Posted by MikeM on 09-09-2003 08:07 AM:

Jerkbait in the fall ?

Does anyone blow the dust off their jerkbaits for the fall ? Does the water have to be cold (50 F) to be effective ? At what time to they start producing again.
Thanks in advance
MikeM

Posted by joe p on 09-09-2003 08:47 AM:

Mike, I personally dont throw these things a lot, and I really should. But I know a guy who has one tied on all year. He catches fish in the summer by twitching it faster than what you normally do in the spring and early season.

I would think jerkbait fishing will be dynamite in the fall when bait fish activity picks up.

I know I will use them on Thousand Islands next week.....

Joe

Posted by Zuke on 09-09-2003 09:54 AM:

T-rigged Fluke....

I have kept working at a T-rigged 5 inch soft jerkbait all season without any success at all. The lure looks great, has incredible action, and with the small sliding bullet weight (either 1/4 or 1/32), I'm able to get the depths needed to get to fish....but still nothing. I've been throwing them on a 6'6" spinning rig with 8 pound braid.

I know in my neck of the woods they are a frequent go-to bait for both sm and lm.....

I have worked an entire range of speeds, and an entire range of conditions. Moreover, it DOES seem to match the forage on the bodies of water I'm pounding. Not one fish yet...

Right now I've got one tied on which is White bodied with Red flake.....

Any advice would be greatly appreciated? [Maybe I should get a refund...mine are obviously defective - LOL]

Zuke.

Posted by earthworm77 on 09-09-2003 10:14 AM:

Mike, interesting you ask this......Yes as the water cools you can pick up bass on this forgotten bait of Spring. I know my TX partner throws it a bit and usually grabs fishonit. For the sole reason that fish haven't seen it since Spring, it is bound to do some damage.

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Posted by Zuke on 09-09-2003 10:43 AM:

I apologize...

MikeM:

Let me apologize for stepping on your question and thread. I truly didn't mean to. Often my fingers are faster than my brain (which is too often sadly under-caffeinated), and I pushed "Submit Reply" before thinking. EW's appropriate dust-off drove home the point.

As for hard-bodied jerks - I'll use them all year in wind and stain. I am VERY partial to silver, and have done well with both LM and SM. Same lure caught an 18.1# Tiger Muskie on July 10, 2001. In the colder waters, early season, I do fish them A LOT slower. In fact more of a drag and long pause, than a snap. Seems to work.

Very effective in 50 +/- degree water.

Sorry again.

Zuke.

Posted by Bink on 09-09-2003 11:24 AM:

Fish are feeding up in the Fall for a long winter.Eating baitfish at a great rate. The hard jerkbait can be very good in the Fall!

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Posted by MikeM on 09-09-2003 12:47 PM:

Zuke,
No problem buddy,my thread is your thread. I also am a soft-jerk fool,it just looks to good not to throw.
MikeM

Posted by Zuke on 09-09-2003 01:08 PM:

MikeM:

You are gracious.

In your honor, I promise to go get woefully skunked tonight on Round Lake, Saratoga County, all the while flailing with my Soft Jerk. I can almost hear those fat largies laughin....

Thanks again.

Zuke.

Posted by Lpbassman on 09-09-2003 01:16 PM:

In a word...YES. Bring out those dusty hard bodied jerkbaits for the fall. I have had a lot of success with them at this time of year. I prefer to use Lucky Craft #78 pointers, Yozuri twitch'n minnows, Rapala Husky jerks & BPS minnows. I try to stay to natural colors such as shad, river minnow, ghost minnow or blue chrome.

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Posted by CD_basser65 on 09-09-2003 04:08 PM:

I like to use the 6" sluggo as a jerk bait.Its very veratile as you can use it in almost any level of the water and around all kinds of cover.You can hook it weedless and drag it through gak, trees anything damn near.I like to cast onto the weeds and drag it off and "walk the dog" with it.This method accounts for at least 25% of all bass I personally catch.I don't need to have a ton of colors either.Most of the times only 3 and they produce all year.Most important thing in using them to me is the hooks.I use owner 5/0 cutting points.They are mean hooks and thicker wire so th sluggo stays in place and sinks a little faster when you want it to drop.They did well around the eel grass for me in the upper hudson this morning as a matter of fact.

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Posted by JOHN G on 09-09-2003 08:35 PM:

I will probably try the hard jerks sometime tomorrow at Whaley....

Zuke: soft jerks should work well for a large portion of the season! you say that you have them texas rigged, perhaps you are using TOO much weight??

I only use a lunker city nail weight in my soft jerks, they are supposed to have a very slow falling action and drifting action.....

I work them very subtely almost all the time, no herky jerky like I do with the hard jerks......hard jerks are reaction baits and give off flash, soft jerks are really meant to be a finesse type method, irregardless of their size.....

they have worked so well this year , in so many different places.....

try a slower approach next time!!

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Posted by basseracci on 09-09-2003 09:03 PM:

Mike,

In the springtime nothing beats a hard jerk for covering water...But I use them again in the fall intermittent to my trap fishing...They should work as well in the upper portion of the water column...two things i would look for: rattles and suspending...If its late fall and cooler temps, I will favor the suspending jerks...

As for soft jerks...Mike, you are the expert on those from what I've heard and seen......

Zuke,

I also fish the soft jerks texposed but with a nail weight inserted if I use any weight at all...I use it for its slow spiraling descent...It's more of a finesse presentation for me with a better horizontal fall...I rarely use a weight in front to make it head heavy, but it could be t-rigged like anything else I guess...

If your adding weight for casting distance, try the nail or a belly weighted hook...You will preserve the horizontal fall aspect...If you are looking to t-rig them with the traditional weight up front, I would think about using something with better tail action if the conditions call for that...

As john said, these should be good summertime baits especially in the early morning and at dusk...They compliment the senko applications nicely...

Mark

Mark

Posted by Senkosam on 09-09-2003 09:31 PM:

Quiet water in the fall is my favorite water to fish jerk minnows. By that, I mean glassy water under a fog in early am hours or at sunset, (especially an hour before). Smallies annihilate them under those conditions.

FrankM

Posted by Wild Bill on 09-09-2003 10:13 PM:

I agree with John G's post...

aout herky-jerky with hard bodies...but slow horizontal glides with the soft ones...and on no weight or nail-wieghting the Super flukes...but most times I fish them weightless, even deep

Okay, here's another twist to this thread...who uses a double senko or double Fluke rig?? Autumn is a great time for it when fish are schooling and feeding in the creeks and shallows.

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Posted by MikeM on 09-10-2003 07:56 AM:

About nose weighting soft-jerks, I think Zuke is referring to the relatively new Strike King (?) jerks made from that semi-indestructable plastic polymer. This material is ultra bouyant and will only fish on the surface if not weighed with lead that comes in the package.

MikeM

Posted by Zuke on 09-10-2003 08:28 AM:

Initially, thanks everyone...After my gaff with Mike's thread, I expected to be excoriated, and y'all would have been perfectly in your rights.....

I've been using the 6" Zoom Fluke. And I've used it weighted and unweighted. I HAVE NOT TRIED TO NAIL it, and that seems like the best approach to provide a little casting distance and a nice horizontal fall. I'll give it a go....... Is the recommedation to stay away from braid on this bait? Should I be using a Flouro, or mono?

Wild Bill: If I put TWO on my rig, does that mean I would be officially skunked twice in the same night? I don't think what's left of my fishin' ego could take it.-LOL

Zuke.

P.S. MikeM: As promised, I fished it last night in Round Lake....guess what the result was....

Posted by Wild Bill on 09-10-2003 09:23 AM:

Nah, still skunked, but not "twice'..{LOL}

Hey, try the double rigs....they look cool, like a small school of baitfish.
I use a bgger and heavier hook or bait for the rear one, which sits just a bit lower in the water column than front one.
They have worked well for me....

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Posted by Scottb on 09-10-2003 10:26 PM:

I have done really well with hard jerks in the fall and am looking especially to trying the pointer 128's in aurora problue and laser rainbow trout. I was wondering if anyone has tried carolina rigging a floating hard jerk instead of the normal suspending jerk method.
Just curious, ScottB

Posted by Donv on 09-15-2003 08:27 PM:

Mmm, jerkbaits in the Fall. Makes the weather getting colder somewhat bearable. I do very well with Rogues and Pointer 100's, clown pattern is usually good, aurora black, gold back w/ orange belly (what is this called, anyway?). Actually, have enjoyed better luck on Pointers in Spring, Rogues in the Fall, but both work well. Most of mine are suspenders, I vary speeds & cadences according to what the fish tell me, also working off the colder water temp = slower action standby. I use Super Mono, in 8 or 10 pound test. IMO, a "must" bait in the Spring and Fall. Come on, cooler nights!

Posted by Pugs on 09-18-2003 02:58 PM:

Mikey,
Just thank me now....you and the word jerkbait in the same sentence and no comment from me.

Jellybean