For as long as I can remember, my favorite time to hit the water has been when the temperatures are just starting to rise in the early spring. Super cold air temps followed by warming spells get my blood pumping. From the depths of winter through that time, I dig through my arsenal of jerkbaits and dial them in for those first few trips.
Those Early Days of Tinkering
It wasn’t so long ago that I’d spend countless hours in the shop tinkering with these baits: weighting them, shaving their lips to tweak their action, and changing hooks. Early jerkbaits were shallow water plugs, and most floated. Long before suspending models were available, we made our own. A 5-gallon bucket of water for testing, a pair of snips, and a lot of trial and error resulted in a painstaking labor of love. We used solder, rubber core sinkers, and wire to get them to dive deeper — and more importantly — to suspend.
I always liked my jerkbaits to have a slight nose-down look when suspending. I can’t tell you how many baits I spent hours on that I could never get right. Now, as we get into the cold months, I may have to dig those out of the junk bucket again and see if I can give them the proper attitude. Time will tell.
Casting distance was always part of the problem with early models; the weights we added helped, especially on windy days, but they would tumble on the cast. So, we increased their effectiveness with strategic drilling and by using solder, lead, and heavier hooks. A step up in hook size, believe it or not, altered the bait significantly, but we never wanted to alter the action: that was the conundrum we faced, and why we had that 5-gallon bucket of water that we spent so much time testing baits in.
Color was important, too, but less important than action. A rattle can and some touch up paint allowed me to alter them to my liking. I noticed that the paint itself also could alter the action so less was more when painting — I wanted the weighting and other tweaks to control the way the plug moved. Sanding and using a clear coat after painting kept them slick and for the record, slick is better than rough.
The First Ones That Did the Trick
Bomber Long A’s, Rapala 11s, Storm Thundersticks, plus the stellar Smithwick Rogue were some of the first ones we destroyed and tweaked. The best ones that caught fish are still in my boxes today, but innovation has replaced many of them with models that now do what we want right out of the box.
The Smithwick Rogue was the first suspending jerkbaits I remember using that was designed to do what all my tinkering accomplished. Right out of the box, these minnow imitators suspended. Although they were shallow divers — 8 to 10 feet — they held in place well after the jerk, jerk, pause, and most of the best strikes occurred when it was still. They also slashed well, and had a little side-to-side wobble as they stopped that triggered more strikes.
Today, there are literally hundreds of these slashers built to suspend with no tweaking, and there are a lot of real good ones, so when I select one, my choice is more about shape and castability than anything.
The Forward-Facing Sonar (FFS) Conundrum
With the advent of Forward-Facing Sonar (FFS), being able to see the bait on the fishfinder screen replaced the sixth sense we used to use to fish these baits.
Whether you like FFS or not, these units are educating anglers about what fish want versus guessing and testing. Because you are actually able to see the bait in action, you can see how the little things matter more than ever. Watching the bait and how the fish react to it tells me there are certain little things about color, flash, wobble, and how jerkbaits suspend that make a huge difference.
The Next Generation of Jerkbaits
Lure manufacturers are always looking to build a better mousetrap. While basic shapes have changed very little in the last 40 to 50 years of jerkbait history, new designs incorporate prism paintjobs and the latest innovations to take advantage of modern sonar technology.
One of the more innovative baits I’ve seen of late, and one I’ve seen good results with, is the BOOYAH Flash Point jerkbait. A blade in the nose pops with a flash even in low light conditions, providing a solid target for forward-facing sonar beams. Action and color is now augmented with flash, and no doubt, this one will get a lot more time in the water for me this year.
The BOOYAH Flash Point 4.25 inch bait weighs 1/2 ounce and comes in 12 colors, with a deeper-diving version to be announced soon. The colors in this initial offering are perfect for both casting and use with FFS. My favorite so far is “chrome dome.”
The 1/2-ounce weight, combined with the balance transfer system, allows for long casts. The hard lines and humped midsection, plus its ability to suspend, makes it unique in the field. But the beauty is the small, custom, willow-shaped blade in the nose. My experience, so far, has shown that it provides flash while also making the bait more aerodynamic in the water. As a result, I’ve seen more strikes.
When you can see the flash, both in the water or on FFS, it gets the juices flowing. I know the fish target it differently than baits that don’t have a feature that sets it apart from the pack. Years of experience on the water tells me the first baits to get munched on are the ones that are different.
We see it in nature all the time in shad balls; thousands of shad swimming together never get crunched like the wounded or sick ones flicking on the surface.
The Flash Point Jerkbait Advantage
Although I’ve only had a few chances to use this bait, since it was only recently released, I still managed to catch a few good bass on it, as well as saugeye and white bass in my limited use.
I’ve seen enough from this bait to know it’s different enough to move to the head of the class. When I find a unique bait like the Flash Point, I will wear the paint off of it to figure it out. Rest assured, it will be my number one selection this spring.
Our water here in the Heartland is stained; with early spring rains it can get even less clear, but the flash of this bait gives me hope. From the early pre-spawn through the spawn, I will have a BOOYAH Flash Point tied on.
