“Murphy’s Perfect Jerkbait”

We hear it all the time in the World of Bass Fishing….”This is the Best Bait Ever!!!” No doubt there have been some extremely successful baits over the years that have poured a concrete foundation to their existence such as; Herb Reed’s Slug-Oww.LunkerCity.com), Bobby Garland’s Gitzit, and of course one of the hottest baits on the planet…Gary Yamamoto’s Senko. (www.baits.com) I know what you’re thinking, “These are all soft plastic baits! What about hard plastic baits? Putting my antique thinking cap on, my favorite worn out Abrogate cap revealed some treasured stand-bys. On the surface two baits stand out, the Jitterbug and the Zara Spook. While Rapala’s original balsa minnow, and the Rebel Minnow cover twitching on and under the surface to being trolled on northern glacier lakes for smallmouth bass.

Surely each of us can establish our own list of personal favorites covering the water column, and besides us old-timers still utilizing metal tackle boxes, the new kids on the block will flip us their list of baits that more than likely will be written in Japanese.
The induction of computers has in my humble opinion catapulted the average bass angler into another dimension, where as there are no longer average bass anglers!!! With the advantage of logging unto a world wide web covering every bass bait made, every article written, tournament waters covered or research longer average bass anglers!!! With the advantage of logging unto a world wide web covering every bass bait made, every article written, tournament waters covered or research conclusions on both live forage and their artificial mincing cousins, unlimited knowledge lies at the finger tips of every keyboard tapping bass angler.

While the movie ‘The Graduate’ leads us down a molded pathway of ‘Plastics Benjamin Plastics’, my advice to a Bass Angling Benjamin today is, “Education Benjamin Education!” Thus enters Michael Murphy, Professional Bass Angler and Fisheries Biologist. www.michaelmurphyfishing.com At the age of 26 Murphy has laid a foundation for himself, second to none. Holding his degree in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from Purdue University, Michael Murphy standing 6’5” tall has taken long unprecedented strides within the fishing industry arena. Murphy’s intricate knowledge of the underwater aquatic world of the black bass has added another accolade for this FLW Tour Professional Angler……….Lure Designer. (www.flwoutdoors.com) Having worked with some of the worlds most knowledgeable lure designers in both America and Japan, Michael Murphy quickly established himself as a worthy candidate to team-up with Japanese lure company ima (www.imalures.com) “ima has been a consistent world leader in saltwater lures, when ima approached me to design a freshwater suspending jertbait I new they were looking for the most realistic presentation possible,” says Murphy.

While most designers might start sketching lure configurations, Michael Murphy turned to the most common baitfish forage for bass, the Herring. “Most people do not realize the Herring family includes Gizzard Shad and Threadfin Shad incorporating the huge family of all shads found throughout America.” Murphy’s design goals included, mimicking the most realistic action possible, developing a high pitch sound resembling that of the Herring, while echoing a sign of distress. And, of course his design required the ability to be cast long distances with precise accuracy, while keeping the bait at the optimum depth.
“Herring are flat sided with wider back sections as opposed to being round sided as found in most jerkbaits on the market, the ima Flit has flatter sides in a triangular shape similar to Herring, thus allowing the Flit to track more realistically during the snapping jerkbait motions applied by an anglers rod,” claims Murphy. “With water being displaced down the baits sides and off the tail section Murphy’s ima Flit incorporates a walking the dog action much harder and better than any other jerkbait,” reports Matt Paino, of Optimum Baits an expert on Japanese baits. (www.optimumbaits.com) Paino certainly holds the credentials when it comes to commenting on Murphy’s ima Flit jerkbait! Having spent countless hours on the water with Murphy and his Japanese counter parts from ima, Matt Paino witnessed more than 30 proto type baits personally twicked by Michael Murphy before he was satisfied with the results. “In order to achieve the high pitch sound resembling that of the Herring, we developed a triangular internal chamber to hold the small bb style weights. This system maximized the sound by ricocheting the round bb style weights at constant angles. Thereby emitting a controlled realistic consistent baitfish sound,” reports Murphy.  When it came to deciding on the optimum diving depth, Murphy’s research revealed that suspending baitfish in colder months and/or postfrontal conditions have the tendency to suspend within the visible sight depths of six-eight feet. “Since the body of the ima Flit creates all of the baits action resembling the shape of a Herring and creating the perfect swimming cadence, it was imperative that the bill design not take away this natural realistic movement,” says Murphy. Adding, “To accomplish this we placed a smaller skinner forward pointed bill on the nose.” Murphy also suggests his smaller pointed ima Flit bill design not only produces the perfect Herring suspending depth, it is more user friendly resulting in a less tiring lure presentation. “With the ima Flit, anglers will achieve more positive results and maximum depth, by simply starting and stopping with a slack-line jerking retrieve, verse trying to crank the bait to it’s maximum depth then start their jerking motion,” advises Murphy. In addition Murphy suggest anglers work the Flit with their rod tip close to the water to maximize depth.
Murphy’s design calls for three Owner treble hooks, statistically placed for perfect balance and suspending action. “While the three hook design certainly helps with a catch ratio any time of the year, its purpose was to achieve positive results during the colder water periods found at both the beginning and ending of the year as well as during postfrontal conditions any time of year!” Thus the importance of the high pitch distress sound.

As for color choices, there are twelve ranging from foil flash inserted finishes to shad patterns and matte bluegill finishes. Murphy recommends utilizing flash finish in colder water as the foils catch the light and the ima Flit flat sides reflect the light downward attracting suspending bass. “With springtime warming water conditions I then move towards the shad colors, and increase my presentation speed in accordance to the bass’s activity levels,” said Michael Murphy. Adding, “My three most productive colors for post spawn or warm water postfrontal conditions are Olive Herring, Tennessee Shad and Matte Bluegill.”  When it comes to balancing your tackle for implementing proper jerkbait techniques, Michael Murphy utilizes a Fenwick 6’9” MH Fast Tip Elite Tech bait casting rod paired with an ABU Garcia REVO STX high speed reel, spooled with either 8 lb or 10 lb test Trilene Fluorocarbon line.  Just how effective is Michael Murphy’s ima Flit suspending jerkbait? According to Michael Murphy and the FLW Outdoors web site, Murphy rallied his way into the FLW Championship in his 2007 Rookie Year, made a substantial run at Rookie of the Year title, and finished 30th overall on the highly competitive FLW Tour Division.

God Bless and Best Bass’n

Northwood’s Sporting Journal
Office: 1.207.732.4880
www.sportingjournal.com
Column: Best Bass’n
February 2008 Issue

Bill Decoteau is an outdoor journalist with a strong passion for pursuing the Black Bass. His activities include covering and photographing professional bass trails, the New England Paralyzed Veterans of America Bass Trail, as well as emceeing benefit tournaments. Bill may also be found holding bass seminars or sharing winning techniques utilized by some of the nationals’ top-bass pro’s at many of the regional sportsmen shows.

























Northwood’s Sporting Journal
Office: 1.207.732.4880
www.sportingjournal.com
Column: Best Bass’n