Top 3 Jerk Shad Lure Colors For Inshore Fishing
- By: Wyatt Parcel
- on
What are the best jerk shad lure colors for inshore saltwater fishing?
Does color truly have an impact on your overall presentation?
If you want to catch more fish using jerk shads this spring, then check this out!!
Learn it all here!
Jerk Shad Lure Colors
When Is The Time To Break Out The Jerk Shad?
Paddletails are the lure of choice for most seasons and scenarios, however, sometimes the vibration of the tail can cost you fish rather than help you catch fish.
The vibration of the tail of the lure can spook off fish before they have a chance to strike it.
You may notice fish spooking off well before the paddletail reaches them.
This is the time to break out the jerk shad style lures.
Jerk shads are ideal for calm days to avoid scaring off fish with a vibrating paddletail lure.
If you know there are fish in an area but they are hesitant to strike your lures, that means it is jerk shad time.
1. Slam Shady Jerk Shad
The Slam Shady Jerk Shad can be applied to any fishing scenario on the water.
White is a color that can be used in both clear and dirty water because of the flash and pop it creates in each environment.
The white of the lure does well to take on outside light and adjust to the hue of the water around it.
If you are fishing in clear, calm water, the Slam Shady Jerk Shad will flash and jump out at fish.
On the other hand, the white color creates a solid profile outline in dirty water.
White color fishing lures will always reflect light and pop in every scenario.
Darker lures tend to absorb light more and hold that light in preventing it from bouncing off.
If you are unsure of what color the fish are keyed in on or you are not keen on the water clarity, turn to the Slam Shady or white color jerk shad lures in these scenarios.
The lighter color of white jerk shads creates versatility and applicability in almost any scenario.
2. F.R.E.D. The Jerk
In the case you are fishing in bright sunny conditions in water that is crystal clear, changing up your color choice to a pinkish-colored lure will give you the advantage.
Sometimes the reflection of light off the Slam Shady or white jerk shads is too much and actually hinders your presentation.
This is the time to break out the pink jerk shads.
F.R.E.D. The Jerk is one of our own jerk shad lures that is slightly duller than the Slam Shady color with the same reflective specks scattered throughout the body of the lure.
The dullness of F.R.E.D. The Jerk takes on less light than brighter colors but still mimics a clear water presentation.
The goal is to be as subtle as possible while also still creating attraction towards your presentation.
Generally speaking, baitfish will adjust to the water clarity and almost appear translucent.
The pink lure does a great job of imitating a translucent presentation while also remaining subtly and less flashy.
3. Alabama Leprechaun
Moving into the final scenario which is fishing in tannic or stained water.
If you are fishing in tannic water or water where there is a lot of mud and silt causing a slightly brownish hue in the water, turn to a darker colored jerk shad.
Jerk shads are not the best for fishing in areas with heavy mud or extremely dirty water where you can’t even see to the bottom.
A slight stain in the water with some murkiness is the ideal situation to break out some dark color jerk shads.
The best lure for fishing in this situation is the Alabama Leprechaun Jerk Shad.
The Alabama Leprechaun is known for creating a clear, distinct outline in dirty water.
This lure is best used in scenarios where the water is dirty and fish are looking for something that sticks out to them.
The gold and red flecks scattered throughout the lure will flash and attract fish even in the murkiest of conditions.
Moreover, the gold flashes are meant to mimic a gold spoon darting across the water.
With the Alabama Leprechaun, you get the same amount of flash as a gold spoon with the ability to create an erratic presentation.
Additionally, if you notice the fish are dialing in on erratic and unpredictable retrieves, throw on the Alabama Leprechaun.
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Jerk Shad Lure Colors [VIDEO]
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Conclusion
As mentioned in the video, think light lures for clear water conditions and darker lures for murky water conditions.
The key is to create a subtle presentation with a clear outline that piques a fish’s curiosity and tempts them into striking your lure.
It is almost spring and it is nearly time to break out all those jerk shad colors!!!
Do you have any more questions or comments about jerk shad lure colors for inshore fishing?
Let me know your favorite, go-to jerk shad color down in the comments!
And if you know someone who wants to learn more about jerk shad lure colors, please TAG or SHARE this with them!
P.S. – Want to know how to retrieve all the different types of inshore fishing lures in a variety of ways? Check out our Artificial Lure Retrieval Methods Mini-Course.
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I watched a YouTube video a while back. It’s called “Under water test – Which lure stands out in stained water” by Marsh Man Masson. He is a Louisiana inshore fisherman and I absolutely love his videos, being a Texas neighbor myself. Anywho…. He does underwater camera testing to prove which lures stand out the most. Watch it for yourselves… but watermelon color lures basically disappear until it’s almost touching the camera. It doesn’t matter if it has silver or gold flakes, you can’t see the flash in overcast. You can only see flakes in lures when the sun is beaming in shallow water. ( I have better luck fishing in overcast conditions anyway) . I thought chartreuse would probably win, but Black/blue was by far the king. I noticed the Saltstrong color Gold Digger wasn’t an option, But that might take the dub for stained. There is only one way to know for certain… extensive underwater testing in all 3 water clarity’s.
The any color with a black mixture will likely top out for darker water. That’s why I oftentimes will use the Gold digger paddletail when the water is really stained, but we don’t have it in the jerkshad option because they’re more of a visual presentation for fish, so making one specifically for dirty water doesn’t make much sense, when you could use a Paddletail with more vibration (more conducive to dirty water presentations) and have better success. I have found that out of these 3 colors though, I lean on the Alabama Leprechaun if I still want to use a jerkshad in dirty water. More often then not though, I’ll rotate to a Paddletail.
Too many people think they see color as a fish.
Nicely done Wyatt!
Thanks a ton man! Glad you enjoyed this tip!
Where I have been fishing with mostly paddle tails in the inner coastal I have been loosing allot of tails. Should I be inserting a stinger hook?
More often then not that’s needlefish or pinfish picking at the tail… a stinger won’t help. Larger predators like trout and reds basically “suction feed” a prey item into their mouths by flaring their gills to create a vacuum of water in the strike zone in front of their faces to hit a bait. Not even small trout will bite a tail off. I would instead recommend switching spots, as a lot of nibbler strikes oftentimes will tell me no predators are around to pick them off when they get bold enough to attack my lure.
Great presentation Wyatt. Just purchased some of those jerk baits and was wondering when to use each color and now I know. Can’t wait to try them.
Sweet!! Glad this video has you ready to use each of them! Thanks for watching Bill!!
Great job Wyatt good breakdown on the color situation. Keep up the good work 👍👍
Thanks so much Greg! Glad you enjoyed this tip sir!
Wyatt, that is the way I understand and use jerk shads. I like to use top water or paddle tails as search baits and then move to jerk shads if need be.
Absolutely. Paddletails are our “machete” to cut through areas quickly to find fish, while the jerkshads are more of a “scalpel” to really pick through spots!
Awesome job Wyatt!!
Thank ya Richard!
This is a great video – how much does this change in freshwater situations?
I would use them the exact same way provided the water clarities I outlined are present!
Wyatt, what size are the shads?????
They are 5” jerkshads.
Good Vidoe Wyatt! You can always tell us Texas fishermen no boat 🙂
Haha yep! Boats in Texas are just glorified taxis to get you to good wading spots!