I love to fish soft jerkbaits for bass. The new Culprit Skinny Jerk intrigued me with its narrow long profile and several unique colors. The transition from summer to fall is one of my favorite times to fish a soft jerkbait so I thought this would be a good time to test this soft jerkbait to see how well it fished. Here’s a quick runthrough of my experiences with this new soft plastic jerkbait for bass fishing.
Grooved Belly, Flat Back and Narrow Sides
The Culprit Skinny Jerk offers a grooved belly section, a flat back and a narrow side profile that makes it a bit unique from some soft jerkbaits on the market. I was afraid with it being so skinny I might have problems rigging or fishing it on regular tackle.
Actually the opposite was true. It was very easy to rig on both EWG offset worm hooks and standard more narrow offset worm hooks alike. The baits 6-inch length gave it enough weight to cast it on baitcasting gear and spinning gear equally well.
Long skinny profile provides action
I started out fishing it on a 6-foot, 10-inch medium heavy baitcaster setup with 50-pound braid and a short fluorocarbon leader. I was able to cast it and work it easily. And I was very happy with how it looks in the water. It’s long profile lets it dart and curl under the water and seem to almost suspend effortlessly on the pause.
You can work it slow with long pauses or twitch and skip it fast on the surface with a very natural erratic look.
Very flexible
The plastic in the Culprit Skinny Jerk is very pliable. Just holding it your hand the bait dances and the tail flutters nonstop. That limpness and softness translates to a very nice look in the water. When you short snap the rod, it will curl and dart. As you let it sink you can snap it up and let it come back near the surface and then pause and slowly start sinking back.
Longer Nose Allows for Better Rigging
I liked the bit longer nose on the Culprit Skinny Jerk. I typically try to rig soft jerkbaits with the eye of the offset hook out of the bait. They eye and the bend or offset will lock the head in place and it won’t slide on the hook as you work it aggressively.
With a longer nose, if it tears up after a few fish, you can just bite a quarter inch off and re-rig it and get several fish out of one soft bait.
Good Profile on Both EWG and Standard Worm Hooks
It fishes well on a 4/0 EWG hook. I think I actually liked the more narrow offset worm hook on this bait as it gives you a tighter package to work through cover. But I had no issues working the bait through grass and around standing timber and laydowns even with an EWG hook with it texposed and then skin hooking the point back into the body for a more snagless presentation.
Good Colors
I really liked the Albino, Sexy Shad and Tennessee Shad color options on the Culprit Skinny Jerk. They have some unique colors like raw chicken that I think anglers will like as well.
Better hookups
The narrow profile and softness of this Culprit Skinny Jerk soft jerkbait really hooked fish well. I caught a bunch of small bass under 12 inches on the bait and had no problem hooking even those really small bass on this bait. I also caught some fish close to 5 pounds that ran the jerkbait down while I was fishing it ultra fast up on the surface. And I hooked those fish equally well. This is a great bait for landing fish on a soft jerkbait.
First bass on Skinny Jerk
My first bass was a chunky fish close to 3 pounds that bit on a long slow cadence with a short jerk and long pause followed by two short jerks and another long pause.
Saw the fish eat on twitch after long pause
I saw this fish eat the bait right after a long pause and then a sharp twitch. The fish boiled the water and the bait was gone. I think it actually sucked the bait to it rather than charging it. Because I just saw the bait dart off and disappear as my line went tight. So it must appear very natural to the bass.
Caught some good ones with fast cadence
I was able to land a few good ones on the Culprit Skinny Jerk on the last several outings I’ve tried it. I am happy with how it fishes, that I can get 5-10 fish out of a bait and that they come 10 to a pack for $4.99 in a bunch of good looking colors.
You can find the Culprit Skinny Jerk at TackleWarehouse.com.
