I know there some jerkbaits that work really well but are NOT cheap. So I wanted to know some reasonable priced jerk baits that are worth the money.
Rapala shadow raps run about $8ea. Nice baits with a good selection of colors.
Smithwick Rattl'in Rogue
A 10-pack of 6" Slug-Go soft jerkbaits will set you back 6 bucks
Roger
Assuming you mean suspending hard jerkbaits, the Luck E Strike RC STX is a good bait for a reasonable price. The H2O jerk shad is listed as a floater but actually suspends and only runs around $6.
The Strike King KVD Jerkbait & the 6th Sense Provoke 106X are both very effective and around $10 bucks ~
The Deep versions of both are Killer Too
A-Jay
On 1/15/2017 at 7:04 AM, A-Jay said:The Strike King KVD Jerkbait & the 6th Sense Provoke 106X are both very effective and around $10 bucks ~
The Deep versions of both are Killer Too
A-Jay
I found 1 clown colored KVD 300 for $5 the other day and had to grab it. They haven't impressed me yet but thought I'd give them another try for that price.
On 1/15/2017 at 7:08 AM, Bluebasser86 said:I found 1 clown colored KVD 300 for $5 the other day and had to grab it. They haven't impressed me yet but thought I'd give them another try for that price.
I saw that you picked that up in another thread.
I have been basically blown away with this bait (especially the deep one) Please know I have a ton of LC baits and you'd have a hard time getting me to say that the KVD bait isn't better.
Especially this fall.
Good Luck with yours Blue.
A-Jay
RC STX, Rogues, and Storm Twitch Sticks. Then Rapalas, Bombers, and Huskey jerks would be my next 3 favorite cheaper hard jerkbaits.
I use the SK KVD's and the Storm Twitch Sticks.
The SK KVD's are the best behaving baits in cold water I have ever fished..............That means every single one has performed and suspended out of the package, with a hook upgrade, the way it's supposed to. I can not say the same for just about every other suspending jerkbait I have tried..............and that list is long. Lucky Craft's, Rapala's, the Clunn STX's, Rouges, and more.
The Storm's are great in shallow water. They don't dive as deep as the KVD's, and they slowly float away from hang ups, or up out of grass with their stock hooks, with a swap to a heavier wire hook on the front, they still don't suspend perfect, but rise ever so slowly, and at the tail end of the spring jerkbait bite, a bait that rises slow is often the ticket to get a few more days out of the jerkbait bite when they seem to lose interest in perfectly suspending baits.
Yozuri
On 1/15/2017 at 6:30 AM, rippin-lips said:Rapala shadow raps run about $8ea. Nice baits with a good selection of colors.
Have to keep in mind that these sink on the pause. But yeah, I like 'em and the Shadow Rap Shad too, which rises on the pause.
On 1/15/2017 at 8:33 AM, ww2farmer said:I use the SK KVD's and the Storm Twitch Sticks.
The Storm's are great in shallow water. They don't dive as deep as the KVD's, and they slowly float away from hang ups, or up out of grass with their stock hooks, with a swap to a heavier wire hook on the front, they still don't suspend perfect, but rise ever so slowly, and at the tail end of the spring jerkbait bite, a bait that rises slow is often the ticket to get a few more days out of the jerkbait bite when they seem to lose interest in perfectly suspending baits.
This is great info! Thank you for sharing that.
On 1/15/2017 at 6:30 AM, rippin-lips said:Rapala shadow raps run about $8ea. Nice baits with a good selection of colors.
I have been "hearing" quite a bit about this bait - and from some very good sticks too.
So I recently picked up couple and we'll get to see what all the 'Fuss' is about.
I like the fact that they sink slowly on the pause. May not be that big of a factor in the spring but I'd expect next fall might see these getting stuck in more than a few stout SMB faces.
A man can hope anyway.
A-Jay
On 1/15/2017 at 6:43 AM, roadwarrior said:Smithwick Rattl'in Rogue
+1, about the only jerkbait I throw, silver with black back, white bottom.
Spro mcstick
Here are my favorites and all are priced reasonable and produce just as well as other brands I own which cost 3x the amount. Obviously the Pointer by LC is a great lure, Price is not that bad but I have been impressed with the Academy Megabass Clones which are 3.99 and have the exact same super slow float, good colors, VMC hooks, $25 mail order and they do free shipping which is crazy.
I would buy:
Bomber Long A -$6 Timmy Horton colors are good and they have better hooks-Pound for pound my favorite.
Smithwick Rogue which is a classic for good reason.
Husky Jerk
-Great Early season jerkbait-Plastic version of Original Floater. The Shadow raps are the plastic version of the Flat raps and make a slow float and slow sink, really nice colors, Dicks has them buy one get one half off.
I find the Spro is basically a clone of the Smithwick Rogues, not the perfect Rogue which dives 10', but Spro has better color patterns & are only $7 on sale so a great option just like the SK,Xcalibur, Berkley, really any brand, it is all in the wrist, Depth, and cadence. Sound also matters.
I just saw a cool video of underwater footage of Florida Bass smashing a suspending Jerkbait & It looks like a Pointer? in the pic, I am sure he mentions it somewhere but you will see that they do not examine it when they are aggressive.
At the advice of @Bluebasser86 I bought a few of the RC STX's and the H2O jerk shad last year. They work incredibly well.
The H20 jerk shad's go on "hot deals" sale semi often and at $2.99 they are a fantastic buy.
On 1/15/2017 at 6:43 AM, roadwarrior said:Smithwick Rattl'in Rogue
If you don't have a clown color Rogue, I suggest you get one.
Look up the Dynamic Lures J spec and the Travado!
Rick Clunn STX but the hooks suck. Berkley Cutter 110+
Shadow Raps
all under $10 a pop
Luck Craft Lightning pointer XR. $8.99. GREAT jerkbait.
On 1/18/2017 at 6:38 AM, Stingray23 said:Luck Craft Lightning pointer XR. $8.99. GREAT jerkbait.
Those are good too! I totally forgot about them! I could've swore they were $13-15 range lol
^^^ def a good one
On 1/18/2017 at 10:09 AM, dam0007 said:Those are good too! I totally forgot about them! I could've swore they were $13-15 range lol
^^^ def a good one
They dropped the price on it.
Lucky Craft Lighting Pointers are $9 each, I love mine
Yo Zuri 3DB series
On 1/18/2017 at 6:38 AM, Stingray23 said:Luck Craft Lightning pointer XR. $8.99. GREAT jerkbait.
Any specific color(s) that works good
On 1/18/2017 at 11:29 AM, Stingray23 said:They dropped the price on it.
Did they drop it for a sale or is it permanent
On 1/18/2017 at 2:21 PM, It's a toad said:Any specific color(s) that works good
Did they drop it for a sale or is it permanent
permanently
On 1/18/2017 at 4:42 PM, Stingray23 said:permanently
Even better when did they do this
I have a couple different brands, but I find myself using Smithwick Rogues the most.
Dude... No one mentioned an x-rap ? You seriously need 3. A regular x-rap . An x-rap countdown... And an x-rap shallow shad. I keep a small 5 slot, double sided plano (so ten slots) for when I only have a short time to fish. Those three baits are always in it. Along with a couple bandits, a bomber, a mepps spinner, and recently a RES and lucky craft silent squarebill.
I tend to use Rapalas. Countdowns, Husky jerks, shadow rap, x rap. I only have them in natural colors. Don't own that many. The wife ordered me up a few I wanted for Xmas. There is something about carbon and Halloween that I feel real good about that pattern. Can't wait to try them. Last season I didn't jerk bait fish that much. I'll kick it up a notch this year. Great way to fish. As some one else had said, fluke fishing is about the same with plastics. Great way to catch fish.
On 1/18/2017 at 5:11 PM, It's a toad said:Even better when did they do this
I really have no clue, but that bait is their newest jerkbait. Maybe a year or so?
I have 1 Lucky Craft pointer from MTB its great but i have found my other jerkbaits that are half the price while may not do the ob as great as the lucky craft.... I have caugh plenty of fish on them and do the job
The jerkbaits i use are Yo-Zuri 3DB, Rapala Shadow Rap, and Luck E Strike Rick Clunn STX
Yo-Zuri is my shorter jerkbait and the colors are great (especially the prism colors) and the feather back hook is a nice touch
Shadow Rap just is a great lure all around... I like the darker Carbon color for stained water or right after a rain and the water is all stirred up
Luck E Strike RC STX is basically a Megabass Vision copy and works just as well... $6 or $7 vs $25 I'll take the luck E Strike
The Yo-Zuri has a Chartreuse black back also good for the stained water
Rapala X-Rap
Bomber Long A.
Tom
After starting with KVD and a few other cheapos, I made the switch to the Visions and pointers, and my catch rate has gone way up. My feeling are that when you work a jerkbait a lot of times the fish will swim right up tight and just stare at the lure before they hit it, I mainly fish very clear reservoirs where you can see 15' down into the water so I see a lot of my strikes. When I use the cheaper more fake looking lures more fish seem to swim up then turn away, as where with the visions and pointers they'll swim up stare at a minute then take it. I dont feel that a fish hits a jerkbait out of reaction as with fast moving baits such as cranks or spinnerbaits. They generally get a real good look at a jerkbait especially in clear water.
On 1/15/2017 at 9:54 AM, A-Jay said:
I have been "hearing" quite a bit about this bait - and from some very good sticks too.
So I recently picked up couple and we'll get to see what all the 'Fuss' is about.
I like the fact that they sink slowly on the pause. May not be that big of a factor in the spring but I'd expect next fall might see these getting stuck in more than a few stout SMB faces.
A man can hope anyway.
A-Jay
I think there will be a lot of those brown bass with hook marks in their faces. Judging by what you've said in the other posts about the deeper diving versions of jerkbaits, I'd be assuming you picked up a few of the Shadow Rap Deeps, but if you didn't I'd be sure to give those a try too. I've come to prefer those over the regular Shadow Rap.
To the OP, some reasonably priced jerkbaits that I like are the Luck-e-strike STX, Smithwick Rogues, and then the Rapala Shadow Raps and Shadow Rap deep version.
On 1/21/2017 at 3:52 AM, WIGuide said:I think there will be a lot of those brown bass with hook marks in their faces. Judging by what you've said in the other posts about the deeper diving versions of jerkbaits, I'd be assuming you picked up a few of the Shadow Rap Deeps, but if you didn't I'd be sure to give those a try too. I've come to prefer those over the regular Shadow Rap.
To the OP, some reasonably priced jerkbaits that I like are the Luck-e-strike STX, Smithwick Rogues, and then the Rapala Shadow Raps and Shadow Rap deep version.
I hope you're right my friend.
I have procured a small assortment of the Deep version. History has shown that for me here the deep bait is the most effective at least 75 % of the time. The standard (shallower) running bait does shine for me very early & late in the day ( low light) especially right after the topwater bite dies off in the morning.
A-Jay
I missed this topic before but I'll add my picks as well since I love jerkbaits. Like others have said, the Rapala Shadow Rap is really good for the price, and I too like the Luck-E-Strike RC STX. Those are in the $8 range, drop down to the next level and the Smithwick Suspending Rogue, and you need to get the suspending model as they also make a lot of floating ones as well. If you only get 1 rogue get the clown pattern, I've taken more smallmouth on that jerkbait than all others combined and it doesn't get ass many largemouth for me but the ones that do hit it are usually bigger ones. After the Rogue I'd look at the Yo-Zuri 3DB Jerkbait, I got to use them last spring and this fall, this bait will flat out catch them on a sunny day when the fish are willing to move higher in the water column and the rogue and 3DB are in the $7 range. The cheapest and becoming a favorite of mine is the Storm Twitch Stick, I have both sizes but the 10 size is what I like to use, it does have a slow rise but no more than a Megabass 110, and the bait is the same size and weight as the Lucky Craft Pointer 100. It isn't as well finished as the pointer and doesn't suspend as well at low temps like the pointer but the action is similar and on the pause it has the same slight wobble effect that I believe makes the pointer effective. You can find the Twitch Stick in good colors for a little over $5, and they catch fish, in fact I've had days were it was my best jerkbait and I fish jerkbaits in all price ranges as I have the famous Megabass vision 110, a bunch of Lucky Craft Pointers, Xcalibur XT3s (discontinued but once were $12.99), and a couple Jackall Squad Minnow 95s and the cheap list I gave you aren't just about saving money, they work. One thing I've discovered is most jerkbaits have a unique triggering quality that makes them different, like the Pointer has the wobble and finish, the Rogue has the "Rogue roll", Megabass vision 110 has a unique profile and tight darting action, and the Rapala Shadow Rap has a slow sink in a nose down posture. The less expensive baits try to mimic these triggering properties but never get them exact so what happens is you get a little different action that can make a difference, in waters where everyone throws the LC Pointer, the Twitch Stick might be a better choice, it has a similar profile and action but different finishes as well as a slow rise and a little less of the wobble during the pause that can make fish bite if they have seen a lot of pointers. So have confidence in less expensive baits, they catch fish and when you are confident with that lure you can add a few higher end baits to have when you need a little extra mojo!
Not knowing what your budget is and what is meant by "cheap", I'll say the Rapala Husky Jerk and the X-Rap will probably fit the bill. These jerks run at just under $10.00 a piece; not real cheap, but not that expensive if you add in the effectiveness of these jerks.
Less expensive would be the Smithwick Rogues and Bombers. Never did well enough with these baits to consider adding more to my arsenal.
On 1/20/2017 at 9:39 PM, tholmes said:Bomber Long A.
Tom
this...........