Choose the Right Jerkbait for Spring Bass Fishing

If there’s one bait that I truly can’t live without in the spring, it’s some sort of jerkbait. Sometimes called a stickbait, slash bait or a swimming plug, its slender profile and darting action give the best representation of a dying baitfish. Even though jerkbaits work all year, they truly excel in the springtime. The main reason being that when bass are in cold water, they are extremely lethargic. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass want to chase a bait and eat, but cold water slows down their activity immensely. With that being said, a jerkbait gives fish a different look, with some baits being able to fully suspend in the water column, tantalizing bass into biting. It’s a cold-water producer that can put some big fish in your boat or on the bank this spring.

But how do you choose the right jerkbait? When you walk into a tackle shop and look at a wall of hard baits, the options are endless! You’ve got big ones, small ones, three hook baits, two hook baits, floating, sinking, suspending, just so many options to choose from. My goal here is to help you decipher what to look for in a jerkbait to make to make it easier to pick one (or several) from that overwhelming wall of lures. You can’t over complicate jerkbait selection. It’s all about making the right choices in the tackle shop to help you catch more and bigger bass later on.

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Floating, Sinking, or Suspending Jerkbait?

There are three main styles of jerkbaits to look for. They are floating, suspending and sinking, which all have their time and place. Floating jerkbaits, like a Rapala Original Floater, are meant for either casting with a straight retrieve, trolling situations, or even sometimes being used as a topwater bait. Baits of this kind are either made from balsa wood or plastic and are extremely buoyant in the water. This is usually more of a summertime bait that excels when fished over grass lines or over schools of bait.

In the middle you have suspending jerkbaits, like a Lucky Craft Pointer or a Rapala X-Rap. These baits are meant to be retrieved with a twitching action and when stopped, will suspend in the water column, triggering most of your strikes. Suspending jerkbaits are made of a plastic or polyethylene material and have steel or tungsten balls that slide through the bait cavity. The balls will slide to the tail end of the bait to give you the furthest cast possible and on the retrieve, t

Jerkbaits like the Megabass Vision Oneten have steel or tungsten balls in the bait cavity that allow it to cast long distances and stabilize (or suspend) at a certain depth. *(Photo by Nick Petrou)*

he balls will slide back towards the head of the bait, which allows the bait to suspend. These are the most common type of jerkbaits and they work well for most bass fishing situations.

Lastly, we have sinking jerkbaits, like a Rapala Countdown Minnow. It is a bait that is super situational as most anglers fishing jerkbaits don’t want one that sinks. It still has its time and place, mainly when fishing areas with swift current like rivers or streams. These baits have a fall rate of one foot per second, so you know exactly how deep your lure is in the water column. Countdowns are made for straight retrieving, as you can’t really impart much action into them besides its swimming motion. They are perfect for bass in deeper holes in rivers and streams where you can get the bait down to the fish and work with the current.

Jerkbait Lip Size

Like many different hard baits on the market today, jerkbaits come in a variety of bill sizes and shapes. All have a certain time and place where both work, but the only thing you have to consider is two main sizes: long-lip and short-lipped baits. Long-lipped baits are designed to get the bait deeper, and vice versa for a short-lipped bait.

Short-lipped jerkbaits are the most common, especially here in the Northeast. When bass push up shallow in the spring, especially around hard structure like rock, a short-lipped bait is hard to beat. Generally, short-lipped shallow divers dive to depths of about four to six feet, making them perfect for when fish are positioned in the shallows in the spring and fall.

Short-lipped jerkbaits are the most common style in the Northeast. They excel during the spring or fall when largemouth and smallmouth bass are positioned in shallow water. *(Photo courtesy Nick Petrou)*

Long-lipped baits also have their time and place, especially under really cold conditions when fish are positioned deeper. Usually, deep-diving jerkbaits can reach depths up to 15 feet. This makes them the ideal choice for when bass slide out of the shallows over deeper structure during cold fronts.

Length & Treble Hooks

The length of a jerkbait is probably the biggest deal breaker for me when choosing one from a tackle shop. In all honesty, where you are fishing a jerkbait should determine what length of bait you should use. Some bodies of water have much larger baitfish than others, so choosing a larger profile bait is key to triggering more strikes. Matching the hatch in any fishing situation is crucial to getting bit, but especially with jerkbaits. For example, if bass in a northeast lake are feeding on rainbow smelt, they aren’t going to look at smaller jerkbaits. You’d want to throw something much larger just to mimic the size and profile of those rainbow smelt.

Along with bait size, take note of the number of hooks. Longer jerkbaits generally have three and sometimes even four hooks, while smaller baits usually boast a pair of trebles. Personally, I’m a huge fan of VMC Round Bend treble hooks on all my jerkbaits. They have great strength, are readily available to replace, and are extremely light, so they don’t really interfere with the bait’s action or buoyancy. Different brands and styles of treble hooks will affect the bait’s action, so it is important to find the right hooks that make the bait swim and suspend perfectly in the water column.

The Writer’s Choice

If there’s one technique that I truly love to catch bass with, it’s jerkbaiting. The way the fish react to the bait, and watching the slack line jolt when you get a bite, is the most addicting way to catch largemouth and smallmouth. When it comes to bait selection, I keep it very simple. I use three main kinds of jerkbaits and have them tied on at all times throughout the season. A Megabass Vision Onten, a Rapala X-Rap, and a Berkley Stunna. With these three jerkbaits, I usually have all my bases covered.

A Megabass Vision Oneten is my go-to all-around jerkbait for spring and fall bass fishing in shallow water. Its tungsten weight system allows it to perfectly suspend in the water column. In colder water, this jerkbait excels in getting bit with its more subtle darting action.

choosing a jerkbait — Megabass Vision Oneten (suspending)

I use Rapala X-Raps for summertime schooling fish or for more active fish during the summer to fall transition period. The X-Rap’s erratic action gives it more of that frantic baitfish feel, attracting bass from a distance to come check it out and smack it.

The Berkley Stunna is the perfect jerkbait for those in between situations. For a jerkbait, it’s actually quite unique with its slow-sinking action on the pause. It’s not a rapid slow sinker, so it doesn’t exactly qualify as a sinking jerkbait, but the subtle fall makes it an attention grabber.

When you watch a dying baitfish in the water, it usually darts around, then slowly sinks down before either dying or giving its last few kicks. That’s what Berkley was trying to replicate when designing this bait, and they did a fantastic job. It stands out from others on the market and definitely pulls some extra bites when the fish are super finicky.

The Main Takeaways

Overall, jerkbait fishing is one of the most exciting ways to catch bass here in the Northeast and around the country. It’s one of the few bait presentation styles that naturally suspends in the water column, while perfectly imitating a dying baitfish. I hope these tips help you out with choosing the right jerkbait. Again, it’s all relative to where you’re fishing, and matching the forage base to get the most out of the bait. Lure length, action, and type of jerkbait are crucial considerations when figuring out what will get bit on a day-to-day basis. Remember what to look for and you won’t be overwhelmed when searching through that wall of jerkbaits at your local tackle shop.

Choose the Right Jerkbait for Spring Bass Fishing