The most important aspect of fishing a jerkbait for bass is finding the optimal cadence of retrieve. In cold water, it often takes 15 seconds between twitches to draw a strike, but in warm water, there are times you can't fish it fast enough. Get dialed in on jerkbait cadence with SmallmouthCrush's Travis Manson as he explains what to look for and how to get the most action out of fishing your jerkbait.

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Video transcript:

Travis Manson:
le twitches, a small pause, two or three more twitches, and we're just erratically working that jerk bait through the shade lines on these docks, and we were catching fish that way as well.

Travis Manson:
A lot of these docks are actually out into deeper water. What we found is a lot of these bass are positioned themselves about three quarters of the way from the bank out into this deep water. That's where I'm going to focus today, throwing this jerk bait. What I like to do is you got to get every different angle, because there's a lot of obstructions here and it does get tricky, right? I'm throwing the bait with three treble hooks, so accuracy is going to be important. I want to get it close to the shade line as well as all these poles. With the water warming, I'm actually going to do two or three quick twitches and then a pause. The cadence today is going to be somewhat quick. I want a reaction bite from these fish that are sitting in these shade lines. Two or three quick jerks and a pause. I'm continually moving this jerk bait along. Here's a perfect scenario. We have actually stairs that go into the water. Oftentimes, this is going to be an area where these fish are going to set up. I'm going to actually throw the jerk bait past the stairs and work it back.

Travis Manson:
There he is. I'm making that cast around the stairs and I'm just going to jerk this two or three times and a quick pause. Just making aggressive twitches with this jerk bait around these poles. Now, a lot of times you're not making a long cast. I really don't have a lot of real estate to work with. I'm just trying to get it in the shade line and back around these poles. Sometimes, it's just for a brief second or two is when I'm in the strike zone.

Travis Manson:
Reel up and just whether it be an underhand pitch or a rolling pitch, whatever you got to do to get that jerk bait back inside this dock here to get that bite. I actually found a little bit of scattered grass too. I want to hit it. I know I'm going in between these docks here, but if you have an opportunity, you might as well take it. I don't know if you can see this in the camera, but there's actually a nice little grass edge right here. Since I'm passing through, I'm going to make some casts with it and see if we can get a fish out it. Just because the water temperatures are rising, does not mean it's time to put the jerk bait away. Give it a try. Just another technique you can use in your arsenal to help you catch more bass.