Hard Jerkbait for Bass Fishing

Hard Jerkbait Lures are minimal contact lures known as an all season lure with erratic lure action when the jerk retrieve is used which mimics an injured or spooked bait fish.

Anatomy: Hard Jerkbaits are treble hook lures with a slender and long lure body typically with two or three treble hooks and with various sized lip (also called a bill). Some come with internal weight transfer systems made of ball bearings that shift the weight to the back for long casts and to the front for more erratic lure action.

Variants & Other Names: It may be called a hard stickbait due to its shape, or a slashbait, or a minnow bait. A lipless jerkbait is a surface contact called a Twitch Bait. They generally have a sink classified as floating or slow sinking.

  • Three Hook: [Figure 1,2 ] Common.
  • Two Hook: [Figure 3,4] Less common.
  • Suspended: [Figure 1,3,4] Common.
  • Slow Sink: [Figure 2] Common.
  • Floating: [Figure 7] Not common.
  • Feather on Rear Hook: [Figure 4] Some choose to have a feather on the rear hook for further action.
  • Jointed: [Figure 5]  Not common, a jointed two piece jerkbait, that will make noise. Some suggest jointed jerkbait provides a swim lure action on a straight retrieve similar to a hard swimbait.
  • Minnow Shaped: Common, most are described as minnow shaped. Some will say it is smelt shaped. 
    • Perch Shaped: [Figure 6] Not common.
    • Trout Shaped [Figure 8] Not common.
  • Lipless: Lipless jerkbait is another name for a Twitch Bait which is a surface contact lure which supports the jerk retrieve.

Lure Action. [NL] Generally, hard jerkbaits use the jerk retrieve which results in erratic lure action with the lure darting side-to-side with an inconsistent cadence.  It is also possible to use a straight retrieve which results in a swim lure action sometimes with a more subtle rolling lure action. 

Search Bait: Commonly used to cover water to find bass. Also commonly used in assistance with forward facing sonar to find bass as the lure will pull the bass off cover or structures. Further, it is common to find bass following the lure where some suggest then using a follow-up bait. 

Pros’ Choice: Common, increasingly in the last few years with the increased usage of forward facing sonar.

Figure 1: Megabass Vision OneTen (110) Jerkbait Suspending 6FT #6 Hook 4 1/3 Inch and 1/2 oz
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Figure 2: Berkley Stunna Slow Sink Hard Jerkbait #6 Hook 6 to 10ft Deep 4.4 Inch 1/2 oz
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Figure 3: Shimano World Diver Flash Boost Hard Jerkbait Suspending 6 to 8 Ft, 3.9 Inches, 5/8oz
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When to Fish Hard Jerkbait

Hard Jerkbait are minimal contact lures typically selected when:   

  • Targeted Depth is:
    • Shallow: Common.  The depth is typically marked on the lure packaging and typically ranges from 1 foot to 6 feet. The lure depth can also be altered with line type and test with the thinnest resulting in the deepest depth. 
    • Deep(Offshore): Not common or most cases possible.
      • Suspended: Common, as the lure depth can be managed to be the desired height above reasonably shallow suspended bass. 
  • Fishing Speed is:
    • Fast: More commonly considered in high lure visibility especially in warm water temperatures in the summer.    
    • Slow: Commonly considered in low lure visibility and in low water temperatures for example in the winter or early spring or late fall.  Slow retrieve is accomplished by increasing the duration of the pause in the jerk retrieve.
  • Lure Visibility is:
    • High Lure Visibility: Common, as the erratic action, can attract bass visually from long distances.
    • Low Lure Visibility: Albeit a little less common, taking into considerations lure colors for low lure visibility scenarios including flash and:
      • Engaging Lateral Line: The erratic motion emulate a distressed or injured baitfish movements detectable with the bass’ later lines.,
      • Engaging Hearing: Some suggest selecting hard jerkbaits with weights that rattle during the jerk retrieve. 
  • Targeting Cover: [NL] Some suggest all lures are good near cover where hard jerbait lures are good when contacting:
    • Grass: Not common to contact grass, but some suggest shallow hard jerkbaits over submerged grass. Should grass be snagged on the lure often the jerk retrieve will dislodge the grass. Some suggest adding an upward jerk to every few jerks during the retrieve for different action and move the lure higher in the water column.
    • Rock: Not common. 
    • Wood: Not common. 
    • Dock: Not common 
    • Off Cover: Common, to fish suspended bass.
Figure 4: Rapala X Rap Deep Hard Jerkbait with Feather 4 Inch 2 Hook 6 to 15 ft Suspending 7/16 oz
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Figure 5: Castaic Baits Dying Jerk Jointed Jerkbait 1/2 oz 4.74 Inch
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Specific Hard Jerkbait Lure Selection

Selecting the Hard Jerkbait Lure Type, as a treble hook lure type,  there are the following key decisions:

  • Shapes:
    • Lip(bill) Size:
      • Shallow Diving: [1 ft to 3 ft] Small lip (bill)
      • Medium Diving: [ ft to 6 ft] Medium sized lip (bill)
      • Deep Diving: [7 ft plus]. Large lip (bill)
      • No Lip: No lipped hard jerkbaits are typically referred to as Twitch Bait lures and as they have no lip to create depth they are generally considered a surface or near surface lure.
    • Minnow Shaped: Commonly referred to as minnow shaped albeit there is trout, perch, and other shaped hard jerkbaits.
  • Sink Classification: Typically, hard jerkbaits packaging will stipulate the lure depth during the retrieve plus in some cases they are provided with one of these three common sink classifications:
    • Suspended: Common to always stay in the strike zone even when paused. Jerkbaits are calibrated to this depth.
      • Water Temperature Sink Impact: Colder water temperature a suspended lure may raise and very warm water temperature a suspended lure may sink.
    • Sinking/Slow Sinking: Common, especially in cold water scenarios, to simulate dying baitfish.
    • Floating: Not common, hard jerkbaits that will float to the surface once the retrieve is paused.  They are used shallow especially when fishing near wood or rock as the pause will raise the lure above the cover and ready for the next jerk.
  • Size:
    • Small: 3″ to 3.5″: Often with 2 treble hooks. Also, some jerkbaits are measured in millimetersand thus 78mm is roughly 3 inches. Some suggest smaller sizes in the spring as baitfish are smaller.
    • Common: 3.5″ to 4.5″
    • Large: 4.5″ to 7″
  • Lure Weight: Lure weight isn’t generally a consideration when fishing (or purchasing) as sink classification is typically used as well as the lure depth rating. The weight is a factor for cast distance and a factor in windy conditions. Also, some Jerkbaits come with ball bearings that assist in the cast distance as well as the lure action.
    • Light: 1/8, 1/4 oz
    • Common: 3/8, 1/2, 9/16 oz
    • Heavy: 5/8 oz
Figure 6: LiveTarget Yellow Perch Jerkbait 3 5/8 in 9/16 oz
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Figure 7: Daiwa Salt Pro Minnow [Floating]
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  • Lure Color: As lure color selection is mostly tied to the lure visibility download the Acute Lure Color Breakdown™ Infographic.
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Rigging Decisions

As a treble hook lure type, the common rigging considerations includes:

  • Treble Hook Type: Generally, round bend hook and some with the O’Shaughnessy bend and generally, with small barb, making easier hook sets especially in the winter when the bass’ mouth are tougher.
    • Three Treble Hooks: Common
    • Two Treble Hooks: Not as common, generally larger hooks, might be slightly better in cover.
  • Hook Size: Generally, smaller size, as the larger hooks require hard hook sets not conducive for hard jerkbaits and will negatively impact the action. Some suggest larger hooks do not have better catch rates. Besides replacing any bent or rusted hooks some, albeit not common, look to slightly upsize or downsize or upgrade the manufactured provided hooks.
    • Larger Front Hook: To assist in sinking, and the angle of the lure, some suggest putting a larger hook on the front generally a #4. Some put #4 or #3 as the middle hook to make it a medium sinking hard jerkbait. 
    • Small: #10, #12
    • Common: #8, #6, #5
    • Large: #4, #3 some going as large as 1/O, 2/O
  • Main Line: Common for fluorocarbon. Less common for braid albeit braid has a more direct impact on lure action during a jerk retrieve.
    • Light: 8 lb to 10 lb test generally to achieve maximum lure depth.
    • Common: 12 lb test to 15 lb test as lighter line helps ensure maximum lure action.
    • Heavy: 20 lb test and above for example when near cover. 
  • Leader: Common when braid main line.
  • Rod:
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Hard Jerkbait Presentations

Presentations for hard jerkbaits are commonly considered a horizontal presentation and a slack line presentation with the following considerations:

Additional Considerations
  • Add-on Dot or Strip Weight: Less common, but some suggest dots or strips can be added to adjust the fall rate. Too much weight could negatively impact the lure action.
  • Add-on Blade: Not common.
  • Seasons: Common all year with slower fishing speeds in the  spring, fall, and winter and faster fishing speeds in the summer as the water temperature increases.
  • Sight Fishing: Not common.
  • Suspended Bass: Common, as control the depth of the retrieve.
  • Follow Up Bait: Not common.
  • Targeting Wolf Packs: Not common.
  • Line Watcher: Some suggest that during the pause watch the line as it is the best indicator of bite which often takes place on the pause. Look for the line to jump.
  • Head Down Lure: Some suggest lures that are either out of the box or with an add-on weight or heavier front hook such that there is a 45 degree heads down angle to mimic a dying baitfish.
Figure 8: LiveTarget Trout Jerkbait 2 Inch
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