C-rigging a jerkbait

[Kerry201pro]

Guys, Anyone ever tried this? Had a guy tell me he wacked fish like crazy in early spring when he needed to get a jerkbait deeper ha used a floating JB and put it on his crig? Any thoughts

[Trapman]

done it ALOT....works!

[Bass Hawk 87]

Yep. Best ones for me have always been Balsa type baits. Try an original Rapala or Bagley's Bang O Lure and use about a 3-4' leader. Oy yeah, and hang on

[herbertrhudy]

works good when they are in deeper water but,I normally use a small floating rapala that dives 2-4 feet instead of a jerkbait

[Ticman]

C-rig a minnow bait works really well. Something else you might try is a count down rapala. It takes some time for it to sink but it works very well on deep or suspended fish.

[borderbasser]

Last month bassboy posted he caught some nice fish using that technique.... I've always heard about it, but never tried it... .maybe I need to be converted.

[stratos976]

What size rapala are you using? How heavy of a weight to get it down? I've tried a little but havent put much time into it I believe I tried a 3" rapala with a 3/4oz weight..is that about right??

[Ouachita]

In rocks I use at least a 1 oz egg sinker no matter how deep, and put Suspend Dots on the tail end of floating minnows to make them float level (I hope, going by how it behaves boat-side, might do differently deeper and colder). If the minnow floats too fast and isn't weighted right it will suspend with nose down and not look natural. Keep it moving with jerks to make it kiss bottom and pauses to let it float. Size depends on how big a fish you are after. Smaller minnows get more bites. If you go with large minnows and big bass be sure to put a larger split ring on the hooks so they will rotate better, or a bass will throw it.

In thick vegetation I use a bullet sinker to pull through without harvesting weeds. Switch to tungsten sinkers for a better bottom feel, and either fluorocarbon or braid for sensitivity especially on long casts. If braid is my main line I use Vanish for the leader on small minnows, clear mono line on larger minnows.

Jim

[ChadASX]

I've done this a lot fishing for stripers below the dams, its a killer way to catch them there in all that current. We use the cheapest jerkbaits we can get for this because we lose a bunch of them. Never tried it fishing for large mouths, I'll have to give it a try.

[bassboy]

borderbasser is right...

caught this mama (6 pounds on da digital) in december on a c-rigged BPS humpback shiner--gotta make sure it floats, or you're not gonna get bit--great for suspended fish!! Throw it out, let the sinker sit on the bottom, allow the bait to rise to the end of the leader, then I sweep slowly to the side, stop......reel in the slack, then just squeeze the rod handle several times really quickly, then stop....long pauses in between. The water that day was really cold, as well as the outside temp..

[Arkansas Champion]

I did it yesterday on Lake Ouchita. The fish seemed to want a Rogue, and I wanted to catch them this way, and the other guy in the boat was catching them a little deeper on a crankbait. So I put a split shot up the line for a little more depth. Something I learned from a trout guide on the White River who fishes Rogues for big browns.

[bass buster]

how long of leader are you guy's using on you r jerkbaits and minnow baits when C rigging

[herbertrhudy]

it all depends on how deep the one you are gonna use dives!!I use the smallest Rapala floater/diver that dives about 3 feet and tie it to about 3 1/2 to4 feet of leader!allmost every fish I have caught like this has hit it well after I stopped dragging and let it float up and/or as soon as I started my next drag

[Ouachita]

With a floating jerkbait the leader length depends on how tall stuff on bottom is. Zoom in on bottom with sonar and try to determine what's on bottom. Rock or gravel is much better than brush which will hang you up easily. I want it long enough to clear the rubble, or in shallower water submerged vegetation at least 3-4 feet to give room to swim it back down. Once the vegetation grows over about 2 feet tall the rig hangs up too easily. I tie a thick rubber band on the line for a soft slap against the sinker rather than use a noisy bead against sinker in the usual C-rig. If the sinker makes a noise the fish will often bite the sinker. Remember not to let the rubber band stop pass through the rod tip guide or it's snap or slide when cast. Rig it so the jerkbait stops above anything on bottom it might hang up in. You're going to lose baits no matter what you do to prevent it, but that'll put you into larger bass than usual.

Jim