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First of all, you can expect to get a very wide range of opinions on this - it's like the old Ford vs Chevy debate. Everybody has their own favorites as far as brand name, size, color, depth, action, cadence, attitude at rest and who knows what else. I would suggest buying baits from several different manufacturers to begin with. If you just use one brand to begin with, you might have great success with it, fall in love with it and never know what you're missing by not giving the other baits a chance.
The only thing I like better than catching bass on a jerkbait is catching them on topwaters - any topwaters, so I throw a jerkbait about any time I think there's a chance that it might work. Yes, they are definitely better in clear water. I've caught smallies at Cumberland on everything from a pink (yes, I said pink) X-Rap to a clown pattern spoonbill Rogue. I even caught a striper that was probably around 25 pounds on the big Rogue.
As far as fishing them in off-colored water, I'd say muddy water is pretty much off the table but they will still work in stained water. My experience with them in stained water has been to switch to any dark color which creates a better silhouette or go with something really gaudy like fire tiger. If there are smallies where you're fishing, don't be afraid to get too gaudy - with smallies, sometimes the freakier the better. Good luck with learning a new technique. I hope you have as much fun with it as I have.
Apparently I have a hard time focusing on the task at hand.
