The cycle of predation never ceases. Some eat and some are eaten. When a disoriented baitfish appears, predators approach for an easy meal. Soft jerkbaits and other unweighted lures imitate this life-death struggle that’s part of the watery world.

The action of soft jerks, when manipulated properly, is the closest to irresistible you can get for shallow spring bass. From the late Prespawn Period through the end of the Postspawn, you need to be doin’ the jerk. And in other situations, it can be the best option, too.

This presentation goes beyond lures labeled soft jerkbaits, and includes weightless swimmin’ worms and paddletail worms rigged for surface action, plus other softbaits with actions more erratic than soft stickbaits.

Sluggin’ Today

It seems like ages ago that Rich Zaleski helped kick off the Slug-Go revolution with a feature in the March 1990 issue of In-Fisherman. For the next three or four years, this was the biggest-selling softbait on the market, and dozens of other manufacturers molded similar lures.

If you’re a relative newcomer to bass fishing, you may have missed this fantastic phase. Today, new anglers are thrust into the age of Senko, the only lure since Slug-Go to match its instant popularity. It was so easy to catch bass with a Slug-Go, it seemed like cheating. Anywhere you cast one, a bass would seize it and your line would start straightening out.

While many slug baits have disappeared from the market, Lunker City owner Herb Reed notes a recent upturn in Slug-Go sales. He recently added Slug-Go El Salto, a heavier, salt-laden version of the original, along with an exciting big bait, a 12-inch Slug-Go that should be a great tool for giant largemouths, along with stripers, tarpon, and other big predators.

At Mann’s Bait Company, maker of the popular Shadow, Lanny Deal reports stable but not spectacular sales over the past several years. That fish-shaped bait was designed as a downsized version of the company’s Ballyhoo, a large bait built for saltwater species. The supple Shadow attracted many fans who learned to rig it sideways for best effect.

Part of the allure of Slug-Go and similar baits is their unpredictable behavior. Twitch the rod tip and it might raise its head and glide a few inches left. Bump it again and it might nose up, then tip and fall straight, only to make a turn upon contacting a weedstalk. Bass and other predators are hard-wired to take advantage of such easy pickings.

Forktails, Pintails, and More

While designing soft jerkbaits, Herb Reed found that adding a forked tail to a soft jerkbait increased its stability and allowed it to glide from side to side predictably, in the manner of a Zara Spook. He first made the 5-inch Fin-S-Fish around 1988, and the 53⁄4-inch model appeared in 1991, followed shortly by four more sizes from 21⁄2 to 10 inches.

Today, Zoom’s Fluke is the lure best associated with this technique, and the term fluke may be applied to the whole class of lures, just as the names Rat-L-Trap or Chatterbait often are applied to lures from various companies. Zoom added to the category with a 5-inch Super Fluke and 4-inch Super Fluke Jr., which have become go-to baits for weightless rigging. A 3-inch Tiny Fluke designed for drop-shot fishing has just been added. According to the Eddie Chambers of Zoom Bait Company, the original Fluke performs best when rigged on a jighead.

Berkley boasts a broad line of forktail soft jerkbaits, in two types of soft plastic as well as in their “Gulp! biodegradable organic material. In addition to the Gulp! 5-inch Jerk Shad and 7-inch Saltwater Jerk Shad, Berkley’s Realistix Series includes 2-, 3-, and 4-inch Power Minnows with lifelike detail including 3-D eyes and holographic inserts. In PowerBait, there’s the 3-inch Dropshot Power Minnow.

In late 1990, Bass Assassin added to the selection with its 5-inch Shad, sporting a long, thin, rat-like tail that vibrates when the bait is twitched, offering the same sort of out-of-control glide as the Slug-Go. Robin Shiver of Bass Assassin notes that it’s been a top seller ever since the spring of 1991, when it caught on as part of the soft jerkbait craze ignited by Slug-Go. “Our Shad was the first soft jerk to have a slit in the belly for ease of rigging and to improve hooksetting,” he notes. “This has become almost a universal feature in these baits.

“The rattail design was an immediate success,” Shiver says, “and when redfish and trout fishing began to blossom around 2000, saltwater anglers were quick to recognize their appeal. That same tail design has made our 11⁄2-inch Shad, designed for crappie and bluegill, our biggest seller today.” In their HardNose Series, Mann’s Bait added a Jerkbait, with the tougher plastic of the nose holding the hook well and resistant to tearing, while the softer body provides a natural, supple movement.

Lake Fork Tackle built an alternate tail design into their Magic Shad, a spade shape that provides a fluttering, vibrating action as the lure glides horizontally. To offer options, YUM’s 5-inch Houdini Shad features a spade-type tail, but with a serrated center. Fish it out of the pack and it has a pulsing glide like the Magic Shad. Remove the center plastic and if falls faster with more glide. Split the two parts of the tail and it resembles a fork-tail-style lure that tracks side to side. Finally, Mann’s Bait created the Feather Shad, with a long feather tail that sways and pulses as the lure falls.

Rigging Options

Initial success with soft jerks typically involved an offset shank hook and no weight. The term “Texposed” was coined to describe the perfect pinning of a soft jerk like the Slug-Go with a hook that has a wide enough gap to set once the meaty bait is engulfed. Barely nicking the hook point into the back of the lure keeps if from hanging in grass or brush, and yet it sets easily.

Picking the correct hook size and rigging the lure properly are keys to the success of soft jerkbaits, as well as swimmin’ worms. A hook too small can make the lure look great, but you’ll miss most bites. A hook too big sacrifices lure action. For the original 6-inch Slug-Go, Zaleski recommended a 4/0 Eagle Claw J-Series hook, a long-shank model. Lunker City offers the Tex Poser Hook, built to match the Slug-Go’s dimensions. And I’ve had great success with a 5/0 Gamakatsu Round Bend offset shank model and Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp Round Bend L091RG on 6-inch slug baits.

For soft minnow-shape jerkbaits, wide-gap thin gauge hooks like Eagle Claw’s Lazer Sharp Wide Gap Worm (L7013RG) and Gamakatsu’s EWG work fine, in sizes from 1/0 to 4/0. New options include Daiichi’s CopperHead hook, with a coil device that screws into the nose of the lure to hold it securely; and Owner’s TwistLock, with a center pin as well as a spring to hold softbaits.

There’s no question that weightless rigging allows the bait to behave at its most lifelike and erratic. It lands with a splat that may arouse interest in nearby bass, and they often eat it right away.

With just a hook, the jerk glides off to one side, while the slightest tipping of the rod or flicking of slack line causes it to veer off in another direction. This change of direction is a natural strike trigger, and few baits make it so easy to impart.

Jighead Jerkbaits: For working deeper, impaling a soft jerk on a ballhead jig is effective, and often the first option for fishing tailrace areas or deep spots. Berkley’s Realistix PowerBait Minnows come rigged with a ballhead jig. For other models, select heads with long enough hook shanks to allow good hook-ups. For reaching deep-holding bass in summer or winter, vertically jigging a leadhead-jerkbait combo can be effective for all species of bass, and more.

Careful boat control lets you watch the action on the sonar screen as you tweak the lure and try to tempt visible bass to strike. In clear waters, depths beyond 20 feet are often required to avoid spooking fish. In darker water, you can perch above shallower fish without alarming them.

Drop-shottin’ Jerkbaits: The quivering tail action of soft jerks is magnified when the lure is nose-hooked and hung on a drop-shot rig. With a baitholder hook in the snout, shaking the rig makes the minnow dance like Irene Cara. This rig excels for steep vertical structure, but also is deadly on deep flats that stretch from the base of deep weedlines, in depths from 17 to 22 feet or so.

Weighted Hooks: Bass pro Dave Lefebre reveals that one of his secrets for fishing soft jerkbaits a bit deeper is wrapping Storm SuspenStrips around the hook shank. “Casting soft jerks can seem like a simple presentation,” Lefebre says, “and at times it is. But the exact depth to work the lure and its rate of fall can be the critical difference between catching a few fish and having a banner day. I often add from one-half to three SuspenStrips to the hook, depending on the depth of cover and the attitude of the fish.

“On a Super Fluke, I use a Gamakatsu 4/0 Round Bend offset-shank hook. Its long shank gives great hookups and there’s plenty of room to add lead, when needed. It’s critical to keep the bait falling exactly horizontal, however, so you have to experiment a bit with placement. To weight with two strips, place them side by side and, for three, wrap strips next to each other with an additional half strip on each side. Sometimes adding a touch of red or chartreuse to the strips with dye seems to help.”

For a bit more weight, try Falcon Lures’ Bait Jerker, built on Gamakatsu hooks (EWG, EWG Superline, G-Lock) with from 1/32- to 3/32-ounce weight on the shank. Northland Tackle has added the Lip-Stick Worm Hook, in 2/0 to 4/0 with weight from 1/32- to 3/32-ounce.

Carolina-Rigging: Fluke-style baits are an overlooked option for Carolina-rigging. Pro anglers including Chad Morganthaler can be seen with a Wave Tiki-Sha**** on the end of their rig. To achieve the slow gliding fall, Morganthaler rigs with a 3-foot fluorocarbon leader and a sinker no heavier that 1/2 ounce. Instead of dragging the rig, he pops it off the bottom several feet, so the lure has room to move. “It’s particularly good in clear lakes and reservoirs during summer, when bass gather on deep structure,” he adds.

Bubblegum?

I recall a spring trip to Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle Bay, when all local tackle shops sold out of bubblegum-color Super Flukes. The awful pink hue outproduced natural minnow colors and pure white by ratios of 3:1 or more. Those who rejected that hue or used their supply had to shake their heads and get the net for partners. Lefebre, who lives in nearby Erie, was part of the action and notes that this favoritism was not a “fluke.”

“Those who proclaim that color doesn’t matter don’t fish soft jerkbaits,” Lefebre says. “Unlike some other lure types, color selection is critical, and choices tend to be diametrically opposed. That is, it’s either subtle, natural colors like watermelon or green pumpkin, or else gaudy ones like chartreuse, orange, or pink.

“Active fish tend to bite better on wild hues, so fish them more aggressively, snapping the rod to keep the bait moving. Work darker or natural-color lures more subtly, letting them glide into pockets or sit in sand holes surrounded by vegetation. These types of spots on main-lake flats and in bays are prime during the Pre-spawn Period right through the Postspawn, prior to fish moving to deeper structure.

“Fishing across the country, I’ve also noticed that northern bass are more likely to strike fast-moving or more erratic soft jerkbaits than their southern cousins. In Florida lakes and southeastern impoundments, the best approach often involves deadsticking the lure in a pocket or next to a stump or grass clump. For whatever reason, bass there seem to be actively feeding less often than largemouths of the northeastern or north-central states.”

Back in 1988, Danny Joe Humphrey turned the bass world upside down with his floating worm tricks that propelled him from the ranks of weekend anglers to the Bassmaster Classic. His favorite color was hot pink, followed by white. Humphrey, hailing from North Carolina, ignited the locally popular swimmin’ worm technique that still reigns for springtime bass in that region and is an overlooked option wherever there’s clear water and shallow cover.

Jerkin’ in Current

The slow glide of weightless or slightly weighted softbaits makes them ideal for working shallow stream structure. John Stears, a tournament angler and part-time guide on the Mississippi River in Minnesota, has found plenty of applications for soft jerkbaits in moving water from the Postspawn Period in June into October, when bass typically begin their retreat to holes and deep ledges for winter.

“Soft jerkbaits like Zoom’s Super Fluke are effective when twitched over emerging weedbeds on shallow flats in river backwaters and connected lakes,” Stears notes. “That’s a typical postspawn pattern that parallels applications in natural lakes and reservoirs. But the Fluke really shines once bass move to structure on the border of the main river channel. Target features like wingdams, pilings, harbor mouths where bass often hold and ambush shad. This type of fishing reminds me of fishing streamers for trout in creeks.

“Cast a Super Fluke into the upstream end of a chute and let it wash through with a few subtle twitches to imitate a dying shad. Or cast along the upstream edge of a wingdam where current forms a pocket and let the flow wash it by the structure where active bass lurk. Let it wash along naturally and the Super Fluke has action all its own. Super Fluke has the right combination of stiffness and pliability to produce that effect. Some plastics are too soft and don’t have that deadly darting action.

“Sometimes bass seem inactive and reluctant to hit a moving lure,” says Stears. “One trick is to let the Fluke wash into an eddy, engage the bail, and let current pull the line tight. This makes the Fluke turn, stop, and drop in a pocket. That’s often when they nail it. Depending on current, you may have to add a nail weight, though during moderate summer flows I usually switch between heavier and lighter hooks to maintain the lure’s buoyancy in current. While greens and browns occasionally work well, albino is the number one color choice here.”

Tackle Considerations

Though they’re light, unweighted soft jerkbaits can be cast far with surprising ease. That’s fortunate since bass can be boat-shy, especially in clear, shallow waters. Bites often come at the end of a long cast. Dave Lefebre favors a medium-heavy-action 71⁄2-foot baitcasting rod spooled with 8- to 12-pound Gamma Fluorocarbon line. “This rod can launch a little bait out there, and its length helps to set the hook on long casts,” he says. “And these lures are far more reactive on thinner line.

“Another advantage of the long rod appears when a big bass that had been following decides to bite at boatside. With a short rod, it’s easy to miss the strike or to break off the fish. A longer rod allows more control of the lure up close, and its length acts as a shock absorber when a big fish suddenly dives.”

Another school of thought favors rods of similar length but of the spinning persuasion. Proponents of each rod-reel type claim longer casts than the other, so it’s primarily a matter of personal preference. For long-distance work, spool a spinning mill with superbraid of 10- or 12-pound test, which has a diameter like 4-pound mono. It casts far and the lack of stretch provides powerful hooksets, even at 30 yards.

A 2- to 4-foot leader of mono or fluorocarbon may increase bites in clear water where cover is sparse. Also, the buoyancy of braid tends to hold up a soft jerkbait’s nose, making it fall tail-first when tied directly. Knowledgeable jerkbait anglers strive for a horizontal fall in nearly all cases.

In recent years, soft jerkbaits of several styles have flourished out of the limelight that surrounds some other hot styles of softbait. But for those in the know, there’s simply no substitute for these deadly lures. And no better time to get jerkin’ than right now.