What Color Jerkbait To Use?

[Sore Thumbs]

I have had conflicting theories on what colors to use. I have heard silver with black is good. I also heard that gold with black back is awesome there. I was told that a pro blue color or tenn. shad color is good too. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am also curiuos to know if you recommend deep diving or a regular depth jerkbait? Thanks for your input.

[fishinwrench]

As far as color patterns go you will get a hodge podge of suggestions covering every pattern available, so I'll only offer that the most important thing to me is that the belly is either clear, chartruese or (preferably) white (anything but red or flo.orange), then consider the light conditions and water color...and just go with your gut...at least Until your partner starts puttin' it on ya with something else. LOL

Early in the season (from ice out until the water temp reaches the high 40's) I definately do best with the deep diving jerkbaits, one of my favorites is the old suspending spoonbill rogue Not because it goes deeper, but because of the harder "tha-thump" that they do on the retrieve or when twitched. That really turns on the fish (gets thier attention) when the water is on the colder end of the annual jerkbait bite. (and yeah, Rogues do STILL catch fish) LOL.

Once it warms up a bit and the fish are actually looking for sick shad the regular short lipped jerkbaits will do better.

I went out for a very short trip yesterday and caught 4 on a spoonbill rogue in the Gravois arm. (1 good keeper LM, a pair of fat kentuckys, and another dink LM). And I didn't have to cover much water to find them, they were right where they are supposed to be.

Caught a nice Hybrid and got to see a 17" walleye caught also...just for conversation sake.

[Sore Thumbs]

As far as color patterns go you will get a hodge podge of suggestions covering every pattern available, so I'll only offer that the most important thing to me is that the belly is either clear, chartruese or (preferably) white (anything but red or flo.orange), then consider the light conditions and water color...and just go with your gut...at least Until your partner starts puttin' it on ya with something else. LOL

Early in the season (from ice out until the water temp reaches the high 40's) I definately do best with the deep diving jerkbaits, one of my favorites is the old suspending spoonbill rogue Not because it goes deeper, but because of the harder "tha-thump" that they do on the retrieve or when twitched. That really turns on the fish (gets thier attention) when the water is on the colder end of the annual jerkbait bite. (and yeah, Rogues do STILL catch fish) LOL.

Once it warms up a bit and the fish are actually looking for sick shad the regular short lipped jerkbaits will do better.

I went out for a very short trip yesterday and caught 4 on a spoonbill rogue in the Gravois arm. (1 good keeper LM, a pair of fat kentuckys, and another dink LM). And I didn't have to cover much water to find them, they were right where they are supposed to be.

Caught a nice Hybrid and got to see a 17" walleye caught also...just for conversation sake.

When u say they were where they were supposed to be do you mean you caught them by docks,points or somewhere else? Do you remember what the depth was? Is the Gravois a better place to fish than closer to the dam? Was the water dingy or clear? What was the water temp? Thanks for all your help.

[zipstick]

Been throwing the jerkbait over 20 years at Lake O. and I'm more confused than ever! So here's my long ramble.

Some years it's clown and other years it's pro blue, and other years its.......... I do like to get whatever I'm throwing a little deeper than many anglers, and if the fish aren't too cooperative, I like to throw it with longer pauses and barely single twitch it. I might add just enough weight to get the bait down to 12 feet of water, but a sinking bait can be a hung up bait too, so it can get more expensive without a lure retriever. I think the fish do learn color. It's tough for me to get bit three years in a row with a popular color, so I'm usually looking to change. Bright vs. dull, and belly color, and noise made are key ingredients often overlooked in bait selection. Generally, the clearer the water, the more subdued translucent patters work, while in dirtier water or heavy clouds the more dark and contrasting colors seem to work like the old orange belly, gold sides, black back is still good for the Rogue. On sunny days, though the bright clown and sliver/blue combinations can work.

When fish are hightly active, they tend to move to points and over brushpiles to feed in stable or falling lake levels in as shallow as six feet. Usually, I try to concentrate on the channel swings in the larger creeks where one side of the point created by the swing will be deeper than the other side. If brush is present, so much the better. The bass can be on both sides of it, but usually one side will predominate, so try to get a consistent bite going to establish a pattern.

The very best jerkbait fishermen based on their ability to win $ on the lake have their favorite brush piles and rock formations to fish, they keep up with the movements of the fish, and they have lots of buds that keep them informed on the changing lake conditions. Often one arm of the lake is "hot" wihle the others aren't.

I also like water that's at least 3 feet vis. and like it even clearer so the bass can see the bait from deeper water to come up to bite it. Fish the banks that get more sun, that is the north and northwest banks. Pay attention to the rock formations and meeting places of the different sized rock. I like to keep my boat in 15- 20 feet of water and fish more horizontally (parallel)down each bank. Normally, I fish with the light wind: it's warmer that way, and I can cast farther. I don't fish whitcap areas in winter because the water is too cold for bass to move to those places. Fish arond steeper banks that have good sunlight penetration, but near shaded objects like docks.

I find that a creek, bank, or cove will get hot for a period of time, and I can catch them there regularly. The same cove may not stay good for an entire winter, but sometimes they don't. If you find one, stay put in there and wait for the fish to start eating, or visit it three times during the day.

Temperatures: sometimes I feel I'd do better without a temp gauge because I get screwed up mentally and lose confidence in sub 40 degree water. I think I'm more affected than the fish are. I would rather fish from 47 down to 42 for better fish movement in early winter, and I like a water level of 656 or lower because more bass tend to move out from behind the docks where they are more accessible to the jerkbait. Often the bass locate in either the mouth of coves but sometimes even the last 1/3 of the cove can be good, so it pay to pay attention to electronics to determine where the baitfish are positioned and fish near them.

Use a fairly long rod with a limber tip for better casting and keeping more fish pinned when hooked. Don't be afraid to go down to 8 lb. flourocarbon for line. You'll get a longer cast and better feel of the lure. Anytime the lure feels different at all, set the hook. Any activity on a suspended bait definitely means a bass has swallowed it or fanned on it. Yes, you can feel a missed strike, or a nudge of a bass that does not take the lure if you are in contact with the bait. When the water temps get to fifty, I can usually find a better bait or bite.

Confidence in your approach is paramount for fishing slowly, and that is what jerkbait fishing is. You may only get bit for 15 minutea a day, but you can catch 10 - 20 pounds in that small period of time. Experiment with the cadence and amount of life yuou put into your rod tip. I think lits of guys overwork the bait. Occasionally, a very slow pull does wonders when a sharp flick gets little. I've interviewed winning teams of anglers after winter tourneys and many of them refer to that one hot location during a specific time of day when they caught their better fish most often on jerkbaits.

The best way to learn how to fish them is going with an accomplished angler tht can shorten your learning curve. Good luck.

[Sore Thumbs]

Thank you guys for all of your help. I really appreciate it and I will take this knowledge and use it next weekend. I will let you know how it goes. Between my partner and me, we will have a lot of colors and brands to experiment with. Thanks again Fellas!

[freelancer 11]

I to would like to thank you for all the the info. I will be fishing the Bass world event in march and hopefully will learn something about that lake. There are so many places to fish but from my experience this time of year it is from Gravois Arm up to the dam for the better fish.