Mike McClelland probably throws a jerkbait more often than the majority of his St. Croix Bassmaster Opens competitors.
That’s no slight to any of the myriad lure options — many of which the Arkansas pro also uses. Rather, it’s a firm belief that this particular reaction bait category holds a much broader appeal than some may recognize.
And, as we’ll see shortly, a few easy tweaks can significantly expand the jerkbait’s potential.
“In the early years, jerkbaits were always (described as) a prespawn, cold-water bait, so a lot of guys put them down during the postspawn and the summer months,” said McClelland. “The prespawn period is my favorite time to utilize a jerkbait, but when you travel around the country, especially in the Northeast and upper Midwest, the water temperatures never really get that hot up there.
“The fish stay active, so the summer months and early fall months are phenomenal (jerkbait times) up there.”
A deeper understanding
McClelland, who designed the SPRO McStick and, most recently, the SPRO McDart, credits modern electronics for drawing the curtains on many truths that contribute to the jerkbait’s expanding popularity.
“I think now that we have forward-facing sonar it allows us to truly see where the fish are positioned in the water column, and it allows us to target individual fish,” McClelland said. “There have been those times of the year where you could see fish chasing bait but couldn’t necessarily zero in on the fish.
“Now, with Garmin LiveScope, I can lead a fish. We really don’t have any other hard bait that mimics a vulnerable shad as good as a jerkbait.”
McClelland goes on to say, while live sonar has revealed prime jerkbait scenarios, many of them benefit from certain tweaks.
“Guys used to talk about postspawn fish pulling out on the ends of long flat points and under boat docks and various things where they guard fry,” McClelland said. “I’ve learned that there are a lot of fish, especially smallmouth, that guard fry out over open water.
“Especially in the Ozark Lakes, I catch a lot of smallmouth in the top 2 to 3 feet of the water column, sitting out in front of a bluff end, outside of a gravel spawning area. They’re guarding fry, but they’re sitting over 30 to 80 feet of water.”
Adjustment advantages
While McClelland is confident in the jerkbait’s diverse fish-tempting charms, experience has shown him that even this convincing form occasionally needs a little assistance. From the functional to the aesthetic, a handful of improvements will broaden the jerkbait’s appeal.
Two quick thoughts here: First, seasoned bass anglers typically have more jerkbaits than they do underwear. However, budgets, storage and spousal tolerance varies angler to angler.
Also, sometimes the fish are really digging a certain jerkbait size/style/color, but you simply need that hot ticket do something more than its specs dictate. Depth is the biggie, but posture and strike focus also factor into the equation.
Consider McClelland’s insights.
That’s a wrap: When he needs more depth than his jerkbait typically reaches — maybe the fish are feeling the week’s tournament pressure, or perhaps weather conditions have pushed them down in the water column — McClelland’s go-to is wire coil (soft copper, lead or soldering). The action is simple — wrap the wire around one or more of his treble hook shanks — but the savvy pro offers strategic insights.
“I’ll take a piece of wire, make a loop at the top of the wire and bend it tight at the eye of the treble hook,” McClelland said. “I’ll hang that wire off they eye of that hook, but I won’t wrap it until I put the bait in the water and determine how much of that wire I need to make the bait sink slowly or suspend.
“Once you do a few jerkbaits, you get a feel for how much wire you need and then you can modify it by trimming off little pieces until you get it right where you want it.”
Size matters: Sharp hooks are essential for snaring fish, especially when they only slap at the jerkbait, but McClelland knows the value of adjusting his hardware sizing.
“All of my SPRO jerkbaits come with No. 5 treble hooks standard, so if I want to make it more buoyant, I go to No. 6s,” McClelland said. “If I’m trying to lighten the bait, I start at the rear of the bait (with hook changes), then move to the middle hook if I want to lighten it even more. There are times I might put all No. 6 hooks on there.
“If I’m weighting the bait, I start at the front with a No. 4 because you always want the bait to stay nose down.”
When time allows, McClelland keep various size treble hooks with split rings already attached for quick changes. If he’s replacing hooks on the fly, he’ll open the split ring, slide on the new hook and work it onto the ring as it pushes the existing hook off the ring’s opposite end.
Lord of the rings: As an option to the hook changes, McClelland utilizes various sizes of SPRO Power Split Rings to influence a jerkbait’s buoyancy or sink rate. Similar to the hook changes, going larger or smaller on those rings allows him to bring his bait’s performance into the desired zone.
Arming himself with Gamakatsu split ring pliers, McClelland alters his tool to facilitate the task.
“I’ll grind the tip of the pliers’ tooth with a wheel grinder to where it’s super thin,” McClelland said. “Especially when I’m using those pliers on small split rings, it’s easier to open them. You want it ground down to where you can really slip it in that split ring and not spring it when you do.”
Paint the target: Even with a perfectly balanced bait that hits the strike zone every time, efficiency is not guaranteed. Sometimes, the fish lack decisiveness; other times, their aim stinks.
In any case, moving the focus from the bait’s backside to the front half helps improve the connections.
“If I’m getting short strikes, or if I catch several fish and they’re all getting the tail hook, one of the first things I’ll try is I’ll put a red hook on the front of the bait,” McClelland said. “It’s crazy how just a little bit of color sometimes will make them zero in on the head of the bait and not the tail.”
