Polk County Tweaker Lure Mini-Course [Rigging, Retrieving, & More]
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
The Polk County Tweaker is a jerk-style lure specifically designed to catch redfish, seatrout, snook, and flounder even if they aren’t hungry.
This lure has a great darting motion when retrieved with a twitch-twitch-pause motion that causes predator fish to strike due to their instinct to take advantage of injured prey.
Here’s a fun video showing it in action on a recent trip this winter:
👉 Get The Polk County Tweaker Here
Note: The only con of this lure is that it is not for beginners because it requires skill to get the right action in the water… if you’re a beginner, you need to start out with The 2.0 paddletails because they are much easier to use.
Here are the Polk County Tweaker lure lessons that’ll help make sure you have amazing results with this lure:
- How to rig
- How to retrieve
- When to NOT use soft plastic jerk lures
- Ideal equipment for using soft plastic jerks (rod, line, & reel)
- Best knot to use
- How to repair bent/crooked lures
Just click on the respective videos below to see the details.
How To Rig Soft Plastic Jerk Lures
👉 Get The Polk County Tweaker Here
Here are links to my favorite rigging items for these lures:
Shallow Zones = Helix Weighted Hook (3/0 size fits best)
- 1/16 oz for 0 – 2 ft
- 1/8 oz for 1-3 ft
- 3/16 oz for 2-4 ft
Deeper Zones = Round Eye Jig Head (2/0 & 3/0 hooks)
- 1/8 oz for 2 – 4 ft
- 3/16 oz for 3 – 7 ft
- 1/4 oz for 5 – 10 ft
- 1/2 oz for 10 – 20 ft
Retrieving Soft Plastic Jerk Lures
👉 Get The Polk County Tweaker Here
When To NOT Use Jerk Lures
Soft plastic jerk lures are extremely versatile, so they can be successfully used in most situations. The times in which I recommend against them are the following:
- When lots of pufferfish are in the area (it’s best to go with a hard lure when puffers are around)
- When it’s very windy (these lures can be tough to retrieve properly in windy conditions, so going with something with more drag in the water is generally best (spoon or swimbait)
Ideal Equipment
Here’s a quick listing of the overall equipment that has proven to help maximize the results when using the tweaker:
Rod
I highly recommend 7’6″ Fast Action blanks with Medium power. Here are links to my 2 favorite combos for using soft plastic lures like the tweaker:
Line
I highly recommend using light braid for maximizing your results when using soft plastic jerk lures so that you can maximize your casting distance and feel of taps vs. thumps.
My personal favorite after doing a lot of line tests of the years is the 10 lb J-Braid 8 Grand because it is very strong, casts great, and has proven to hold up to a lot of abuse.
Reel
In my opinion, the reel is not nearly as important as the rod and the line. I recommend 2500-sized reels for inshore fishing with soft plastic jerk lures because they hold plenty of line and have more than enough drag strength while they weigh much less than the larger reels.
My personal favorite is the Otis 2500 because it’s light and it holds up to saltwater exposure great!
For lures like this, it’s best to use a loop knot so that you can allow the lure to have maximized freedom of motion in the water.
We recommend the Non-Slip Loop Knot since it’s quick to tie and it results in a tag end that points back towards the lure which ensures it won’t snag any floating debris.
2 Tricks For Maximizing Results
Featured Gear:
- Lure: Tweaker
- Rigging 1: 2/0 Hoss Round Eye Jighead 1/8oz
- Rigging 2: 3/0 Weedless Hoss Helix 1/8oz
- Rigging 3: 3/0 Weedless Hoss Helix Weightless
How To Repair Bent Lures
No matter how well soft plastic lures get packed into a bag or tackle tray, there will always be some that end up getting bent out of shape.
The good news is that reforming them is very easy. Here’s a lesson showing tips on how to get any bent soft plastics back into good shape:
Conclusion
The Tweaker is a lure that can help you increase your consistency in catching quality fish because it flat out can generate strikes when fish aren’t hungry.
A key to success is to focus on both rigging and retrieving the lure properly because both are crucial.
When used properly, you’ll surely find that this lure will become one of your most trustworthy lures when fishing calm conditions where a silent darting lure shines.
👉 Get The Polk County Tweaker Here
If you have any questions, please use the Comment section below.
Tight Lines!
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish ever trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
thanks for the videos Always good to refresh
Great videos, I don’t see that color you’re using listed in the store. What do you call it. Thanks
I most often use the color called Terd Ferguson which is brown with gold flakes. The color I’ve been using lately is a new black color that we’re going to be bringing to the store later this month (name is still pending).
Thanks, do you cut the chartreuse tip off?
The Terd Ferguson color tweakers to not have a chartreuse tip.
👍
Outstanding collection of videos, thank you for putting them together.
Thanks James!
Great video Luke. You guys are awesome.
Thanks Bobby!
Caught a very nice snook on my second ever cast of this lure – after 3 hours of three guys casting several styles of lures with no hits
Great work Jono!
always great info during these fronts come in and out
thanks
That trick will save me some money…
Another great video Luke. Everytime I watch one, I want to be out on the water. – Wes
Thanks Kristin!
Heading out this afternoon to give it run…
Thanks for the great tutorials.
We hope you enjoy using these tweaker lures as much as we do.
I’ll admit I haven’t used these much but after today they are going in the rotation more! Launched at Conn Brown in Aransas Pass, TX today. Used a paddletail and caught a couple of dink trout. Switched to the shrimptreuse tweaker and caught seven trout and two redfish. Glad I took advantage of the Tackle Tester offer: I’ve got more Tweakers on the way!
I’m glad to see that you’re enjoying the Tweaker lures… they’ll be getting better and better as the water cools since they are great at triggering strikes from lethargic fish.