Jerkbaits During the Spawn

I was out last week on a lake with mid 60s water temps. I planned on bed fishing and I did find many fish paired up and on beds, but they were focused on what they were doing and didn’t want anything to do with my lures. So I moved out to the initial weed edge and started working the jerkbait to see if any prespawn stagers were around. The answer was yes.

I had two of the best days fishing of my life. Definitely reminded me to not get stuck on those bed fish if they aren’t biting. Oh, by the way, it gets the big girls too!

Caught your vid earlier on YT, nice day on the water. How deep was that weed edge, 8-12′?

I think I know which lake you are on, haven’t been out there before but I think I’ll take a stab at it Thursday if I can keep the work gremlins at bay.

Thanks for posting this fishing video on this fishing website.

BoatsHateMe wrote:

Caught your vid earlier on YT, nice day on the water. How deep was that weed edge, 8-12′?

I think I know which lake you are on, haven’t been out there before but I think I’ll take a stab at it Thursday if I can keep the work gremlins at bay.

Thanks for posting this fishing video on this fishing website.

I was sitting in around 14 ft throwing up into 6-7 and then working it over the tops of the weeds and then out over deeper water. Caught some in the weeds and some suspending over the deeper water. Around points was the hottest action.

Jerkbaits can be very effective for bass on beds too. A slow sinker with a nose down attitude which is subtly twitched and allowed to settle and soak very near or in the bed won’t be tolerated for long. It’s an alternative to try when traditional plastics aren’t getting the job done.

BrianF wrote:

Jerkbaits can be very effective for bass on beds too. A slow sinker with a nose down attitude which is subtly twitched and allowed to settle and soak very near or in the bed won’t be tolerated for long. It’s an alternative to try when traditional plastics aren’t getting the job done.

Definitely. Great around docks as well. Such a versatile lure.

On beds you can’t beat a Berkley Slugo (if you can find them) Weightless-deadstick-wait, wait some more, then you see your line shooting off!

tim hurley wrote:

On beds you can’t beat a Berkley Slugo (if you can find them) Weightless-deadstick-wait, wait some more, then you see your line shooting off!

I love bed fishing as much as the next guy but my ADD tends to get in the way at times.

There’s just something about them jerkbaits…suspending versions that are just, I love to random twitch them.

slipperybob wrote:

There’s just something about them jerkbaits…suspending versions that are just, I love to random twitch them.

I agree. You can work them fast or as slow as you want and just drive bass (or anything really) absolutely crazy!

I cant help but to work jerkbaits at a fast rate, 2 or 3 twitch and a 1 second pause repeated, no long pauses. I’ve really liked the perch pattern shadow series rap the last 2 seasons. Produced more large and small mouth then any other baits

Bearcat89 wrote:

I cant help but to work jerkbaits at a fast rate, 2 or 3 twitch and a 1 second pause repeated, no long pauses. I’ve really liked the perch pattern shadow series rap the last 2 seasons. Produced more large and small mouth then any other baits

It’s tough to do but when the water gets cold they just crush them on the pause. Perch is one of my go-to’s as well.