Bass Fishing Tip of the Week 09/27/2010: The Jerkbait for Schooling Bass

Schooling fish are often difficult to catch as they are keying on specific baitfish size near the surface. They often neglect the soft plastic worms and grubs as well as deep diving cranks. So when the schoolers are ignoring your best offering give 'em a switch and try a jerkbait.

Personally my favorite jerkbait is the large Husky Jerk either in silver or gold. This bait often provokes the deeper/larger fish to come up and hit it. The jerk jerk pause technique works best for me. The lure stays down since it suspends and the pausing can invoke some serious strikes.

Recently I've had good success with the Xrap by Rapala. These are smaller suspending baits with a tail feather that gives the lure a little more finesse action during the pause. The same jerk jerk pause works very well, however the size may be somewhat smaller than the larger Husky Jerk.

The jerkbait should always be tried around schooling fish that are breaking the surface feeding on shad. Another ideal situation is to use it in 5-8 foot deeps near topped out hydrilla or coontail. The fish on this type of structure often suspend near the umbrella of weeds and come out to eat when prey are near.

The spring is also a great time to use this bait. Work the shallows from 2-4 feet near underwater vegetation and near spawning flats. The same jerk jerk pause can be highly effective and don't be surprised if you get a monster female to hit your bait.

One last thing to remember is when you have made your cast, reel a few times to get the bait into it's suspend zone then continue with the jerk jerk pause method.

I hope you learned a little about jerkbait fishing and until next time Tight Lines.

The Largemouth Herald