Jerkbait (hard) colors

[jalberg]

I'm curious what colors people use here on MN lakes and the logic behind it. It seems a lot of the colors offered are imitations of things we probably don't have in our lakes. I know you don't always need an exact imitation and sometimes the opposite works better, but I'd like to know what I should look for if I want to "match the hatch" with a jerkbait. I guess the real question is what species of minnows do we have in our lakes that have the profile of a jerkbait?

[river rat316]

ayu, perch, bone, mainly lighter colors, never tried the gill imitators or anything else

[bassfshin24]

For XRap my fav color is the purple/gold. It kind of reminds me of a fathead minnow. I'm not sure they make that color anymore but I know tackle warehouse carries it. Lucky craft make some really good bluegill colors that I bought this year. Also lucky strike rc sticks make some great minnow colors.

[dan z]

Done really well up near grand rapids with Helsinki(sp) and the silver rapala husky jerks.

[Tom Sawyer]

I guess the real question is what species of minnows do we have in our lakes that have the profile of a jerkbait?

Never seen a pink minnow nor have any smallmouth, but that color will astound you when other colors don't even get a glance.

For eyes I do well with light colored under bellies, with darker backs.

[RumRiverRat]

I posted this earlier today in the tip of the week thread.

Jerkbait color selection.

General rules

Sunny days throw Chrome/flashy baits

Cloudy days opaque baits with some color

In depth

Sunny days with little to no wind. Throw a transparent/natural looking bait. Ghost minnow in a Pointer for example.

Cloudy days with little to no wind. Throw a natural looking bait that is opaque.

Sunny days with wind, anything other than slick calm conditions. Throw a bait with a lot of chrome/flash. American Shad in a Pointer. Sliver/Blue, Silver/Black in a Husky Jerk. In water with lower visibility Clown is a favorite color of mine in these conditions.

Cloudy days with wind. Darker colors with flash. Gold/black is a good choice.

In darker, dirtier water bright colors are best. Firetiger, Chartreuse and Blue are good choices.

In summary when choosing a jerkbait color light penatration is the key factor in choosing color. Cloud cover and wind reduce light penatration. As does stained/dirty water. Consider the conditions and choose accordingly.

[RumRiverRat]

The following is what I posted in response to the question what should I buy when looking at Lucky Craft Pointers.

The Pointer Minnow 100sp is a two hook wider profile bait with a walk the dog action underwater and on the pause it suspends and slightly wobbles and vibrates. The Slender Pointer MR is a thinner profile bait with a more erratic side to side action and 3 hooks designed for Smallmouth fishing. The Flash Pointer SP is a three hook bait that will suspend slightly nose down with the same action as the Pointer SP, good bait for smallies since they like to head hunt a bait. The Flash Pointer MR has a very erratic side to side as well as up and down action because of a unique weight transfer system. It is also a slow sinker, so it will run deeper. The Pointer 100SP and Slender Pointer 115MR are good starting points. The sizes are in Millimeters, 100mm equals 4 inches.

A Pointer 100SP in American Shad for sunny days, Pointer 100SP in Pearl Threadfin Shad or another opaque color for cloudy days. Slender Pointer 115MR in American Shad for Sunny Days and something with color for cloudy day, like Nishiki/Clown.