Crank Bait vs Jerk Bait: What’s the Difference? PLUS When & How to Use

When you look at a crank bait vs a jerk bait, it's not automatically clear why you would choose one over the other. Both are hard plastic baits (or occasionally balsa wood) that have a side-to-side swimmng action when retrieved. BUT, there are big differences in how they work as well as the reasons you would choose one over the other. Let's get into that now after a quick...

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Differences In Crank Bait vs Jerk Bait Shape

Generally speaking, you can often tell a crank bait apart from a jerk bait by the shape of the lure body - even before you check the swimming actions. For crank baits, the body tends to be deeper and more "tear-drop" shaped - and may even be rounder in cross-section.

Jerkbaits tend to be more of a minnow-shaped lure with a slim body and they often have somewhat flattened sides. That more elongated body shape has a big influence on the baits' action. In the above picture - the crank bait is on the left and the jerk bait is on the right.

Not all crank baits have big bills - but the largest lips will belong to deep diving crankbaits. Generally speaking, jerkbaits tend to have slightly smaller lips and may rely on a combination of their density and lip-design to achieve their running depth. 

In this article we won't focus so much on another major option - lipless crankbaits - since they probably deserve their own article. For now it's enough to say that these are sinking baits without lips (normally with the line-tie position somewhere on the top or back of the lure). When reeled they have a busy, tight wriggling action.

In the same way, soft jerkbaits also probably deserve to be covered outside this article. These are typically sold as flukes and are shad or minnow shaped soft plastic baits. 

Crank Bait vs Jerk Bait Swimming Actions

Action - or the way a bait swims when retrieved or worked - is really where the major differences between these lures show up. With both kinds of lure, a big advantage is the ability to just tie one on and start casting it. There's no need for any additional tackle or rigging beyond rod, reel and line. What sets them apart from each other is the continuous and "busy" wriggle that a crank bait is designed for - compared to the zig-zag and sideways "turn out" motion of a jerk bait during a snap-pause retrieve style. 

Jerkbait Swimming Action

While a jerkbait will wobble and wriggle on a straight retrieve or when trolled continuously - the unique selling point to the fish is how it turns out and presents its full flank to a following predator. This relies on popping slack into the line between each jerk of the bait. As well as turning out - jerk baits tend to have a lot of body-roll when pulled forwards through the water.

If the cadence of your snap-pause retrieve is regular, then the zig-zag action will be easy to predict. On the other hand, mixing the cadence so it is a more random mixture of rip - pause, rip-rip-pause, rip-pause, rip-rip-rip-pause will create a more erratic action.

Both predictable and erratic movements can work on their day - and different predatory fish species may tend to prefer one retrieve style over another. For bass fishing, that more erratic mixture of rips and pauses tends to be more enticing. Trout in flowing water often like something more predictable (since they don't want to risk striking at something they might miss).

Crank Bait Swimming Action

On a straight retrieve, crank baits might swim with tight or slightly wider wiggles (described as a tight action or wide action). With wider action baits, you tend to get some body roll - but it's maybe not as big a feature compared to jerk baits. Also, that full on sideways turn-out is not what crank baits are known for. Instead, it's that consistent, busy straight swimming action that is the characteristic motion.

The video below shows a deep-diving model and - as well as bouncing off hard structure - you can see how the bait backs up and rises over obstacles when the retrieve is paused.

As well as the deep divers, there are (of course) baits that run at all levels of the water column - so not all of them grub around on the bottom like the video above. However, it is a good illustration of the constant, busy swimming action.

Instead of focussing on the pause and what you do with your rod-tip, it's how the bait moves while you're reeling that creates its own particular attraction for crankbaits.

With that said, it's important to know that stopping and starting your retrieve when using crank baits is also a tool you need for consistent success. Burning a crank bait (reeling fast) and pausing is a great way to trigger a reaction strike from bass, perch, pike, walleye, trout and many more predators.

All crankbaits should come with a description of what water depth they will dive to and swim at when retrieved. As explained in the next section, the range of bill types means that you can get crank baits for deep water (maybe down to around 25 feet) or for fishing super shallow just below the surface - and every layer of the water column in between.

Types of Bills for Lipped Crankbaits

All told, the angle and the size of the bill is what controls how deep a lipped crank will dive. Funnily, the shallower the angle of the bill, the steeper diving angle. The bigger that bill, then the more water it can "grab" and - when set at a shallow angle - the deeper waters it can reach. Perhaps in super cold water, the fish could be lying hard on the bottom in water that is too deep to reach with a crank bait.

Square Bills 

These can be set at a range of different angles to the body of the bait and will generally fish down to around eight or nine feet of water. The sharp angles of the edges of a square bill create a powerful bounce off solid structure - even twisting and flipping the bait completely upside down. The combination of rebound and flipping the belly hook(s) up away from the snag can help to reduce hang ups on solid cover such as submerged wood and rocky shorelines (or high mid-lake structures). 

Square Bills for Wake Baits

These square bills tend to be set at or close to 90-degrees to the bait and are designed to create a tight side to side wiggle with little to no diving. This means the baits run level and shallow and are obviously suited to throwing into shallow water and burning over the top of grass flats. Sometimes you will find rounded-edge versions of these bills too.

Rounded Bills

The wider a round bill is, the wider the action of the bait. 

Round bills are less good at bouncing off hard structure - and so are best used for paralleling features, searching more open water (or at least areas with fewer serious snags where you stand a good chance of pulling your bait free). The exception is on deep-diving cranks that have really long lips - which tends to help "fend off" snags better than very small lips.

Wider actions are best for when fish are most aggressive and feeding hard. Tighter actions can be better for provoking a more lethargic fish into reacting.

Casting a Crank Bait vs Jerk Bait

For both types of bait, it is generally an advantage to cast them as far as you can - within practical limits. The reason for this is that the first stage in using them is to crank them down to their natural running depth. If your cast is too short, then most of your retrieve will be taken up by that descent.

The exceptions would be either when fishing super shallow or when using sinking jerkbait lures that you can count down to deeper water before starting to work the bait.

To extend your range of tried and tested techniques with jerk baits, swim baits, drop shot and more - I created a fast-track guide...

What Are Crank Baits Good For?

The combination of long casting and active retrieve style (either just a straight retrieve or burning punctuated by short pauses) means that crank baits let you search a LOT of water. Classically this is typically associated with fairly warm water temperatures when the fish are happy to actively chase down a bait.

In baitfish colors, these baits can be bounced off hard bottom structure or burned over/parallel with cover. Equally, those colorways can be simply burned through the water like a naive young fish not realising it is out for a stroll in a bad neighborhood.

Crawfish colorways can be especially fantastic when bounced off that bottom structure in colder water temps before the baitfish shoals really get going.

The big surprise to some people comes from their other main "super power"; the ability to provoke a reaction strike from sleepy, reluctant fish. Because the retrieve style is so active, this can be a great way to stay warm while winter fishing.

See the section below on Winter Fishing with Crank Baits to take advantage of this surprising tactic.

What are Jerkbaits Good For?

The exaggerated turn-out action of jerkbaits give them a unique power to trigger strikes in a variety of predatory fish species. Particularly in the suspending (neutral buoyancy) versions, it's the ability of the bait to hang right in the face of the predator showing the full profile of the bait that makes it so attractive. When baitfish face across the normal direction of travel or the direction of flow - it almost always means they are in trouble. That can be very tough for a predator to ignore.

Between each pause, the swimming action is a very convincing impression of a dying or injured bait fish. This adds another trigger that is equally difficult to ignore.

Taken together, those triggers make jerkbaits great for persuading pressured or unwilling fish to eat - while also being extremely effective for aggressive, active fish too. Changing the cadence of retrieve and size of bait lets you adapt to those different moods. 

Because you can match the density (sink rate) and lip design to a wide range of depths of water, this makes jerkbaits very adaptable across seasons, water temperatures and depths. A suspending jerkbait can be cranked down to fishing depth and then twitched very infrequently in the coldest water. It will hold that fishing depth during those super-long pauses and then kick every now and then. Counting to ten between each kick seems like a long time, but winter largemouth bass anglers who have enough patience might get up to 45 seconds or a minute between each pop of the bait when it is absolutely freezing.

Alternatively, a floating jerkbait can be worked up to a piece of cover - and then you can allow that bait to rise up and over the snag. Once clear, cranking the bait down again and continuing to work it puts you in with a great shot of contacting fish associated with that cover.

For BOTH crankbaits and jerkbaits, it's possible to trigger a reaction bite even when they are not actually in a feeding mode. These are two of the only styles of baits that can do this. The way they both do that are slightly different. For jerkbaits, it is a case of hard snap to dead stop. 

Choosing the color of a Crank Bait vs Jerk Bait

Overall, the strategy for choosing bait color is similar for both styles of lure. First going by season and then modifying according to water color is a nice simple strategy to follow. During winter and early spring when the water is cold, crawfish are probably the dominant forage in many venues. As the water warms, then baitfish shoals grow and become more active. This means that crawfish-based colors dominate the cold water options - with baitfish imitating colorways coming into play as the water warms.

Within each season, those broad categories of color can be modified according to water clarity. In clear water, then muted tones and even transparent ghost style colors are great options.

In dirty water either very strong/solid reds and blacks for crawfish or bold colors such as purple or blue backs and chartreuse bellies, solid whites and other bold colors on baitfish imitations become more productive. For those murky water conditions, a bait with more body roll, water displacement and rattle options could also be an advantage. The sound and pressure waves kicked out by a bait like that help the fish to use their other senses as well as sight.

Probably one difference between crank bait vs jerk bait color choices comes in the advantage of a jerkbait option which is HIGHLY reflective - for those days when throwing out a lot of light becomes a key trigger. The size and angle of the sweep of the bait from side to side make that "light throwing" ability more important for jerkbaits. As long as there is enough water clarity, then having chrome in the flanks of a jerkbait can be a key trigger.

With muddy water, that chrome, reflective character becomes less powerful and it's time to go to bold colors instead. This counts equally for both jerkbaits and crankbaits.

How to Retrieve a Crank Bait

With that said, these are not just beginners' baits! 

There will be an ideal speed to make each bait work best - and it's up to you to find it. Also, cranking a bait down to its fishing depth may involve reeling more aggressively before settling in to the fishing speed of your bait. Feeling the strength of the vibrations of the bait as it is working gives you a good idea of what is going on beneath the surface. As with all lures, you should also experiment with the action in clear water close to you (where you can see what the bait does in response to your movements and retrieve). That way you know how to reproduce that when your bait is out of sight too.

For squarebills and deep-diving baits with long bills, cranking down until you smack hard cover and then pausing before repeating the action is another important technique to master. Learning when to grind through soft cover and then burn and pause while bouncing off heavier cover is the key here.

How to Work a Jerk Bait

Working a jerkbait properly is the biggest key to success with these baits. Just as with crankbaits the first step is to cast as far as possible and then crank (or count) the bait down to the fishing depth.

What comes next is the most important factor. You need to match the jerking action and the overall cadence of retrieve to how active the fish are. The more active the fish, the more aggressively you can rip your bait (and the shorter the pauses can be). At the same time, the smaller and lighter a bait is  (or the bigger the bill)- the easier it is to overpower a jerkbait with a rip that is too aggressive. For those baits, more gentle, short snaps are the way to go.

In other words, it's also important to match the right bait to the action you want to present to the fish.

The best way to create an effective jerk action is by using a combination of rod and reel. Lifting the rod tip towards a horizontal position and then snapping it down towards the water surface is what creates that "jerk-stop" motion. While you need to reel up some of the slack between each snap - DON'T reel all of the slack up. In an ideal world, the first part of the snap rips through the slack and then comes tight to the lure. In this way, the lure goes from a dead stop to maximum acceleration before hitting a dead stop again. Watch from 2 mins and 5 seconds on the video below to see a great demo:

This motion is the one that can trigger an otherwise unresponsive fish to feed - even when it doesn't "want" to.

Differences between Jerkbaits

As well as the obvious differences in color and size - there are some other important differences between jerkbait characteristics. These include sink-rate (for sinking baits), the quality control on how perfectly balanced the "suspending" models are, whether they hang level in the water or head-down while paused, the amount of body roll (or lack) when ripped.

The take home message from this is to work backwards from the effect you want (more body roll equals more flash with a chrome sided lure for example) and match that up to your ideal bait.

Now let's look at tactics you might choose in different seasons across a wide variety of conditions.

Winter Fishing with Crank Baits

Starting with winter fishing and cold water will allow us also compare to early spring/cold water conditions. For crankbaits in winter a tactic known as speed cranking is a killer...

Speed Cranking to trigger reaction bites

This section is with full credit to Matt Allen and Tim Little of Tactical Bassin - these guys wrote the book on this style and even designed their own bait in collaboration with River2Sea specially for it (the River2Sea Tactical DD 75).

As well as a good crankbait rod (medium-heavy rod around 7'6") with parabolic action to help keep fish pinned on treble hooks, the other essential kit will be a high speed reel. For maximum performance this will be a baitcasting reel. Gear ratios in the 7:1 and 8:1 range are ideal for this tactic - since it would be exhausting to wind at the pace needed with lower geared reels. Loading your reel with 12lb fluoro and fishing that straight through to your lure will help you get the depth - and is a good default option. That line is strong enough to still give you some chance with the often big fish that fall to these tactics.

The basic idea is to crank down to the water depth where you can bang off solid structure. As grass dies back fish move out onto rock "outside structure" - rock piles, boulders, bluff walls, sharp angle ledges, entrances to creek mouths. These, then are the features to target as you move from fall into winter.

Then the key is to go from full speed to full stop with your retrieve. So "burn, burn, burn - pause - burn, burn-pause" is the basic cadence you're following. It's all done with the reel - rather than with the rod. That's the big difference between crank bait vs jerk bait tactics.

Here is the proof of the pudding as Matt and Tim catch fish in 46-degree water in under 60 seconds from starting!

Generally tight action baits will rule the day (particularly during winter). The exception is when you are just continually bumbling over and deflecting off hard structure through most of the retrieve. In those conditions a wide action bait can be an advantage. Normally, though, wide action baits are kept for somewhat warmer water conditions and more active fish.

The rules are when you hit hard cover, STOP, let the bait back up and then burn again. When you hit soft cover - just continue to burn right through it. Whatever bait you use, the bill needs to bounce off cover without hanging up - but fortunately the deep-diving bills are generally long and large enough to do a good job of that.

With care it is possible to use this method around laydowns/sunken tree cover too. The key with that tactic is to be on the lookout for feeling your line rubbing. As soon as you do, pause the retrieve and the bait will (most time) back out of the cover. This is another good reason to choose fluorocarbon over braid - since braid has notoriously bad abrasion resistance. However if fish are hitting the lure consistently on the pause - it could be good to change to braid.

The near zero stretch can give better indication of a strike and also transmits a hook-set better to a static bait and fish. You'll have to sacrifice some depth though - as 12lb fluorocarbon is denser and better at cutting through the water than braid.

Winter Fishing with Jerk Baits

This is where suspending baits and long pauses can pay off in a big way. The rip, stop enticing action is the key to inducing that reaction strike even in a non-feeding fish. It's just that the use of much longer pauses is also necessary. This gives a triggered bass enough time to slowly rise up from the bottom to the level of the suspended bait before the next jerk causes it to strike. If you're cadence is too quick and your pauses too short - the bait will have moved out of a fish's zone of interest before it has had time to close in on it.

That need to draw fish up from the bottom in cold water means that it is much more effective in clear water. With that said, if you can get a jerkbait down to the holding depth of a fish, the combination of a rattle, a bold color and that irresistable action can make it extremely effective even in muddy water. 

Crank Bait vs Jerk Bait for Spring Fishing

Spring Crankbaiting

The speed cranking bite is fantastic through early spring and finishes when fish start to spawn. Up until the spawning period, craw-based colors are a great crankbait option. During this time, the fish will be transitioning from the deeper water of the outside cover winter holding areas. The further into spring and closer to the spawn you get, the shallower the fish will move and also the more relevant baitfish color crankbaits become.

Spring Jerkbaiting

Jerkbaits are possibly the best ever bait for triggering a response in a dormant fish and because fish like bass shoal up in spring; it's possible that triggering one fish can turn the whole shoal into feeding mode. The more midwater positioning of most jerkbaits makes some kind of baitfish colorway generally a more appropriate choice than full on crawfish colors.

You can go with very big jerkbaits in spring - to give a kind of super-exaggerated signal and pull lone big fish in from a long range. Start out with super aggressive rips - then dial it back to more gentle twitches if they won't eat it. The final modification is to go to a very small jerkbait to try to turn any/all fish on within a school.

Crank Bait vs Jerk Bait for Summer Fishing

Summer Crankbaiting

Your choice in summer is generally between two extremes: Deep dive or squarebill/shallow.

Deep Cranking

For the deep option, you need to be out on high spots/rock piles and ledges in the main lake. Colorways - bait fish, craw to match forage in clear water and then crazy/bright (for stained water). This warmer water is the situation where a wider wiggle can be great. With that said, it's always worth having a tight action bait as a change option too. For fishing deep in the summer, something like a 6XD is probably a good example of the industry standard for the right kind of bait.

Fluorocarbon is the line of choice for deep cranking. When (and not if) the line gets rubbed straight fluoroarbon is much easier to re tie than replacing leaders attached to braid mainline. Fluoro is also good for getting depth (go for 12 to 15lb).

For deep cranking it's also good to really mix up the pause/burn behaviour to create a really erratic action. In UK stillwater trout fly fishing scene there is a retrieve style called the "FTA" which stands for "F*** Them About". This is basically a completely erratic mixture of stop/start movements almost designed to wrongfoot a following fish until it is infuriated into striking the lure style fly. Having that mental picture is a great one for applying to summer deep cranking.

Shallow cranking

Shallow cranking in summer is all about cover. Think targeting grass line edges, docks, lay-downs, chunk rock/rip rap in 3 to 5 feet of water and you won't go far wrong. Here's where having a silent (non rattle or knocker) option bait for pressured fish can really pay off. Squarebills that run shallow are great for this method. Braid to a mono leader is a very good option here, since you have some abrasion resistance with the mono and you also have the low stretch of the braid overall (and there is no need to achieve significant depth).

It's also possible to find some super-shallow diving crankbaits (less than 2ft). These can be fished over the top of grass - plus if it gets hung up while skimming that grass - you can often pop it free with the rod tip. As the bait comes free, that can be a good time to expect a hit too, so stay alert.

Summer Jerkbaiting

Along with a lot of top anglers, Kevin VanDam really rates jerkbaits as a great tool for the dog days of summer. Where you have shallow grass, fishing a shallow-running jerkbait above the grass tops or paralleling the edges is a fantastic way to use the triggering effect of a jerk/pause action. In warm water, baitfish tend to be really shallow - so bass will often sit in cover looking upwards at what is going on above their heads.

For deeper clear lakes, you might need to use a deep-diving jerkbait to get down to the level of the fish.

Either way, in those slick water hot conditions a jerkbait can be a great way to cover lots of water and find out where the fish are. In those conditions, it is possible that fish might be shoaling up in open water and not relating to cover at all. A search method with a strong triggering action is a great way to locate those fish - and this falls right into the jerkbait wheelhouse.

Crank Bait vs Jerk Bait for Fall Fishing

Fish split into two groups in the Fall - half of them go shallow and half go deep...

Crank Options

Deep

Standard deep cranking can be great for those deeper lying fish and here it's the wide wobbling crankbaits that will rule the day. For this more regular style of deep cranking your baits need to be deep divers with big bodies.

Another option as the water cools is the speed cranking method described in winter tactics section. The cooler the water, the more likely that tight-action baits matched to a speed cranking style will win out.

Shallow

When late summer turns to early Fall - the fish that go shallow go REALLY shallow. For these fish shallow (or super-shallow) running squarebill crankbaits are ideal. Chromes, whites and ghost colors in small baits which run in zero to 2ft of water are the ones to go for.

A burn/pause or FTA style retrieve works really well too. The key is to keep following the progress of the die-back of the grass into ultra shallow water until there's almost nothing left. At that point, the water temperatures will be cooling and those shallow fish will be heading out to join the rest of the fish in deep water for the winter.

Jerkbait Options

During this transition time, the strength of jerkbaits to be both fantastic imitations of wounded baitfish for actively-feeding fish AND triggering a feed response in lethargic fish comes to the fore. In early Fall, most jerkbaits are going to work well for you because fish are actively feeding.

The further into Fall you go, the more chances that the fish will be undergoing significant periods of inactivity. It is during these times that a perfectly-balanced suspending jerkbait can really shine in comparison to ones that are either positively buoyant or obviously sinking. As a rule, the colder the water, the more important a perfect hover during the pause becomes. It's that pause and then a sharp cut to sudden stop which causes a dormant fish to come unglued and lash out.

So, for the shallow fish - follow the advice in the Summer Jerkbait tactics section and for the deeper fish refer to the winter jerkbait tactics.

Crank Bait vs Jerk Bait Round Up

• Both of these styles of baits are great for actively covering water and for catching actively feeding fish. In terms of the speed of search coverage, the crankbait probably comes out on top due to the overall faster retrieve style.
• Along with the Alabama (Umbrella) rig, these methods are also capable of drawing a feeding response out of a fish that would be considered "switched off" and in a non-feeding mode. Speed cranking in winter will keep you warm in that cold weather - and is great at switching on individual fish (often very large fish at that). You'll usually need to be able to bounce your lure off hard cover to make this work to its full potential.
• However, the champion lure for triggering unresponsive fish is still probably the suspending jerk bait. The reason for this is the ability to be worked extremely gradually through an area - while exhibiting radical cuts to the left and right from time to time. After a while, this can trigger an entire shoal of bass into feeding. Among all those fish there may be some huge specimens that get caught up in the feeding frenzy.

The question for which to choose in those cold water situations probably comes down to water clarity and the need to get to the depth of the fish. In clearer water, fish will gradually move up to a suspending jerkbait - whereas in murkier water a really deep-diving crankbait that can bash off cover while making a big commotion will probably win the day.

Paul       

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