Deep inside my tackle box, there is a Rapala floating minnow that’s a victim of a late 1980s how-to article. Above the front hook, I drilled three holes and inserted a split shot in each, then sealed the wounds with epoxy. At the time, it was one of only a few ways that anglers could make their jerkbaits suspend.
Today, that hovering action that makes cold-water bass bite is added to jerkbaits at the factory. Pro angler Andy Montgomery uses them straight from the box. If a jerkbait needs an adjustment to make it suspend, he swaps hooks.
“It doesn’t take much,” Montgomery said.
Start with the hook closest to the bill and replace it with a hook one size larger, such as exchanging a No. 6 for a No. 4. That will keep the jerkbait level or slightly nose-down on the pause, which he believes is the most natural look. It also makes it wiggle as soon as it moves. If it’s tail-down, some of each twitch is wasted reorienting the lure to where its bill can work.
Every jerkbait that pro angler Matt Arey fishes suspends, and on Wylie, that’s most often a Megabass Vision 110. It’s a slow riser, so he makes it suspend by swapping the three factory hooks for slightly heavier Gamakatsu round bends. By putting on two No. 6s and a No. 5 on the back, the jerkbait will suspend and pause perfectly horizontal.
If he needs more weight to make a bait suspend, he’ll add larger split rings. In extreme situations, he’ll add small pieces of adhesive-backed lead on the jerkbait’s belly between the bill and front hook.
But don’t get carried away with modifications. Arey warns that too much weight kills a jerkbait’s action. Add a little at a time, and then pull the jerkbait alongside the boat, watching its reaction.
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