These are some of the jerkbaits that I build and that I fish with. They have all been painted with spray cans after some advice from Dirk Van Nieuwenhove. Most of them are neutrally buoyant because I feel that most takes occur when the jerkbaits suspend in the water.
The Herring.
The Herring is a suspending jerkbait that should be fished slowly. It's 16cm long and it weighs approximately 70g. It is made from Merbeau wood (a tropical hardwood). I fish The Herring with very short twitches. It runs at a depth of about 1m.
The Joker.
The Joker is a small jerkbait of 12 cm long that I use in De Polders. This one has been made from Merbeau wood in a sinking version. It weighs about 55g. Its action is something to behold: it flashes and zigzags at the same time. I fish it very aggressively and very fast with short, sharp jerks (we anticipate on the aggression of pike).
The Veggy.
The Veggy is an imitation of the VG (which can be found on the website of lurebuilding 101). I modified the shape a little and I weighted it differently. I used Afselia wood that is very dense and hard. Afselia is used to build the frames for windows. This jerkbait has a length of 14cm. I weighted it so it suspends and I only add weight in the center of the belly side. This jerkbait has a wide wobble and it more or less returns to the spot it came from when you jerk it. I fish this jerkbait both slow and fast with several pauses during the retrieve. Most strikes occur when you pause the lure.
The Dremel.
The Dremel is 18 cm long and it weighs 110 gram. The name refers to the 'Dremel Mulitool' with which I shape all the small scales on the sides of this jerkbait. This is quite time consuming. This jerkbait has a side to side action and it runs at a depth of about 1m. This color, that I call 'golden perch', has been most productive for zander during the summer months.