Crankbaits/Jerkbaits

I am looking to get some squarebills and jerkbaits this year. What are some brands/models that everyone enjoys? Does anyone know much about the Cotton Cordell line of Jerkbaits? It seems like Lucky Craft as a large rang of cranks while other manufactures only have a couple to choose from. Also what do you get with your money when it comes to crankbaits/jerkbaits? Why buy a $10-$15 one when you can buy a $6-$8 one. if this should be split up into 2 posts please let me know.

Cranks, for me reef runner, wally diver, rapala tail dancer, shad rap & flicker. Depends on when and how deep open big water I run the reef runner on lead core. River do flicker cause there cheap and don’t care as much when they break off.

For bass I prefer ,Rapala DT’s ,KVD square bills,in diffrent sizes depending on depth being fished,I don’t throw jerks much but I have good luck on X Raps also I have a couple Lucky Crafts but they are spendy when the toothy critters get em.
Stan

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Why buy a $10-$15 one when you can buy a $6-$8 one. if this should be split up into 2 posts please let me know.

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Easy answer, though not many people get it. It comes down to quality and how a bait is eaten. On the best days when fish are most aggressive, you could put a hook on a dog turd and catch fish. But when fish are neutral to negative, what’s baits can you still get them to eat.
Over the last 5 to 6 years, I found I get eaten on more natural patterns than odd ball colors. Granted, some days a purple/pink or bright chartreuse will do better. But when looking at how many days I’m on water, natural baits have produced more often.
Ironically, since I have been using more live target lures I see I’m buying less variety. Why??? Because I don’t need to have so many different cranks. So even though I spend much more per crank, I spend the same or less since I don’t need to buy so many different baits.
Btw- I’m referring to having a bait eaten- not wussy curiosity bumps where they are barely hooked. If you watched the guys on the Bassmasters at Gunderson you would have seen a perfect example of this. Evers really screwed up by casting the same crank. He lost so many fish because they were just investigating instead of eating. Had he made more changes, he would have cleaned up. How the fish is hooked tells the entire story.

I just started using square bills but I really like the storm arashi, they are tough, run true, have nice colors and they catch fish. For jerkbaits I go old school and stick to the Smithwick rogues. I’m sure there are better choices out there but they’re cheap and they work and they seem like they have a huge following.

When you pick some up get variety for different depths. Floating, suspending, sinking. Need to be able to jerk it at the depth the fish are, whether be over the top of emerging weed growth, 3′ down over a shelf, or 10′ on a rock pile. Suspendots work well on the head or tail to on floating or suspending lures to make it rise/fall head/tail up slowly imitating dying bait fish.

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I am looking to get some squarebills and jerkbaits this year. What are some brands/models that everyone enjoys? Does anyone know much about the Cotton Cordell line of Jerkbaits? It seems like Lucky Craft as a large rang of cranks while other manufactures only have a couple to choose from. Also what do you get with your money when it comes to crankbaits/jerkbaits? Why buy a $10-$15 one when you can buy a $6-$8 one. if this should be split up into 2 posts please let me know.

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I DO NOT spend much on hard baits anymore because, lets face it.. I don’t fish tournaments. I don’t NEED to catch as many fish as possible to enjoy a day on the water, thus I don’t risk a ton of money to fish.

For square bills, my all time favorite is the bomber flat A. In the river, there is nothing that produces more summertime fish for me than bouncing a chartreuse/blue back square A into laydowns. And they are cheap, I buy them when they are on sale in the bins at cabelas/gander for $2 each. When fishing in very clear water, I break out my stash of h20 express square bills (only sold at academy sports). They are very, very, similar to the rick clunn line. They have very realistic colors, I love the green sunfish color!!

For jerks, I guess that is where I spend my money. When I’m using jerkbaits I’m not fishing around cover usually, mostly flats.. so I don’t really have the risk of losing a lure other than a pike biting me off which is VERY rare around here. I use the rapala x-rap. Olive color for lakes, and the silver/black color for the river.

The more expensive the bait the better it sits in the water, especially for jerk baits, they suspend WAY better and have a much better rolling action. Do answer your question I got a bunch of the Duo Realis jerk baits this year, LOVE THEM. Great quality and wicked hooks. For square bills, I fish the river quite a bit since i’m fishing for the club down in Winona, I’d say don’t waste money and go big. The Strike Kings KVD’s are amazing, they do break every once and a while but they’re cheap so I don’t see it as a big deal. Plus you’re banging them off stumps, it’s bound to happen. The Storm Arachi’s are pretty cool too for a change up.

If you’re looking for anywhere to order them I recommend Monster Tackle, they’re based out of California. They have the best prices I’ve ever seen, great customer service and super fast shipping. Check them out, I think their website is outdoorproshop.com

I like the rattling rouge in the suspending model in the blue back silver side orange-red throat or clown.I like the kvd square bills too both the way they run and price wise.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I prefer quality over quantity when the quality is warranted so I will look into a number of brands. Living in Northern IN I have very few lakes where Shad is the primary bait fish. Is it rediculous to think that I should concentrate more on gill/perch colors then 1 million versions of shad?

@ Bassn7, How do the Lucky Crafts compare to the X-Raps?

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Ironically, since I have been using more live target lures I see I’m buying less variety

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Randy,

Which Live Target cranks are you using and how are you using them? I’ve been interested in trying them out but have yet to pull the trigger…

My #1 money bait is the 1/2 oz lipless gizzard shad. pearl or ghost blue. You can do dam near anything with it. Rip weeds, fish it like a blade, vertical jigging, straight retrieve,…Ice fishing…..

Next is the Rainbow Smelt – I run the silver/blue and the bronze. If they are “bumping” the bright colors, I go darker or vise-versa (typical stick bait) jerk, rip, retrieve…..

Then Perch, craw, and misc….
I just bought my 6 month supply

Though…I’m pretty dang hyped to get these sucker & redhorse wet for musky this year

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Cranks, for me reef runner, wally diver, rapala tail dancer, shad rap & flicker. Depends on when and how deep open big water I run the reef runner on lead core. River do flicker cause there cheap and don’t care as much when they break off.

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This is the bass forum not walleye

megabass vision 110 is the best jerkbait for bass fishing $$$

Spro McStick is good too.

Went to Missouri this spring and a buddy was really whaling them on the live target smelt randy was talking about, except it was the standard version, not the spoonbill.

Personal choice: For squarebills I love using the KVD 1.0, 1.5, and 2.5 Squarebills and for jerk baits I love using Rapala X-Raps in the sizes of 08 and 10. Both are somewhat inexpensive and produce a lot of fish for me in different kinds of conditions.

When it comes to LMB, I throw lots of Bomber Square As. Maybe I shoudn’t say lots as one color is about all I throw as it works so well. Cabela’s Gravediggers are good at times.
As for sticks, the X Raps have produced well for us in our sandpits, but damn they’ve been the opposite of durable for me. That’s a very sore and different subject all together. Sometimes Husky Jerks are ok.