Whether you’re fishing for walleye, smallmouth, or largemouth bass, the pre-spawn is all about transitions, lure selection, and technique.
And among your very best options when the water is still cool is a jerkbait.
While Texas- and Carolina-rigged creature baits, crankbaits, and especially spinnerbaits are popular in spring, jerkbaits don’t get the love they deserve – at least not nearly often enough!
I’m as guilty of that as any other angler, but I know it’s a mistake.
Let’s break down why, where, when, and how to fish a jerkbait, and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
Why fish a jerkbait in spring?
Most species of game fish are sluggish before water temperatures rise into the mid-50s, and that’s certainly true of largemouth bass, as we’ve explained before.
That makes lure selection, location, and technique critical.
And while smallmouth – and certainly walleye – are more cold-water tolerant than largemouth, it’s not like your local shield lake is going to get warm in a hurry this spring, even for them.
Early spring, wherever you fish, means that sluggish fish are generally the rule, and they’ll only gain energy as the water warms considerably from winter’s ultra-low temps.
When I’m slecting a lure, I’m thinking about a few things:
- What’s the predominant prey item right now?
- What’s the water temperature, light condition, and wind?
On lakes where shad are the dominant prey item, jerkbaits are simply lethal – in the right conditions (I’ll discuss this more below).
Some of the reasons are clear right off the bat. Jerkbaits do a great job imitating injured or erratic shad and other bait fish, and matching that natural source of food with your lure is always a great idea. The fish you’re chasing are keyed-in on shad shapes, the glint of light off their tiny scales, and the vortices produced by their tails as they dart around – and these are areas where the jerkbait really shines.
But there’s an even better reason to tie on a jerkbait in early spring: jerkbaits can both cover water and stay put, depending on your technique, and that can be nothing short of magical – if you know what you’re doing.
Where to fish a jerkbait
If I’m on a northern lake teeming with walleye, I’ll look for a submerged hump/island, a rock pile, or even a lone boulder on the bottom.
Basically, I’m looking for something that will draw prey – and ultimately predators – like a magnet attracts iron filings. If you find a spot like this, you can all but guarantee that there are hungry walleye waiting in ambush nearby.
I’ll also look for live weed beds, as they’ll bump up the oxygen saturation nearby, provide cover for prey like shad, and offer ready ambush points for walleye and bass alike.
And if there’s a heat sink on the lake like a fat concrete piling, a pile of partially submerged rock, or even concrete wall of some kind, I’ll know that after a few hours in the sun, the water around it will be at least a few degrees warmer, driving nearby fish into greater activity.
If I’m looking for largemouth, I’ll focus on transitional areas midway between the deeper water in which they overwinter and the shallow, flat locations they choose for their spawning beds.
Whether that’s a point, hump, slope, or channel edge, I’m looking for live weeds mid-water column, and I know there’ll be hungry bass staging there.
It’s important to realize that deep diving jerkbaits, neutrally bouyant, and bouyant models all have a place in your tackle box.
You need to pick a jerkbait that stays at the depth you need for transitioning bass and hunting walleye.
When to fish a jerkbait
We’re talking about early sping, pre-bass spawning, but that’s not all there is to think about.
The ideal day for a jerkbait is a clear sky with a light breeze. You want dappled sunlight creating patterns and constant changes to the color and shine of your jerkbait, and these conditions really help mask your lures until it’s way too late for the fish.
Walleye will simply hammer jerkbaits under these conditions, while bass will certainly be more lethargic in their strikes.
I like to fish jerkbaits from before sunrise till just after dark, because walleye will really be hunting hard when the light is dim, while bass will need time for the sun to warm the water enough for active feeding.
How to fish a jerkbait
If you want a refresher on jerkbait techniques, check out this article. It’ll get you back up to speed quickly.
For me, two techniques really stand out.
One is to pop or pulse my rod tip and pick up slack before continuing. I want a relatively tight line when I move my rod tip, and I want to vary the direction of those pops as well as their cadence. I’ll even vary how quickly I pick up that slack.
The key, here, is to get that jerbait moving erratically, darting and turning and changing depth in the water column. Those erratic movements create reaction strikes, entice walleye in for the kill, and allow you to cover lots of water quickly, essentially turning a jerkbait into a search lure supreme.
The other is to pop my rod tip with a slack line. I want to get my jerkbait chasing its tail, circling in neat 180s and gliding to a stop.
By contrast, the key here is to keep your jerkbait in the same place, working it around in small are rather than covering a lot of water. I’ll try to minimize picking up any slack; I don’t want to bring my lure back to me, but rather keep it right where it is, in the strike zone.
I use this technique when I identify fish on my fish finder, or want to work a hump or rock pile thoroughly for fish.
Best Jerkbaits for Northern Lakes
I’ve reviewed a number of awesome jerkbaits before, and if you’re new to the game, you might want to take a look.
My preference on shield lakes and the like is to go relatively big.
I prefer jerkbaits with three trebles for two reasons.
First, they’re big enough to entice big fish into a strike, even when they’re sluggish, and big walleye, untroubled by 40 degree water, are going to be looking for a big meal.
Now’s the time to offer them one!
And second, I want as many hooks as I can get on my lure so that less agressive strikes still lead to lock ups.
Walleye are going to slam jerkbaits in early spring, but smallmouth and largemouth may not, water temps depending. I want that as many sharp trebles as I can get to help me hook ’em hard.
For this specific circumstance – cold water, northern lake – my top pick would be the Strike King KVD Deep Jerkbait.
In clear, cool water, I want colors and patterns that are as natural as I can get, and I want depth to hit those transitional zones. The KVD Deep delivers on both fronts, diving to roughly 11 feet. And at 4 4/3 inches and 3/5 of an ounce, it casts beautifully, even in the light breeze I prefer, with the size to really ring the dinner bell.
13 Fishing’s Loco Special is another great option. Available in two depths (3′ to 5′ and 6′ to 9′), I’d stick with the depper of the two for this situation.
It’s got the size and triple trebles you want, and it’s action is very hard to beat on a tight or slack line.
Final Thoughts
Jerkbaits are often help back until fall, when they’re a fantastic choice to target feeding bass and walleye before winter really sets in.
But it can be magical to flip that logic on its head, tying on a jerkbait in early spring to taker advantage of a breezy day on the lake.
Give jerkbaits a try this spring – you won’t be sorry!
Source: usangler.com