5 Tips For Catching Bass On Jerkbaits In The Fall

Deep-diving jerkbaits are some of the best lures for catching big largemouth and smallmouth bass in the fall. Here are 5 jerkbait tips to make your autumn bass outings more productive.

It’s a good idea to own an assortment of deep diving jerkbaits for covering depths between 6 to 20 feet. A diverse collection of baits ensures you’re prepared to fish the different locations and depths where largemouth and smallmouth may feed during the fall. To illustrate this further, here are a few jerkbait patterns common on northern lakes.

Largemouth often relate to a lake’s deepest, healthy weed beds, which span 12 to 16 feet in many waterbodies. Smallmouth, too, cruise these edges in autumn in search of easy meals. In this scenario, bass won’t be able to resist a RipStop Deep, a Shadow Rap Deep or X-Rap Deep danced between 6 to 10 feet along these outside weed edges.

Slide into a lake’s basin and you may encounter smallmouth on deep flats and offshore humps filling their bellies on schooling baitfish. Here, a deeper running jerkbait is required. Aggressive smallmouth suspending 15 feet down over 30 will rise and crush a sinking Shadow Rap Deep twitched 8 to 10 feet beneath the surface. But when bronzebacks are less active or positioned further down in the water column, a better tool for the job is a Down Deep Husky Jerk, which dives between 8 to 19 feet. 

Pro Tip: Protect your investment and keep jerkbaits organized by storing them in 3700 and 3600 RapStack Tackle Trays.

Tweaking a jerkbait’s running depth can help you fish the strike zone with more precision. One way to do this is using braided fishing line. The ultra-thin diameter of Sufix’s 832 Advanced Superline and ProMix Braid reduces water resistance, which causes a jerkbait to dive faster and further down than when it’s fished on nylon line of similar strength. 

Fine-tuning a jerkbait to get the perfect sink rate (or suspending action) is another way to hack the dive curve, and easily done by adding on some SuspenDots or SuspenStrips. These self-adhesive weights are flexible, easy to cut and removable, making them essential to have in the boat when fishing jerkbaits. 

Pro Tip: Although technically not classified as a jerkbait, the 3-3/4” CountDown Elite is a bonafide bass slayer and its controlled 1-foot-per-second sink rate makes it another essential hard-bait for targeting suspending bass. 

Bass can attack jerkbaits at any point during the retrieve. However, a lot of strikes occur when the lure swims at its running depth and, thus, a good idea to keep it in this zone as much as possible.

A long cast helps in this respect. With more line out, a lure has more runway, so to speak, to do its thing at the depth where its designed to perform. Here, again, braid’s thin diameter proves advantageous for extending the distance one can throw a jerkbait. Casting with the wind will also increase range.

Slow trolling (aka strolling) a jerkbait on a long line is another way to keep a lure swimming where bass are feeding. For example, smallmouth positioned around deep structure can’t resist a Down Deep Husky Jerk strolling by within striking distance. 

Pro Tip: Pulling the rod forward and then dropping it back gives a jerkbait an erratic action. Doing this when strolling can trigger hits.

A good rule when fishing jerkbaits is the colder the water, the longer the pause should be following a lure’s forward movement. In late fall, expect a lot of strikes to occur when you’re soaking a jerkbait — and when bass don’t strike on the pause, many will get triggered by the first twitch after leaving a lure motionless for a long time. These are small details, but they add up big when it comes to the number and size of largemouth and smallmouth you’ll catch on jerkbaits in autumn.

Every jerkbait listed above is packed with many strike-triggering features to stimulate a fish’s predatory instincts. Sometimes, though, adding some extra flair is needed to push hesitant bass over the edge. 

Enter the Bladed Hybrid Treble and Dressed X-Rap Treble. Use either of these hooks to replace a jerkbait’s rear factory treble, and you’ll give the lure’s derrière the subtle action of a minnow’s tail. 

Despite being an effective modification, we don’t suggest doing it to all of your jerkbaits. Cold-water bass can be particular and may show preferences for either a customized jerkbait or a factory original model, so you’ll want both readily available. As for what prompts a bass to choose one lure over the other? Well, that’s anyone’s guess.

A deep diving jerkbait is one of the best bass lures for fall fishing and, with the tree leaves changing, now’s the time to stock up on these potent hard-baits. Keep the above 5 tips in mind and you’re guaranteed to have some great bass action on the water this autumn.