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Jerkbaits: Fun & Easy for Kids to Use
by Lucky Libby

What are jerkbaits? In this article I will discuss what jerkbaits are and why they work. Jerkbaits are either made of wood or plastic. Casting is easy because the relative weight of these lures helps them to fly far.

Each lure works a little differently and some are easier to use than others. The fours styles of jerkbaits are gliders, topwater jerks, dive and rise, and bulldogs. Dad and I concentrate our fishing activity over high weeds or shallow waters. Topwaters and gliders are what I like to use in heavy weeds. Topwaters and gliders are easiest to use for me because I cast them out and walk-the-dog back to the boat. I simply twitch the bait by moving the rod in an up and down motion while reeling up the slack line in half turns of the reel handle.

This erratic action will get even a neutral muskie to go nuts and hit. Baits such as Vipers, Phantoms, six-inch Reef Hogs, Hughes Rivers, Pig Jrs, and Jackpots are jerkbaits I recommend for kids. You can work these baits for many hours without feeling tired.

The opening week of muskie season in Minnesota, I caught and released five muskies on six-inch Hughes Rivers, Vipers, and Phantoms. On the fourth of July, I caught a 43-incher on a perch Viper topwater. I caught a 37-incher on Lake Vermillion on a perch Phantom.

In August on a vacation in Canada with Dad, I used gliders and topwaters a great deal. I was able to cast them all day. My first fish of the trip was a thick 41-inch Lake of the Woods muskie. I caught it on a Reef Hawg after eight hours of fishing with my good friend, John Unsworth.

Two nights later, I was using a Viper when a 40-incher came up and ate my bait. On the last day of our stay at John's, I was working a perch Phantom when a 48 1/2 inch, 35 pounder engulfed my bait! It made this year my fifth consecutive year with a 48-incher or bigger!

Jerkbaits are an exciting bait to use because of the type of strike they provoke. I'm not promising you a 48-incher or suggesting you stop using your surface baits or bucktails. I'm just asking you to give jerkbaits a try. Feel the rush, release a muskie!

Red Pine Resort
Ice Fishing on Kabetogama.