dead-sticking a jerkbait

I have not done any fishing in several years. This past month I decided to
take fishing back up again. So I was searching around on the web to see if
there was anything new about fishing that I was not aware of. I came across
a fishing tactic called "dead-sticking a jerkbait". I found this on the
Bass Pro Shops' web sight. If you click on Fishing Library and then go to
the article titled, "A Great Way to Catch Pre-Spawn Bass" it will tell you
all about it. You start with a suspending minnow lure about 4 ½ to 5 inches
long. You cast the lure then crank it down to the depth you want to fish
it. Then you stop cranking the lure and do absolutely nothing. Just let
the lure stay suspended. The article says to leave it for as long as 2
minutes or more. The Bass is supposed to hit it while it is suspended. If
you read the article they make it sound as though you are going to just
clean up on the Bass doing this.

So I went out and bought about $45.00 of suspending minnow lures of
different sizes and colors. I made sure that every lure had the word
"Suspending" on the package. I bought 6 Rapala and 3 Storm lures. A
suspending lure is suppose to be neutral buoyant. It should not sink and it
should not float. Until I read this article I had never heard of a
suspending lure.

These new lures looked real pretty in my tackle box. Last night I decided
to put one of them in a bucket of water to see what it would do. Every one
of the Rapala lures floated. I could hold it on the bottom of the bucket
but as soon as I took my finger off it would pop to the top like a cork.
Every one of the Storm Lures would sink like rock.

So this evening I put my boat in the river to see what these "Suspending
Lures" would do in the real world. I used the same set up they used in the
article. A 7' light rod with 8 lb monofilament line. In the real world the
lures did the same thing they did in the bucket. The Rapala lures float and
the Storm Lures sink. The article said to let the lure set motionless for 2
minutes. That Rapala lure will be floating on the surface in about 15
seconds if you stop cranking the reel.

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other purpose
that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and reeled me right
in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty though. James

James,

I am not sure where you are located, but I have found that water
temperature plays a roll in how suspending jerkbaits "suspend". I
personally never relie on them to suspend perfect out of the box. I
usually go up a size in hooks, and also keep suspend dots along with me.

I used to wrap lead wire around the hooks, but I started to feel I was
losing fish because of that, and went away from it. It really takes a
lot of experimenting to find that perfect balance. Unfortunately you
probably only were able to purchase about 8 or 9 baits for that $45.00,
which don't get me wrong , but it is a great start. I personally have a
"frigid" jerkbait ( 45 degrees)box, a 45 and above box. I can't go so
far as to say that it is brand specific, because I haven't been able to
go through all of them. I do know husky jerks give me hell in VERY cold
water, but X-Raps seem to suspend very very good in those same ranges.

I also have not thrown Rogues much, though I know a lot of my Walleye
buddies swear by them, and I have purchased some for this spring, and I
am just waiting for the ice to get out of my way so I can slam a few
hooks home :-).

CHris

James wrote:
I have not done any fishing in several years. This past month I decided to
take fishing back up again. So I was searching around on the web to see if
there was anything new about fishing that I was not aware of. I came across
a fishing tactic called "dead-sticking a jerkbait". I found this on the
Bass Pro Shops' web sight. If you click on Fishing Library and then go to
the article titled, "A Great Way to Catch Pre-Spawn Bass" it will tell you
all about it. You start with a suspending minnow lure about 4 ½ to 5 inches
long. You cast the lure then crank it down to the depth you want to fish
it. Then you stop cranking the lure and do absolutely nothing. Just let
the lure stay suspended. The article says to leave it for as long as 2
minutes or more. The Bass is supposed to hit it while it is suspended. If
you read the article they make it sound as though you are going to just
clean up on the Bass doing this.

So I went out and bought about $45.00 of suspending minnow lures of
different sizes and colors. I made sure that every lure had the word
"Suspending" on the package. I bought 6 Rapala and 3 Storm lures. A
suspending lure is suppose to be neutral buoyant. It should not sink and it
should not float. Until I read this article I had never heard of a
suspending lure.

These new lures looked real pretty in my tackle box. Last night I decided
to put one of them in a bucket of water to see what it would do. Every one
of the Rapala lures floated. I could hold it on the bottom of the bucket
but as soon as I took my finger off it would pop to the top like a cork.
Every one of the Storm Lures would sink like rock.

So this evening I put my boat in the river to see what these "Suspending
Lures" would do in the real world. I used the same set up they used in the
article. A 7' light rod with 8 lb monofilament line. In the real world the
lures did the same thing they did in the bucket. The Rapala lures float and
the Storm Lures sink. The article said to let the lure set motionless for 2
minutes. That Rapala lure will be floating on the surface in about 15
seconds if you stop cranking the reel.

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other purpose
that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and reeled me right
in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty though. James

"James" wrote in message
. ..
I have not done any fishing in several years. This past month I decided to
take fishing back up again. So I was searching around on the web to see if
there was anything new about fishing that I was not aware of. I came
across a fishing tactic called "dead-sticking a jerkbait". I found this on
the Bass Pro Shops' web sight. If you click on Fishing Library and then go
to the article titled, "A Great Way to Catch Pre-Spawn Bass" it will tell
you all about it. You start with a suspending minnow lure about 4 ½ to 5
inches long. You cast the lure then crank it down to the depth you want to
fish it. Then you stop cranking the lure and do absolutely nothing. Just
let the lure stay suspended. The article says to leave it for as long as 2
minutes or more. The Bass is supposed to hit it while it is suspended. If
you read the article they make it sound as though you are going to just
clean up on the Bass doing this.

So I went out and bought about $45.00 of suspending minnow lures of
different sizes and colors. I made sure that every lure had the word
"Suspending" on the package. I bought 6 Rapala and 3 Storm lures. A
suspending lure is suppose to be neutral buoyant. It should not sink and
it should not float. Until I read this article I had never heard of a
suspending lure.

These new lures looked real pretty in my tackle box. Last night I decided
to put one of them in a bucket of water to see what it would do. Every
one of the Rapala lures floated. I could hold it on the bottom of the
bucket but as soon as I took my finger off it would pop to the top like a
cork. Every one of the Storm Lures would sink like rock.

So this evening I put my boat in the river to see what these "Suspending
Lures" would do in the real world. I used the same set up they used in
the article. A 7' light rod with 8 lb monofilament line. In the real
world the lures did the same thing they did in the bucket. The Rapala
lures float and the Storm Lures sink. The article said to let the lure
set motionless for 2 minutes. That Rapala lure will be floating on the
surface in about 15 seconds if you stop cranking the reel.

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other purpose
that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and reeled me
right in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty though. James




They'll probably still catch fish. I've had great results with the Rapalas
over the past couple of years. I've been using the ones with the really long
lips for diving. Last year, in the St Lawrence River, I was able to see that
they ran down about 4 feet on a medium-fast retrieve, and stayed there for
at least a minute. A jerk of the rod tip drove them down a little further. I
hammered about a half dozen smallmouth that way, just letting the lures sit
for a bit.

There's a product called Suspend-Dots or something like that - dots of lead
about the size of the bits that are produced by a paper punch. You stick
them on lures, right on the bottom center line, to fine-tune their
suspending capability. Worth a try.

"James" wrote in message
. ..
I have not done any fishing in several years. This past month I decided
to
take fishing back up again. So I was searching around on the web to see
if
there was anything new about fishing that I was not aware of. I came
across
a fishing tactic called "dead-sticking a jerkbait". I found this on the
Bass Pro Shops' web sight. If you click on Fishing Library and then go to
the article titled, "A Great Way to Catch Pre-Spawn Bass" it will tell you
all about it. You start with a suspending minnow lure about 4 ½ to 5
inches
long. You cast the lure then crank it down to the depth you want to fish
it. Then you stop cranking the lure and do absolutely nothing. Just let
the lure stay suspended. The article says to leave it for as long as 2
minutes or more. The Bass is supposed to hit it while it is suspended.
If
you read the article they make it sound as though you are going to just
clean up on the Bass doing this.

So I went out and bought about $45.00 of suspending minnow lures of
different sizes and colors. I made sure that every lure had the word
"Suspending" on the package. I bought 6 Rapala and 3 Storm lures. A
suspending lure is suppose to be neutral buoyant. It should not sink and
it
should not float. Until I read this article I had never heard of a
suspending lure.

These new lures looked real pretty in my tackle box. Last night I decided
to put one of them in a bucket of water to see what it would do. Every
one
of the Rapala lures floated. I could hold it on the bottom of the bucket
but as soon as I took my finger off it would pop to the top like a cork.
Every one of the Storm Lures would sink like rock.

So this evening I put my boat in the river to see what these "Suspending
Lures" would do in the real world. I used the same set up they used in
the
article. A 7' light rod with 8 lb monofilament line. In the real world
the
lures did the same thing they did in the bucket. The Rapala lures float
and
the Storm Lures sink. The article said to let the lure set motionless for
2
minutes. That Rapala lure will be floating on the surface in about 15
seconds if you stop cranking the reel.

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other purpose
that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and reeled me
right
in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty though. James



My favorite "suspending" jerk bait is a Team Daiwa, and in my local
conditions it is very very close to neutral bouyancy. It has caught me a
few fish, and yes they do write those articles to sell tackle. LOL.

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com


*** Free account sponsored by SecureIX.com ***
*** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from http://www.SecureIX.com ***

"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
...
James,

I am not sure where you are located, but I have found that water
temperature plays a roll in how suspending jerkbaits "suspend". I
personally never relie on them to suspend perfect out of the box. I
usually go up a size in hooks, and also keep suspend dots along with
me.

I used to wrap lead wire around the hooks, but I started to feel I was
losing fish because of that, and went away from it. It really takes a
lot of experimenting to find that perfect balance. Unfortunately you
probably only were able to purchase about 8 or 9 baits for that $45.00,
which don't get me wrong , but it is a great start. I personally have
a "frigid" jerkbait ( 45 degrees)box, a 45 and above box. I can't go
so far as to say that it is brand specific, because I haven't been able
to go through all of them. I do know husky jerks give me hell in VERY
cold water, but X-Raps seem to suspend very very good in those same
ranges.

I also have not thrown Rogues much, though I know a lot of my Walleye
buddies swear by them, and I have purchased some for this spring, and I
am just waiting for the ice to get out of my way so I can slam a few
hooks home :-).

CHris

James wrote:
I have not done any fishing in several years. This past month I
decided to take fishing back up again. So I was searching around on
the web to see if there was anything new about fishing that I was not
aware of. I came across a fishing tactic called "dead-sticking a
jerkbait". I found this on the Bass Pro Shops' web sight. If you
click on Fishing Library and then go to the article titled, "A Great
Way to Catch Pre-Spawn Bass" it will tell you all about it. You start
with a suspending minnow lure about 4 ½ to 5 inches long. You cast
the lure then crank it down to the depth you want to fish it. Then
you stop cranking the lure and do absolutely nothing. Just let the
lure stay suspended. The article says to leave it for as long as 2
minutes or more. The Bass is supposed to hit it while it is
suspended. If you read the article they make it sound as though you
are going to just clean up on the Bass doing this.

So I went out and bought about $45.00 of suspending minnow lures of
different sizes and colors. I made sure that every lure had the word
"Suspending" on the package. I bought 6 Rapala and 3 Storm lures. A
suspending lure is suppose to be neutral buoyant. It should not sink
and it should not float. Until I read this article I had never heard
of a suspending lure.

These new lures looked real pretty in my tackle box. Last night I
decided to put one of them in a bucket of water to see what it would
do. Every one of the Rapala lures floated. I could hold it on the
bottom of the bucket but as soon as I took my finger off it would pop
to the top like a cork. Every one of the Storm Lures would sink like
rock.

So this evening I put my boat in the river to see what these
"Suspending Lures" would do in the real world. I used the same set up
they used in the article. A 7' light rod with 8 lb monofilament line.
In the real world the lures did the same thing they did in the bucket.
The Rapala lures float and the Storm Lures sink. The article said to
let the lure set motionless for 2 minutes. That Rapala lure will be
floating on the surface in about 15 seconds if you stop cranking the
reel.

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other
purpose that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and
reeled me right in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty
though. James

Well, there are always "suspenddots"
http://www.stormlures.com/products/index.html

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"James" wrote in message
. ..
I have not done any fishing in several years. This past month I decided
to take fishing back up again. So I was searching around on the web to
see if there was anything new about fishing that I was not aware of. I
came across a fishing tactic called "dead-sticking a jerkbait". I found
this on the Bass Pro Shops' web sight. If you click on Fishing Library
and then go to the article titled, "A Great Way to Catch Pre-Spawn Bass"
it will tell you all about it. You start with a suspending minnow lure
about 4 ½ to 5 inches long. You cast the lure then crank it down to the
depth you want to fish it. Then you stop cranking the lure and do
absolutely nothing. Just let the lure stay suspended. The article says
to leave it for as long as 2 minutes or more. The Bass is supposed to hit
it while it is suspended. If you read the article they make it sound as
though you are going to just clean up on the Bass doing this.

So I went out and bought about $45.00 of suspending minnow lures of
different sizes and colors. I made sure that every lure had the word
"Suspending" on the package. I bought 6 Rapala and 3 Storm lures. A
suspending lure is suppose to be neutral buoyant. It should not sink and
it should not float. Until I read this article I had never heard of a
suspending lure.

These new lures looked real pretty in my tackle box. Last night I
decided to put one of them in a bucket of water to see what it would do.
Every one of the Rapala lures floated. I could hold it on the bottom of
the bucket but as soon as I took my finger off it would pop to the top
like a cork. Every one of the Storm Lures would sink like rock.

So this evening I put my boat in the river to see what these "Suspending
Lures" would do in the real world. I used the same set up they used in
the article. A 7' light rod with 8 lb monofilament line. In the real
world the lures did the same thing they did in the bucket. The Rapala
lures float and the Storm Lures sink. The article said to let the lure
set motionless for 2 minutes. That Rapala lure will be floating on the
surface in about 15 seconds if you stop cranking the reel.

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other
purpose that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and
reeled me right in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty though.
James




They'll probably still catch fish. I've had great results with the Rapalas
over the past couple of years. I've been using the ones with the really
long lips for diving. Last year, in the St Lawrence River, I was able to
see that they ran down about 4 feet on a medium-fast retrieve, and stayed
there for at least a minute. A jerk of the rod tip drove them down a
little further. I hammered about a half dozen smallmouth that way, just
letting the lures sit for a bit.

There's a product called Suspend-Dots or something like that - dots of
lead about the size of the bits that are produced by a paper punch. You
stick them on lures, right on the bottom center line, to fine-tune their
suspending capability. Worth a try.

This suspending type of fishing is all new to me. I didn’t know about
Suspend-Dots. So I’ll spent some more money and try again. However, with
the Storm lures I am going to have to take off weight because they sink
every time. Thanks guys James

Suspend dots work well but there are other lures that suspend well right out
of the box, X raps work well too, smithwick rogues are great for the money
right out of the package, but if your fishing shallow and want to use
jerkbaits, I would suggest my favorite, The yozuri twitchin minnow, or just
go to soft jerkbaits like zoom super flukes or bass assassins. Remember to
experiment when retrieving stop and go short jerks and long jerks, I rarely
"reel"hard jerkbaits, I use more of a sweeping action, reel up the line then
sweep it again, most of the time they are hit on the pause. Good luck and if
you don't want those lures let me know, I'll take em :-)

--
www.wermieerniebaits.com
Making fish regret their decision on a daily basis
"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 21 Feb 2006 21:20:51 -0500, "James"
wrote:

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other purpose
that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and reeled me
right
in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty though.

A good friend of mine manufacturers a line of lures and he often says
that lures are meant to catch people who fish with them and not
necessarily fish. I've heard this from several other manufacturer
reps over the years, so there must be something to it. :)

The simple truth is this - suspending baits, in particular jerkbaits,
depend on more than weight or action. Water density plays a huge part
in how a jerkbait will "suspend". Even if you apply the proper
motion, with the proper rig, something as simple as a 3/4 degree
thermocline can screw up the presentation.

These type of lures also require some finesse - just chucking them in
the water and looking at them while they either float or sink isn't
the point. The design suspension depth is what is important. Your
Rapalas actually are designed to hold at a specific depth after action
is applied to the lure. Remember, "suspending" means a moment or two
- they won't hang forever at a specific depth - that's why you have to
apply action to the lure. Spend an hour sometime watching panfish in
clear water - they don't "suspend" because their motion is constant,
up/down a little to the left or right - that's what's meant by
"suspending" - there is still action on the lure. In this sense,
"suspending" means a cessation of major movement - there is residual
movement - the fish can't help moving because that's how they breathe.

Having said all that, if you are returning to bass fishing after an
absence of a few years, remember a couple of points - simpler is
better, spinner baits only work if you want to cover a lot of water,
action lures are meant to bump bottoms and structure and don't forget
the good ole' rubber worms rigged Texas style for working weed beds.

James wrote:
"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"James" wrote in message
. ..
I have not done any fishing in several years. This past month I decided
to take fishing back up again. So I was searching around on the web to
see if there was anything new about fishing that I was not aware of. I
came across a fishing tactic called "dead-sticking a jerkbait". I found
this on the Bass Pro Shops' web sight. If you click on Fishing Library
and then go to the article titled, "A Great Way to Catch Pre-Spawn Bass"
it will tell you all about it. You start with a suspending minnow lure
about 4 ½ to 5 inches long. You cast the lure then crank it down to the
depth you want to fish it. Then you stop cranking the lure and do
absolutely nothing. Just let the lure stay suspended. The article says
to leave it for as long as 2 minutes or more. The Bass is supposed to hit
it while it is suspended. If you read the article they make it sound as
though you are going to just clean up on the Bass doing this.

So I went out and bought about $45.00 of suspending minnow lures of
different sizes and colors. I made sure that every lure had the word
"Suspending" on the package. I bought 6 Rapala and 3 Storm lures. A
suspending lure is suppose to be neutral buoyant. It should not sink and
it should not float. Until I read this article I had never heard of a
suspending lure.

These new lures looked real pretty in my tackle box. Last night I
decided to put one of them in a bucket of water to see what it would do.
Every one of the Rapala lures floated. I could hold it on the bottom of
the bucket but as soon as I took my finger off it would pop to the top
like a cork. Every one of the Storm Lures would sink like rock.

So this evening I put my boat in the river to see what these "Suspending
Lures" would do in the real world. I used the same set up they used in
the article. A 7' light rod with 8 lb monofilament line. In the real
world the lures did the same thing they did in the bucket. The Rapala
lures float and the Storm Lures sink. The article said to let the lure
set motionless for 2 minutes. That Rapala lure will be floating on the
surface in about 15 seconds if you stop cranking the reel.

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other
purpose that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and
reeled me right in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty though.
James




They'll probably still catch fish. I've had great results with the Rapalas
over the past couple of years. I've been using the ones with the really
long lips for diving. Last year, in the St Lawrence River, I was able to
see that they ran down about 4 feet on a medium-fast retrieve, and stayed
there for at least a minute. A jerk of the rod tip drove them down a
little further. I hammered about a half dozen smallmouth that way, just
letting the lures sit for a bit.

There's a product called Suspend-Dots or something like that - dots of
lead about the size of the bits that are produced by a paper punch. You
stick them on lures, right on the bottom center line, to fine-tune their
suspending capability. Worth a try.

This suspending type of fishing is all new to me. I didn't know about
Suspend-Dots. So I'll spent some more money and try again. However, with
the Storm lures I am going to have to take off weight because they sink
every time. Thanks guys James

You do have to play with just about all suspending jerkbaits to get
them to neutral.

"James" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"James" wrote in message
. ..
I have not done any fishing in several years. This past month I decided
to take fishing back up again. So I was searching around on the web to
see if there was anything new about fishing that I was not aware of. I
came across a fishing tactic called "dead-sticking a jerkbait". I found
this on the Bass Pro Shops' web sight. If you click on Fishing Library
and then go to the article titled, "A Great Way to Catch Pre-Spawn Bass"
it will tell you all about it. You start with a suspending minnow lure
about 4 ½ to 5 inches long. You cast the lure then crank it down to the
depth you want to fish it. Then you stop cranking the lure and do
absolutely nothing. Just let the lure stay suspended. The article says
to leave it for as long as 2 minutes or more. The Bass is supposed to
hit it while it is suspended. If you read the article they make it sound
as though you are going to just clean up on the Bass doing this.

So I went out and bought about $45.00 of suspending minnow lures of
different sizes and colors. I made sure that every lure had the word
"Suspending" on the package. I bought 6 Rapala and 3 Storm lures. A
suspending lure is suppose to be neutral buoyant. It should not sink
and it should not float. Until I read this article I had never heard of
a suspending lure.

These new lures looked real pretty in my tackle box. Last night I
decided to put one of them in a bucket of water to see what it would do.
Every one of the Rapala lures floated. I could hold it on the bottom of
the bucket but as soon as I took my finger off it would pop to the top
like a cork. Every one of the Storm Lures would sink like rock.

So this evening I put my boat in the river to see what these "Suspending
Lures" would do in the real world. I used the same set up they used in
the article. A 7' light rod with 8 lb monofilament line. In the real
world the lures did the same thing they did in the bucket. The Rapala
lures float and the Storm Lures sink. The article said to let the lure
set motionless for 2 minutes. That Rapala lure will be floating on the
surface in about 15 seconds if you stop cranking the reel.

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other
purpose that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and
reeled me right in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty though.
James




They'll probably still catch fish. I've had great results with the
Rapalas over the past couple of years. I've been using the ones with the
really long lips for diving. Last year, in the St Lawrence River, I was
able to see that they ran down about 4 feet on a medium-fast retrieve,
and stayed there for at least a minute. A jerk of the rod tip drove them
down a little further. I hammered about a half dozen smallmouth that way,
just letting the lures sit for a bit.

There's a product called Suspend-Dots or something like that - dots of
lead about the size of the bits that are produced by a paper punch. You
stick them on lures, right on the bottom center line, to fine-tune their
suspending capability. Worth a try.

This suspending type of fishing is all new to me. I didn't know about
Suspend-Dots. So I'll spent some more money and try again. However, with
the Storm lures I am going to have to take off weight because they sink
every time. Thanks guys James



There's a reason for having all kinds of lures. Nothing's wrong with the
Storm sinkers. You'd probably do well to subscribe to In-Fisherman Magazine.
Dumb name, good magazine.

Hey what can I say I'm fortunate enough to be able to fish daily, and when
you fish as much as I do, you try a lot of things

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 22 Feb 2006 07:12:20 -0500, "alwaysfishking"
wrote:

Suspend dots work well but there are other lures that suspend well right
out
of the box, X raps work well too, smithwick rogues are great for the money
right out of the package, but if your fishing shallow and want to use
jerkbaits, I would suggest my favorite, The yozuri twitchin minnow, or
just
go to soft jerkbaits like zoom super flukes or bass assassins. Remember to
experiment when retrieving stop and go short jerks and long jerks, I
rarely
"reel"hard jerkbaits, I use more of a sweeping action, reel up the line
then
sweep it again, most of the time they are hit on the pause. Good luck and
if
you don't want those lures let me know, I'll take em :-)

Just reading the list kind of proves a point. :)