Wild Bill and SJ's Adventures: Lipped Jerkbaits

Spring fishing 2016 has been a tough one on Mississippi Gulf Coast. The wind’s been blowing since February and salinity, unlike most years, has been held down by tremendous rainfalls. It’s times like this where time on the water pays big dividends.

Over the past year Jimmy and I have been fishing a myriad of spots from the Rivers to the Bays,nearshore and offshore. We’ve even explored a range of temperatures, as well as tidal conditions (high and low). All that said, one thing we’ve noticed lead to our consistency is our versatility.

To say we enjoy jig fishing is like saying Green Bay enjoy’s football. We love it. However, one bait we’ve both gained a lot of confidence in, when fish aren’t responding to a jig, is fishing a lipped jerk bait, more specifically a Rapala X-Rap. The X-Rap is a suspending jerk bait, but there are many other version. In this picture at the top is a KVD Strike King Version, 3 rd from the top is a Rapala Flat Rap, followed by a Yo-Zuri “L” Minnow. In addition to this line up is the Rapala Shadow Rap, which is quickly becoming my favorite. What we’re finding is that we are getting great reaction strikes, mostly on the pause due to the sink rate.

KVD, X-Rap, Flat Rap, L-Minnow

Shadow Rap's

 They can be fished a number of ways, but we find 2 different methods to be consistently effective. The first is to crank it down to its rated depth, then you can either straight retrieve with a “slow roll” cadence or twitch, twitch, twitch and pause – what we’re finding is that most strikes are coming on the pause. We try to let the fish tell us how long they want the pause, sometimes its brief and sometimes we let it sit for over 3-5 seconds. The second method is to cast it out and twitch, twitch, pause – twitch, twitch, pause – all the way back to the boat. This is designed for fish higher in the watercolumn.




One example of how effective jerkbait fishing can be is a spot we regularly fish. Typically these fish will respond to a jig, but we got on a week stretch, where they wouldn’t touch a jig and instead all they wanted was a jerkbait. It never failed, everytime we hit that certain stretch you could just about count on at least one stud trout hitting a X-rap or Shadow Rap every time. So as we progress into the spring/summer patterns, keep these techniques in the tool box and always remember to remain versatile. I can say without a doubt, the more time you put on the water the better fisherman you will become.

Stay Salty,

Wild Bill and SJ Adventures
www.wildbills-fishin-blog.simplesite.com