Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

It all started with the plastic worm and has now mutated into a huge array of specialized offerings. Whose is the best and which one is your favorite? Come share your thoughts and opinions here.
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Hogsticker2
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Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Hogsticker2 » Sun Jun 22, 2014 5:06 am

K, so as long as I've been fishing I just started playing with fluke style baits. I know, crazy. I'm looking for bait specific info.
1) Which bait do you like for fishing surface or just sub surface?
2) Which bait are you using that has a slower sink rate?
3) Which bait do you like in the faster sinking variety?
4) Do any baits dart or twitch better than others?

I'm looking for all. One that is pretty buoyant and doesn't want to sink like a rock. One that has a slower sink rate, one that sinks pretty fast to use on and just above bottom, one that is ultra twitchy, and one that darts side to side. I'm sure certain baits have different trigger tripping characteristics, but hopefully we can narrow it down to just a few that will work and accomplish all the above. It's hard to tell how dense the plastic is without holding it. Lastly, which baits have excelled for you in cool or warm water? I'm thinking about picking up a pack of each of these to start playing. Feel free to provide any info on any of these baits, or any others you really like. I have the standard fair in Zoom flukes and SK Caffeine shads. I plan on fishing these weightless for the time being. I have a grip of skip gap hooks. Would you recommend a different hook, or will these be fine? I'm also gonna do some nose hooking and see how it goes. I'm having a killer rod built that will be perfect for this :big grin:

Bass Assassin straight and split tail shads
Big Bite Baits jerk minnow
Keitech shad impact
Lunker City Fin-S fish
Netbait super twitch

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Hogsticker2
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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Hogsticker2 » Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:27 pm

Nothing?? Maybe I should have posted this under "general" :-k

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by smalljaw » Sun Jun 22, 2014 9:06 pm

Near surface - Zoom Super Fluke.

Slower sink rate - Lunker City Slug-o.

Faster sink rat(my favorite) - River Rock Baits 4" and 5" Jointed Jerkbait.

Better darting baits - River Rock Jointed Jerkbait.

I like the Super fluke and the Jr. model for near surface presentations because they almost always dart up when using consecutive twitches when the bait is weightless. The Slug-o is a killer and was my favorite for a long time because it would sink a little quicker than the Fluke and it let me fish it faster without coming up to the surface. My new favorite is the River Rock Baits Jointed jerkbait, I fish the 4" version on a spinning rod with a 2/0 hook and the 5" I use on casting gear with a 4/0 hook. That bait has a really fast sink rate and it has a small joint that gives a smll kick when you twitch the bait. I also love them on scroungers and bladed swim jigs, they have a distinct kick but much more subtle than a boot tail swim bait.

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Reel Old Geezer
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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Reel Old Geezer » Mon Jun 23, 2014 7:52 am

I guess soft jerks aren't as popular as I thought. They are my favorite river smallmouth bait. I'd guess I catch well over 500 smallmouth a year with soft jerks. I've tried many different versions,but see no need for anything other than a Zoom Super Fluke in pearl color. It casts like a bullet, and has a great twitching action, I nose hook them whenever the cover allows.

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Bassmar » Mon Jun 23, 2014 4:30 pm

Reel Old Geezer wrote:I guess soft jerks aren't as popular as I thought. They are my favorite river smallmouth bait. I'd guess I catch well over 500 smallmouth a year with soft jerks. I've tried many different versions,but see no need for anything other than a Zoom Super Fluke in pearl color. It casts like a bullet, and has a great twitching action, I nose hook them whenever the cover allows.
How does nose hooking a fluke effect the action? Do they still have that side to side darting action? And what hook do you use?

To the OP. I only use Flukes and D-Shads. I find the D Shad has a far better action on the drop due to the tail design. Almost like a Senko. I use these when the fish are more lethargic and prefer to take it on the fall. Also in deeper water. I use a Fluke when the fish are more active and in shallow water. I Texas rig both with no weight.

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Shimano-Or-Nothing » Tue Jun 24, 2014 1:07 am

Zoom fluke for fishing bank lines or, shallow water in general. Strike King caffeine shad for flats with submerged grass.

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Reel Old Geezer » Tue Jun 24, 2014 1:30 am

How does nose hooking a fluke effect the action? Do they still have that side to side darting action? And what hook do you use?
I find nose hooking increases the darting action. Texas rigged Flukes glide more than nose hooked ones. I think an EWG hook creates a bit of a keel and stops the bait from darting as much. I use an Owner Mosquito hook in size 1/0 on a Super Fluke.

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Bassmar » Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:14 am

Reel Old Geezer wrote:
How does nose hooking a fluke effect the action? Do they still have that side to side darting action? And what hook do you use?
I find nose hooking increases the darting action. Texas rigged Flukes glide more than nose hooked ones. I think an EWG hook creates a bit of a keel and stops the bait from darting as much. I use an Owner Mosquito hook in size 1/0 on a Super Fluke.
Thanx for the response. I will try it this spring on smallies on open flats. The more erratic the action the better!

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by FrankW » Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:36 am

Hi Hogsticker2,

My favorite is the Lunker City Fin-S. I rig it with an Owner Twist lock weighted hook (1/8). It is amazing how far you can cast this on spinning gear. I fish it three ways. 1. let it sink and fish slow with short jerks. This gives the bait a lot of action. Pearl color. 2. Same hook setup and skip under docks. this bait is easy to cast side arm and it will bounce off the water and skip. 3. Make a long cast and reel fast that will cause the bait to skitter across the surface like a minnow trying to get away from Bass. I do this several times and follow up with a shallow crank bait. This works really well when the shad are schooling.

Frank
Last edited by FrankW on Wed Jun 25, 2014 1:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Hogsticker2 » Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:45 am

Going to try some nose hooking too. I'll pick up a pack of fin s fish plastics to go along with what I have now. Any other recommendations?

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by africanbass » Tue Jun 24, 2014 5:59 am

Zoom flukes 80% of the time from surface to mid water(unweighted)
For deeper presentations you can't beat the Yamamoto D-shad.They cost more but have the irresistible senko shimmer fall.
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Yamamoto ... e-YDS.html
The Damiki armour shad also produces,
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Damiki_A ... -DARM.html

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by BucketHunter » Tue Jun 24, 2014 12:43 pm

caffeine shad in pearl and baby bass, I don't even bother with anything else anymore. I like a skipgap hook, the z bend lays right in the body line and helps the bait track.
For a neat way to fish it, on shallow flats with roaming bass that may be spooky, cast way past your target. Burn it back after letting it settle, with a few pauses here and there, no twitches. This thing has a wicked little tail kick for a bait with no mechanical action. The bait silently zipping by in a fleeing motion with dying pauses drives fish wild.

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Hogsticker2 » Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:33 pm

D Shads added to the list :laugh1:

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Reel Old Geezer » Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:28 pm

I like a skipgap hook, the z bend lays right in the body line and helps the bait track.
I used this hook for a while, but had several average sized smallmouth bend the hook. I gave up on it for fear I might hook a really big one and lose it due to the hook.

Here's onne of 15 smallmouth that took my nose hooked fluke last week. This spawned out female was 20', and was feeding on a long shallow flat in the river.
Image

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Re: Calling all soft jerk bait fanatics

Post by Hogsticker2 » Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:08 am

Dandy fish. Have you found that Owner Mosquito hook to be the best hook for nose hooking?

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