It's like a giant assumption you see...
@@wolverinex4243 I mentioned that they are an underrated summertime bait too just a couple minutes in to the video. Maybe you should have listened a little closer.
I don’t know why you are assuming I just started fishing jerkbaits. I’ve been fishing them for years now and I’ve caught hundreds of fish on them. Was it something I said?
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As someone who recently got into Jerk baits, everything you're saying lines up with my experiences. I just got into walleye fishing about a year ago after almost strictly fishing for trout and Bass in Colorado. Ever since i hooked my first big walleye, i've been obsessed with catching them on the jerkbait, my go to's have been the Rapala Shadow rap in purpledescent, and a suprisingly cheap jerkbait, the Smithwick Rattling Rogue, honorable mention to Dyanmic lures HD Trout for finesse.
The old rogues are great.
What jerkbait did you use for Trouts? I recently picked up fishing again and have been hooked on trouts using Duo Ryukis.
I'm a braid guy also. The first advice I got when I moved into North Dakota was to use steel leaders to avoid getting bitten off by pike. But the problem with that in my mind was that if I did that, pike would be all I would ever catch because everything else would run away from my leader. So I did some digging, and my go-to leader now is 17 lb flouro. I can still catch the more skittish fish, and I have never gotten bitten off, as long as I re-tie after about the fourth or fifth pike.
Yep. Same here! Steel is out for me.
I have landed plenty of sturgeon and pike on 6-8lb mono or co poly plenty of 30+ inch pike and several 50+ inch sturgeon you don’t need super heavy line you just need finesse
Why would a fish be scared of the steel leader when they're not scared of the hooks??? I think it's bullshit. At least then start using a thin titanium wire because nylon and fluorocarbon are not safe for pike.
I just found my new fishing instructor… thanks for explaining everything so simple … easy to understand gave me all the info I wanted .. nothing less or extra .awesome . Thanks 🙏🏼
Thanks very much!
Great jerk bait breakdown. A lot of anglers have tons of gear, but a rare few know how to fish all the techniques. I have several x-raps in lots of sizes and patterns, but I have never really dedicated my self to the jerk method until I was getting skunked on pressured crappies. I switched to my smallest x-rap (size 04 perch) and proceeded to catch 10-12” crappies consistently over the next couple of hours. I hit my limit, but kept fishing because I couldn’t believe how effective that little jerk bait was! Keep up the great info!
Thanks! And yes, they can pull crappies when nothing else will.
I love these educational videos you put out! Thanks for sharing. Please keep them coming.
Glad you enjoyed this one!
The Pink and Orange Rapala X raps are the best lures for Walleye. I caught almost all my walleyes on them since they first came out. I would recommend jerking but also trolling. They are definitely the king of Walleye lures.
Hard to beat em!
For largemouth bass, I’ve had great success with the shadow rap 11 in black & silver. It catches giants.
That’s a great jerkbait as well!
Got a 42 inch musky on the Maverik this summer on 8lb flouro. It was a brand new lure fresh out of the box and I sure got lucky with where hooks were positioned to keep my line out of teeth. It broke a treble barb and bent another but I got it in and released in good shape.
That’s a nice fish!
I lead core line these in 33 feet of water mid summer on most local lakes with good success. I keep it around 3 feet to 5 feet off the bottom on clear lakes. Watching the line is great but with lead core that isnt very obvious. Still a great way to trigger fish.
Oh yeah. A lot of these babies troll well too.
Thank you Caleb, I appreciate the lessons.
You bet!
Thank you for the information. Please consider showing close-up’s of the rigs
You bet. And I’ll keep that in mind!
I recently started experimenting with jerk baits when fishing for walleyes and small mouth bass, this video was honestly great and very educational. Thanks a ton!
Thanks very much!
Great information ! Great results hooking smalls and rock bass , but unfortunately have had large pike swallow them.
Large pike will swallow just about anything. 😆
Great tips!! Thanks, Caleb!!!
You bet! 👍
Killer vid! On my trips I've tried to explore a variety of lures, but have only recently tried jerks! Tricky figuring which of my baits sink rise and how deep, but ALWAYS fun!
Thanks much!
New sub from Cali. Greetings fellow angler. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I prefer plastics but have acquired a small collection of jerkbaits.
Thanks much! Good luck with them. They are fun!
Thank you for this excellent video.
You bet!👍
Funny that you say medium light because I actually prefer my jerbaits on a medium heavy purely because when I cast I feel like I can actually use the weight of the lure
Granted I don't own a medium light but I may pick one up
Medium Heavy will work but you do stand the chance of losing the fish much easier with the light hooks that come on jerkbaits. I prefer to have some flex to absorb head shakes during the fight so the hooks don’t tear out.
Finally subscribed. Great info!
Thank you!
Any recommendations for a neutral (or other) buoyant jerk-baits for musky? Going to be in the Wisconsin Northwoods quite a bit this summer.
I’ve always done best on the smaller flat sided jerkbaits for Muskies. Jakes, Bucher Raiders, etc. I have heard that the Livingston JerkMaster 251 is a good one too. Also, a big husky jerk is a pretty dang good early spring bait as well.
I’m brand new to jerk fishing. I don’t have a boat, sadly, and fish from the rock break walls etc on the shores of Lake Michigan. I aim for smallmouth mostly.
Not having access to a depth finder, I am guessing the water is about 10 to 15 feet deep off the rocks, getting deeper obviously the farther I cast. I am wondering if you could recommend a jerk bait for this kind of fishing? For example, which depth should I aim to get down to for the Smallies that live near the rocks?
I don’t know if I made any sense… thanks in advance
I’d try the Rapala Shadow Rap Deep!
I got the shimano Teramar SE spining rod
Medium Heavy
Moderate-Fast
7'0
Do you think I should change to their extra fast one?
That rod will do the job. Just might make your arm tire out a bit quicker. It should hold fish once hooked slightly better than an extra fast as well.
great in-depth video about jerk baits, you seem like a big Rapala guy which I am as well.....
Thanks! Yeah, they just make a lot of good baits. 😆
Not sure if this was asked yet but how would a steel leader effect the action of the jersey bait. Asking because I see a lot of anglers using them for pike and walleye up here in the north Canada area
Definitely affects them. It makes the front sink and hampers the action of the bait on the jerks. I much prefer a heavier flourocarbon leader tied directly to the bait for pike.
Thanks!
You bet!
Do you use a swivel with these or tie direct to lure? Thanks for the info. Great info
Tie direct. Swivels will hamper the action of the bait.
So, I've never had success with these baits, but after watching your video, I'm realizing that I have been using them wrong. The other possibility I see is the amount of detail you go into with each name brand lure's attributes. In your opinion, once I correct my technique, how much or little success will I have with my cheap ten-dollar-a-dozen lures?
If a bait has the right action and the right buoyancy it won’t matter to the fish how much it costs. 😂 the issue with cheaper baits is typically inconsistency. They aren’t produced very precisely and often one bait runs great while the next sucks. All you can do is try them!
flouro makes baits lose neutrality - braid requires a leader - I use mono for forgiveness re treble hooks and a baitcasting medium fast action - use only spinning gear if it is windy or smaller baits - I tend to fish for largemouth with Japanese finesse on spinning and bigger or any deeper diving jerkbaits (Smithwick Rattling Rogue or Rapala ) on baitcasting - colder the water the more subtle the approach - and this Big Tip "on a rising bait up size the front belly hook to get better casting, depth and action plus not lose as many fish!!" skin hooking a bigger fish and taking the time to land it or heavier bigger round gap hooks can be more forgiving. Jerbaits, I see most guys throw in open water but I try to glance off cover or tear out of early weed growth like a Crankbait with a snap and longer pauses. these two tips up size hooks with testing for proper buoyancy then trigger fish near cover have me catch fish even in pressured waters.
Good tips!!
Do you just twitch it the whole way back or do you dive it down at first or perhaps swim it a little bit in between twitching and pausing
I typically reel it in right away a few cranks to get it down to depth.
Do you tie straight to the line ? Can you use clips with jerk baits
You can but no need to if the jerkbait has a split ring. That gives the bait plenty of freedom of movement.
So what category does a suspending bait fall under ?
Not sure what type of suspending bait you mean? Lots of jerkbaits are suspending.
Ive been looking all over TH-cam for just this info thank you
Glad you found it!
Have you used spybaits at all?
No, but I do have some in my arsenal waiting to be used this year.
extra fast is not good with braid, use regular fast it makes lure work
That totally depends on the application. Yes, in some cases a regular fast is better.
Wow this fisherman has such experience and awesome knowledge will put this I. My library. He paid the price to get where he is. I bet lots of trials and errors.
Thank you!
They're summer baits.
They CAN be, yes. But in my experience and in my area they really do much better in cold water.
@@calebwistad Exactly, in your area. Should have addressed it as so bc in CA, it's mostly summer bait. Some YTubers understand this so they address it. I understand regions work differently. It's like a giant assumption you see...
@@wolverinex4243 I mentioned that they are an underrated summertime bait too just a couple minutes in to the video. Maybe you should have listened a little closer.
@@calebwistad Underrated. Maybe you should reword that instead of bashing my listening skills.
So you've just started, but you're an expert?
I don’t know why you are assuming I just started fishing jerkbaits. I’ve been fishing them for years now and I’ve caught hundreds of fish on them. Was it something I said?
@@calebwistad the typical cold baits? The don't pull and jerk? The lure selection? Etc.