Jerkbait Rod?

Anyone have any recommendations for a good jerkbait rod without breaking the bank?

I use the BPS crankin stick 6'6" med. light. It was on clearance online last month. Just click on the clearance icon. I use this rod for jerkbaits, 1/4 oz. cranks and shakey heads as light as 1/8 oz. I bought my last one for $26.00 but I think they have revamped them(and raised price) and are clearing out the old ones.

Dont go overboard on special rods. To begin with, jerk baits work well during certain seasons, a lot of the time they just sit in your tackle box.The last guy gave you good advice. If you are wealthy, buy one,but if you use spinning gear, a good 7 ft rod, from BPS that will cost you at most 40 bucks will work for anything. This hype about cranking rods, spinner bait rods, worm rods is mostly just that hype. Pros that fish for a living can deduct a lot of stuff, its their tools, and a lot of them get tackle for nothing, so they can spread the word to guys that get certain magazines.Save your money, put it in your gas tank.

i bought a med action 7ft BPS graphite series spinning rod and it works well for jerkbaits $ 19.99 if you catch them on sell or $30 if not. i sold my uncle a loomis jerkbait rod that i was previously using, not that the loomis wasnt a good rod, i just felt bad after spending that much on a rod that i didnt use but for a few months out of the year.

So I guess ML to M is a good choice?

the loomis rod i had was MH but when i was looking at the BPS rod there MH was a little to stiff too me so thats why i chose a medium. i think M or MH is probably what youd want. choosea rod has niceaction in the tip but enough backbone to get a good hookset and hadel a decent size fish. some of the strikes from a jerkbait can be vicious.

I prefer a 7 foot Medium action rod. I bought one out of a discount bin at the Lexington Boat Show about 5 yrs ago for $15. It has done me well over the years. When people ask me what kind of set up to buy for this or that, I tell them not to spend much money on the rod. Put more $$$ in the reel.

I use a crankbait rod...it has enough give for those bone jarring strikes and helps keep those hooks in the fish's mouth when jumping. BPS makes a good one, Berkley makes another good one...as a matter of fact I picked up a great Berkley Bionix Crankbait rod last week on sale for $19 at Wal-Mart!

[QUOTE=smljaw;317319]I prefer a 7 foot Medium action rod. I bought one out of a discount bin at the Lexington Boat Show about 5 yrs ago for $15. It has done me well over the years. When people ask me what kind of set up to buy for this or that, I tell them not to spend much money on the rod. Put more $$$ in the reel.[/QUOTE]

I agree with this 100%. I would much rather have a nicer reel, and save some money on the rod, especially for lures like Cranks, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits - they don't need to be near as sensitive. It is not like you are going to get a little nibble when you are burning back a crankbait, and bass usually hit a jerkbait pretty hard. I love the BPS cranking sticks (inexpensive and good). Now when it comes to bottom bouncing rods like worm rods I will spend a little more to get a sensitive rod.

I prefer a 6'6M baitcaster over a 7 and many will use rods in the 6'3 range. It is all personal preference. I prefer a light weight rod and reel combo for this technique. On the rod, it needs to load up moderately when the fish hits.

After topwater explosions, nothing beats a good jerkbait bite in my book.

[quote=LarryG;317274]Dont go overboard on special rods. To begin with, jerk baits work well during certain seasons, a lot of the time they just sit in your tackle box.The last guy gave you good advice. If you are wealthy, buy one,but if you use spinning gear, a good 7 ft rod, from BPS that will cost you at most 40 bucks will work for anything. This hype about cranking rods, spinner bait rods, worm rods is mostly just that hype. Pros that fish for a living can deduct a lot of stuff, its their tools, and a lot of them get tackle for nothing, so they can spread the word to guys that get certain magazines.Save your money, put it in your gas tank.[/quote]
I agree 100%. I bet if some of the big name pros starting using a Zebco 33 combo, the 33 would become the best thing since sliced bread. I'm not knocking the 33; I have caught some really nice fish with them. Just trying to get across the point that great marketing sometimes sells not so great stuff.

I'm not a pro but using the right rod for specific techniques greatly improve your chances of success. If you try to use the wrong rod you will not achieve the right effect or have the right feel. Said another way rods are like tools to the craftsman. If you use the right tool the job is much easier and the results are much better. I learned this the hard way years ago when night fishing with a buddy of mine on KY lake. We were jig fishing and I had my trusty $40 heavy action every-day Shakespeare rod and my buddy had a MBR783 and was nailing the bass right and left but I couldn't feel them pick up my jig and wiffed over and over. I was getting bites but couldn't feel them pick it up and when I did feel them it was too late to stick them. Finally, he started throwing a spinnerbait and I asked to try out his rig. I caught one on the second cast. The difference was like night and day. I now own 15 - 20 Loomis rods and my fishing success has grown by leaps and bounds since those penny pinching days.

As far as jerk bait rods are concerned I tend to prefere MH spinning rods. I know it is not the norm but I like smaller jerks, lighter line, and prefer the more sensitve feel I get with spinning tackle. To each their own...

kc