James,

I am not sure where you are located, but I have found that water
temperature plays a roll in how suspending jerkbaits "suspend". I
personally never relie on them to suspend perfect out of the box. I
usually go up a size in hooks, and also keep suspend dots along with me.

I used to wrap lead wire around the hooks, but I started to feel I was
losing fish because of that, and went away from it. It really takes a
lot of experimenting to find that perfect balance. Unfortunately you
probably only were able to purchase about 8 or 9 baits for that $45.00,
which don't get me wrong , but it is a great start. I personally have a
"frigid" jerkbait ( 45 degrees)box, a 45 and above box. I can't go so
far as to say that it is brand specific, because I haven't been able to
go through all of them. I do know husky jerks give me hell in VERY cold
water, but X-Raps seem to suspend very very good in those same ranges.

I also have not thrown Rogues much, though I know a lot of my Walleye
buddies swear by them, and I have purchased some for this spring, and I
am just waiting for the ice to get out of my way so I can slam a few
hooks home :-).

CHris

James wrote:
I have not done any fishing in several years. This past month I decided to
take fishing back up again. So I was searching around on the web to see if
there was anything new about fishing that I was not aware of. I came across
a fishing tactic called "dead-sticking a jerkbait". I found this on the
Bass Pro Shops' web sight. If you click on Fishing Library and then go to
the article titled, "A Great Way to Catch Pre-Spawn Bass" it will tell you
all about it. You start with a suspending minnow lure about 4 ½ to 5 inches
long. You cast the lure then crank it down to the depth you want to fish
it. Then you stop cranking the lure and do absolutely nothing. Just let
the lure stay suspended. The article says to leave it for as long as 2
minutes or more. The Bass is supposed to hit it while it is suspended. If
you read the article they make it sound as though you are going to just
clean up on the Bass doing this.

So I went out and bought about $45.00 of suspending minnow lures of
different sizes and colors. I made sure that every lure had the word
"Suspending" on the package. I bought 6 Rapala and 3 Storm lures. A
suspending lure is suppose to be neutral buoyant. It should not sink and it
should not float. Until I read this article I had never heard of a
suspending lure.

These new lures looked real pretty in my tackle box. Last night I decided
to put one of them in a bucket of water to see what it would do. Every one
of the Rapala lures floated. I could hold it on the bottom of the bucket
but as soon as I took my finger off it would pop to the top like a cork.
Every one of the Storm Lures would sink like rock.

So this evening I put my boat in the river to see what these "Suspending
Lures" would do in the real world. I used the same set up they used in the
article. A 7' light rod with 8 lb monofilament line. In the real world the
lures did the same thing they did in the bucket. The Rapala lures float and
the Storm Lures sink. The article said to let the lure set motionless for 2
minutes. That Rapala lure will be floating on the surface in about 15
seconds if you stop cranking the reel.

I believe that sometimes fishing articles are written for no other purpose
that to sucker you into spending money. They hooked me and reeled me right
in to the turn of $45.00. The lures are pretty though. James