How to Catch More Fish on Jerkbaits

Jerkbaits are more than a simple cast and crank lure—they’re versatile tools. With the right technique, you can use jerkbaits to catch fish throughout the entire water column. Here are a few ways to use them to catch more fish.

Twitching On Top

Part of what makes jerkbaits so effective is that many of them float. They’re designed to dive and then rise back to the surface when they’re not under tension, making them look like a wounded baitfish. Most anglers utilize this floating action to pause during the retrieve, but you can also get a lot of strikes by not allowing the lure to sink at all.

Bass, pike, crappie, and trout are notorious topwater feeders. With a floating hard-bodied jerkbait, like a Rapala Floating Minnow, you can give your lure some float time before beginning your retrieve. Let it rest on the water for a few seconds until the ripples around it completely disappear. Once the ripples fade, give the lure a couple of quick twitches, and then let it rest again.

Often, the initial splash from the lure hitting the water will attract fish to the floating jerkbait, and the following twitches will trigger a strike. This is an especially effective technique whenever you’re fishing jerkbaits around a hatch of large insects like stoneflies or cicadas.

Sink Them Deep

Most anglers only fish jerkbaits in three to 10 feet of water because that’s how far the lures will dive without extra weight. But, if you want to target larger fish like lake trout, pike, and other deep-dwelling predators, you’ll need to sink it deeper.

While jerkbaits, like the Rapala Countdown and Shadow Rap will sink, they don’t always get into the strike zone quickly enough. To speed up the sink rate, I’ll add a bit of weight to my line to get the baits down deep fast.

Tie one end of a barrel swivel to your mainline. Next, add 18- to 24-inches of extra line to the other end of the swivel, leaving a long 3- to 4-inch tag end of line off the knot, and tie on your jerkbait. Depending on how deep you’re fishing, you can add one to three split shot to the tag end of line off the swivel. Once the weights sink your jerkbait, you can bounce them off the bottom as you reel to attract deep water fish.

You can also use this method to target suspended bass, walleye, and trout during the peak of summer when the fish are holding in the cooler water below the thermocline.

Fishing Jerkbaits Fast

Traditionally, you slowly and methodically reel a jerkbait through the water with small jerks and pauses along the way. Sometimes, though, you’ll get more strikes by fishing a jerkbait as fast as you can. This is especially effective when you’re targeting fish around baitfish schools or when gamefish are hunting in extremely shallow water after the spawn.

To speed fish a jerkbait, cast the lure towards your target and then start reeling as fast as you can as soon as it hits the water. Once you start retrieving, add a bit of English to your presentation by rapidly jerking your rod as you reel so that the lure darts and bucks like a wounded baitfish. Try to reel fast enough so that your jerkbait mimics a panicked minnow running for cover.

This aggressive presentation is designed to trigger aggressive behavior in fish. If you spot a fish chasing your lure, keep reeling. If you slow down, that fish might lose interest and quit chasing.

Being A Complete Jerk

Jerkbaits are designed to swim, dart, sink, and pop. This versatility should help you avoid one-dimensional fishing tactics and, hopefully, getting skunked. Don't be afraid to mix it up.