Rigging Jerk Shads onto Jigheads.....

[~Johno~]

Hi all, ive recently fished Berkleys 5inch Jerk Shads for squire in some shallow reefs/sand beds of about 4m - 6m in depth, and successfully catching 1 bream, few flathead and 1 50cm squire on the shads.

I have also noticed that sometimes when i hook up the 5" Shad on the Nitro 1/8 - size 1/0hook jighead, the sp will spiral down on the drop, in a circular spinning motion......so it gets me thinking, am i hooking it up right? Probably not. I do hook them dead straight with the hook protruding out of the shad in the dead centre.

Do i use a heavier Jighead? Have i been hooking the jerk shad upside-down? I notice on the shad that there is a split on one side of the lure, is that meant to be on the top of the presented lure or the bottom?

I need to get this lure to swim straight :)

Cheers Johno

[tunaticer]

G'day Johno,

First thing i would do is increase the size of hook to 3/0 to 5/0, both are available in 1/8oz.

Secondly pay very good attention to how straight the jerkbait sits on the jighead. It must be straight looking from above and the side. Mostly my baits will slowly spiral down and probably do a full turn every 4 or 5 feet they drop. I have had a few that didnt and there was not any difference in the strike rates. If it spirals quickly it definitely will not be as effective.

Thirdly what weight line are you using?? It could be stiff and generating some tortion with the twist that generates in your line each cast. Some spinning reels overcome this with a anti-twist bail roller. It might pay to tie a small loop knot and see if that reduces your spiraling down.

Jack.

[~Johno~]

Hi Jack, if im also targeting bream wont the 3/0 hook be alittle on the big side?

Im using 5kg braid mainline attatched to a 7kg Fluro-carbon trace of about 2 metres. Reel i use is a Daiwa Sol 3000 spinning reel.

How about the split on one side of the jerk shads? Should they be above or below?

Thanks, Johno

[marty+jojo]

I use TT jigheads and i have never had this problem. I agree with Tunaticer, if i am chasing snapper i use a minimum of a 3/0.
Marty.

[ffejsmada]

Johnno,
I reckon a 5" Jerk Shad is too big for Bream. I wouldn't worry about the bream mate, target Snapper as you mentioned. The slit goes on the bottom of the placcy.
Use a 3/0 to 5/0 as suggested.
A 1/0 hook is fine for bream but you'd stick that in a 3" Bass Minnow or similar.

Cheers Jeff.

[BenatCoffs]

Hi Jack, if im also targeting bream wont the 3/0 hook be alittle on the big side?

Im using 5kg braid mainline attatched to a 7kg Fluro-carbon trace of about 2 metres. Reel i use is a Daiwa Sol 3000 spinning reel.

How about the split on one side of the jerk shads? Should they be above or below?

Thanks, Johno

I got this bream on a 5" nuclear chook, 3/4oz jighead 7/0 Hook - TT

http://images.benandmichelle.net/albums/userpics/10001/fishnet%20bream.jpg

PB on plastics :P I thought it was a snapper when I first hooked it (Snaps were the target) Caught it in the wash of an offshore island.

Here is a quick video I just knocked up depicting how I rig a jerkshad, not saying it is the right way. I did a video as I figure a picture is worth a thousand words, the video is made up of 635 images, so 635 thousand words!

http://images.benandmichelle.net/albums/userpics/How_to_rig_a_jerkshad.wmv 2466Kb so 6min on 56k, under a minute on broadband.

Now youtubed for your enjoyment

HRCUJve8bXk

Hope it helps.

[~Johno~]

Mate, that is tops, thanks heaps for the video your a champ!!

Ive been hooking it up completely wrong then hahaha, i never turned the hook back through, i just slid it down like a worm and poked it out.

Thanks again mate, helps me alot.

Cheers Johno

[Hamish73]

thanks for the vid :o
I had it all screwed up too :P

[BenatCoffs]

Hrmm, 2:1 maybe it's me that is all screwed up!

There is another way to rig them too - using a 5/0 Hoodlum hook, pass the hook through the nose the same way I did in the video, then pull the hook, eye and knot all the way through, then hook back through the belly section, like in the vid. Gives a pretty good no weight rig - then you can Texas style bean sinkers if weight is required.

Can do another vid if required :P

[murf]

Hrmm, 2:1 maybe it's me that is all screwed up!

There is another way to rig them too - using a 5/0 Hoodlum hook, pass the hook through the nose the same way I did in the video, then pull the hook, eye and knot all the way through, then hook back through the belly section, like in the vid. Gives a pretty good no weight rig - then you can Texas style bean sinkers if weight is required.

Can do another vid if required :P

tell me more tell me more

thanks for the vid on rigging the SP, I have never seen it done like that before;)

does this work in the 10m grounds North of Coffs?

I recon I am over weighted some times at 3/8oz, this is the smallest I have in the DI-IT mould, on 4/0,5/0 Gamakatsu hooks

Cheers Murf

[BenatCoffs]

does this work in the 10m grounds North of Coffs?


Unweighted is good for the washes up around split,

I am heading down to bundagen this morning I think, will start at whitmore though (hence it being 4:48am as I type 8-)) but using floaters though. Lightest head I use for 5" jerkshads is 3/8 oz

[Hamish73]

Hrmm, 2:1 maybe it's me that is all screwed up!

There is another way to rig them too - using a 5/0 Hoodlum hook, pass the hook through the nose the same way I did in the video, then pull the hook, eye and knot all the way through, then hook back through the belly section, like in the vid. Gives a pretty good no weight rig - then you can Texas style bean sinkers if weight is required.

Can do another vid if required :P
I wouldnt mind seeing a vid of you rigging the smaller slitless gulps if you don't mind. The first one was very helpfull. I always manage to make it look like they have a broken back :-[
I'm a newbie the whole fishing scene, especially SP's, and any advise is appreciated

[Roo]

I wouldnt mind seeing a vid of you rigging the smaller slitless gulps if you don't mind. The first one was very helpfull. I always manage to make it look like they have a broken back :-[
I'm a newbie the whole fishing scene, especially SP's, and any advise is appreciated

Me too! as hard as I try to get it perfectly aligned i seen to always get a kink in the back that makes the little power minnows spin like a top.:-[

[elliven]

G`day all ,there is some good info on rigging plastics on the Egrell site,with some good explanations that may come in handy ,i found it very interresting.

[BenatCoffs]

Hi, I would show a range of rigging, but I only use 5" jerkshads, 6" sand worms and 2" shrimp, so I'd just be guessing for smaller jerks and minnows.

I use Gamakatsu 211's for my shrimp and sandworms too, which is totally different that what most people use - it's basically a circle hook with a lead head... but without the bent point of a circle.

The "texas riggin a jerkshad" is on it's way"

[BenatCoffs]

Ok, this is my Riggin Texas Style video

hbXpjrgFXYQ

and for those that want the original version
http://images.benandmichelle.net/albums/userpics/How_to_texas_rig_a_jerkshad.wmv
Oh yeah, this one is quite a bit bigger - 8.2mb 1'29"

The swivel shown on the line was just to stop the sinker falling off - ordinarily would be just the leader. Also, if you tie a uni onto the leader using 40lb mono a few inches above the plastic and trim off both tagends, it stops the sinker from getting too far away from the plastic and causing hangups.

[Roo]

cheers Ben, great idea. I've tried similar things with glass beads instead of sinkers. Is the sinker your using in the video the same as you'd use in the water? the circle hook is a great idea for the toothy fish would reduce bite off's a bit
thanks for the video.
roo.

[revs57]

Nicely done Ben! Good stuff

Cheers

Rhys

[Crumbo]

Awwesome video ben!
I think I will try that

[BenatCoffs]

cheers Ben, great idea. I've tried similar things with glass beads instead of sinkers. Is the sinker your using in the video the same as you'd use in the water? the circle hook is a great idea for the toothy fish would reduce bite off's a bit
thanks for the video.
roo.

I use any sinker that does what I need it to, ie the little pea ones, up to an ounce or so ball/bean. You can always rig on wire if you want too to reduce bite-offs'. I lost a few tailor last week using these hooks trolling livies, so they aren't always good like genuine circles...

I often just rig a plastic onto a hook with no sinker and just flick it into the berley trail to waft along.