Sore thumbs gave good info there. I prefer a faster reel than a 5:1 ratio just because I want to take up slack faster. I think I use a 6 something to 1 Lews. Also, just like anything else, I think we as fisherman sometimes over complicate things. Nose up, nose down...I don't think it matters as long as it looks like a dying shad. I just want it stay in the strike zone and in their face as long as possible. I prefer my jerks to perfectly suspend (easier said than done) or sink just ever so slowly. If they rise a little that's not the end of the world. If it's too fast of a float, like Sore Thumbs said, just add some weight to it (suspend dots/strips, extra rings or lead wire around the hook shank). I throw jerkbaits about 90% of the time where I know there are tree tops present. Either visible or just below the surface from 1-15 feet or so under. Jerkbaits for whatever reason seem to be the most expensive of all cranks and nobody wants to lose $10-25 bucks in a tree. That is why I think it is essential to have a lure retriever. It will make you basically fearless to throw in and around tree tops which is where these fish like to hang of course. I really treat them no different than throwing topwater around timber.