looks like sounds like jerkbait

Professional angler Michael Murphy from Gilbert, South Carolina, has been designing lures for years and was excited about being part of designing and testing the Ima Flit 120. The Ima Flit 120 has a unique construction which consist of the following:

Small bb’s that imitate the sounds which gizzard and threadfin shad make in cold water and during cold fronts, a triangular internal chamber system that causes the bb’s to ricochet at constant angles, a flat sided, wide back resembling members of the herring family, sides of the bait are angled so light reflects slightly downwards-the direction the majority of strikes come from, and a forward pointed, skinner bill that gives the flit its own unique action.

“The Ima Flit 120 sounds, looks, and swims just like a baitfish,” explained Murphy. “The prime time for fishing the flit is when the water temperature is 45 to 55-degrees, that’s the time of year most of the bait is the same size as the Flit 120 and most of the crawfish are still buried; so, baitfish are the only source of food for bass,” Murphy continued, “It also catches bass in the spring, spawn, post spawn, fall, or anytime a bass can see it.”

Color also plays an important role when selecting a hard jerkbait. Murphy recommended a foil finish like clown or silver flash for fishing off color water with 2 to 3-foot visibility or cloudy days. In clear water, 3 to 4-foot or more visibility a mat finish or dull color pattern. “Some day’s bluegill or oddball color patterns work best around docks or in the springtime,” Murphy said.

McClelland’s Mc Stick
Another professional bass angler who has been tinkering with hard jerkbaits for years and now has his own designed hard jerkbait, the Mc Stick by Spro Bait Company, is Mike McClelland from Bella Vista, Arkansas. McClelland began his career as a professional bass angler fishing on Ozark Mountain reservoirs participating in Heartland Trail tournaments. “In the late 1990s I started tinkering with jerkbaits to get them to suspend, I epoxy sheets of lead to the bottom jerkbaits, changed split rings, and hooks to get them to suspend just right,” recalled McClelland.

McClelland designed the Mc Stick primarily for clear, cold water reservoirs but it can be used year round, especially for anglers in the northern states fishing lakes like Champlain or Oneida in New York. “The Mc Stick was designed with a weight transfer system which allows anglers to cast farther and rests at a 30-degree angle when paused,” McClelland continued, “this nose down presentation allows for more head first strikes and better hook ups,” McClelland pointed out.

When deciding on which color to fish with McClelland recommended, “In murky water or low light conditions, you need a Mc Stick with lots of flash like ole glory, clown, or chrome shad; on sunny days, clear water, and light winds a spooky shad, blue bandit, or clear chartreuse catches more fish.” Just like the Ima Flit 120, the Mc Stick is also available in popular custom Midwest colors. Table Rock shad or Norman Flake are 2 color patterns that McClelland designed just for fishing the Ozark Mountain reservoirs but have proven extremely effective for bass everywhere.

Temperature and Location
Both Murphy and McClelland agree that the prime time for fishing hard jerkbaits is in cold water. “I prefer 45 to 55-degree water temperature,” Murphy continued, “I like to key in on rock banks that the sun has been shinning on collecting heat; the baitfish will definitely be more active in that area.” Other noteworthy locations Murphy likes to fish during prime time is bluff walls, transitions banks, over brush piles, bluff end next to spawning pockets. In general, holding areas are better than areas where they spawn. “A wild card to location can be the inflow of water into the reservoir, water run off can really get the fish active and biting a jerkbait,” Murphy explained.

“The prime time to fish Mc Stick is once the water temperature drops below 50-degrees or after a shad kill; although, I do not like to fish in the area where mass numbers of shad are dying but in areas where shad are just starting to die,” explained McClelland. Early in the year McClelland typically fishes the upper river arms if they are clear; however, once the water temperature in the lower end of the lake begins to warm up McClelland will move to that area of the lake. McClelland’s key area to fish are tree tops, cedar trees, bluff walls, channel swings in creeks, long flat tapering points, boat docks, or any where on the lake where there is some type of structure or cover.

Cadence
The real key to catching bass on a hard jerkbait is cadence; once you find the right area and depth bass are holding at. Basically, cadence is the speed at which an angler presents the hard jerkbait in the water. Depending on the model, each hard jerkbait comes back differently; some erratic while other have really subtle movements, almost gliding. Which cadence you use will be dictated by how active bass are that day. Some days extremely long pauses in between jerks may catch bass, while other days, series of fast jerks and short pauses catch bass.

“I like to start each jerk with slack in the line and end each jerk with slack in the line after single to multiple jerks,” Murphy continued, “I increase frequency between jerks and pauses as the fish’s activity level increases and water temperature increases.” “Its best to work the lure with your rod tip close to the surface of the water to maximize depth, bring the rod tip up when you want to work it shallower or through or over shallow cover,” said Murphy.

Rod/Reel/Line
When fishing a hard jerkbait, Murphy recommends a 6 to 7-foot Fenwick TAV medium/heavy action, depending on the angler’s height, combined with a Revo Premier 6:3 to 1 reel. As for line, Murphy uses monofilament for shallow water and Berkley Trilene 100% fluorocarbon when wanting to fish a hard jerkbait deeper.

McClelland also uses special gear when fishing hard jerkbaits such as a 6’9” Falcon Cara weightless worm rod and 5:1 Quantum Tour Edition reel with 8 to 12-pound test Ande monofilament fishing line. McClelland does not like to throw fluorocarbon fishing line early in the year because it creates a bow in the line and drags the hard jerkbait downward. As bass get more aggressive, McClelland will increase the gear ration and change his line size to 10 to 12 -pound Ande monofilament fishing line.

Return to Index