This Modular Fly Triggers Violent Strikes from Apex Predators

Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We earn from qualifying purchases.

This article was originally titled, "Jerk Changer," in the February-March 2026 issue. 

---

My friend Nick gave me a call the night before and said, “It’s happening now.”

I packed my gear in the truck and set my alarm for 3 A.M. I had a four-hour drive to meet Cory and Nick, so I didn’t get much sleep that night.  

The drive was broken up by a few phone calls from the guys. Nick said he was using a variety of swimbaits, glide baits, and jerkbaits to get bites from Chesapeake Bay giants. He described the large area we would be covering by blind casting, and cautioned that we’d be looking for “just a couple bites.” That’s something I’m very used to from years of playing the muskie game. You must trust in what you’re doing and believe in the process.

Nick was catching fish with conventional baits, and I brought with me 8- to 12-inch Hybrid Changers and Jerk Changers. I started with a 12-inch black Jerk Changer with a Scientific Anglers Sonar Titan Full Intermediate line. Even though we were fishing in only 4 or 5 feet of water, it was stained so you really couldn’t see what was going on below the surface. There would be no signs of these giant fish.

We started on a flat adjacent to a channel, which together formed a byway and a large feeding area for predatory species. I used long strips and even longer pauses, which allowed the fly to glide and then hover between each strip. On the next strip I knew the fly would turn and glide in the other direction. I was prepared for a long grind that day, but within the first 30 minutes I felt the slightest tick in my line. This is a very common feel with large gamefish—it never ceases to amaze me how a bite from such a big fish can feel so slight, as the fish merely envelops the fly.

Once I felt that tick, I started recovering line with fast, long strips that became progressively heavier with each consecutive pull until I felt that first boat-rocking head shake. The first sight of this striped bass of a lifetime was of a giant broom-shaped tail making a huge slap on the surface. I held tight and cleared line onto the reel as the fish turned and made its first big run. She made several, with rolls and head shakes at the surface. Thankfully, the hook held, and in a short time we had her boatside in a giant net.

I was amazed how thick and heavy she was, and thought of how many things this old girl had seen in her life, and the gauntlet of obstacles and hardships she had to endure. At maybe 30 years of age, she had been of spawning size for decades and was truly a matriarch of her species. Without fish like this, we wouldn’t have striped bass at all.

We caught the striper from the boat, but I jumped into the water to take photos and carefully release the fish. Specimens like this are never hauled into the boat.

I’m grateful for moments like these, and I was happy to spend the rest of the day helping my buddies catch their fish. I did not cast again that day, as I savored and enjoyed what was for me the striped bass of a lifetime.

The Fly's Erratic Movements  

My Game Changer flies, introduced around 2010, revolutionized streamer fishing with a serpentine swimming motion that mimics the realistic swimming action of a baitfish moving or at rest.  

The Game Changer is designed to produce a smooth, undulating swimming movement, and to hover and breathe in the water. In contrast, the Jerk Changer emphasizes jackknifing and jerking motions, acting more like a conventional glide bait or jerkbait with dramatic side-to-side darts and pauses. It uses shorter rear segments and a longer front shank to enhance the erratic movements, while the Game Changer has multiple segmented articulations built in to produce fluid swimming. Both flies adapt conventional-lure qualities to fly rods. But the Jerk Changer is particularly suited for aggressive, twitchy retrieves in scenarios where fish need extra provocation. It bridges the gap between traditional fly fishing and conventional lures.

Unlike traditional streamers, which often rely on steady retrieves, or the movement of fur and feathers to pulse and undulate, the Jerk Changer with its realistic profile and silhouette excels in erratic movements—slipping, sliding, walking the dog, and swerving from side to side—making it highly effective at triggering aggressive strikes from predators. It has a body shape built on specialized shanks, a proprietary brush blend, and materials including foam and rattles for added non-mechanical swim to draw in gamefish and trigger them to attack.

I tie it in sizes from 4 inches to 12 inches and in colors such as white, tan, pink, chartreuse, black /purple, and all black. Each fly is carefully designed and put together to help this fly do its magic in the water. The design emphasizes balance, with the rear (tail) portions matching the front (head) length to ensure optimal gliding and swerving action.

The static front portion drives the train, creating minimal drag in the water, allowing the fly to move erratically. Hiding the hook in the rear center of the fly releases the drag created by the hook. Think of the famous fluke lure—when it’s rigged properly, it moves and swims in an unbelievable way. However, when rigged incorrectly the lure does not perform as it was meant to.

Jerk Changer Design

Tying the Jerk Changer requires attention to detail to achieve the proper balance and movement. It’s a time-consuming pattern to tie, but durable, especially for toothy species including muskies, dorados, pike, and tigerfish. I’ve caught hundreds of fish on one single fly, so the time and effort put into this fly are well worth it, not only in durability but also in its ability to trigger the biggest fish of many species.

When I decided to mimic a jerkbait’s movement and turn it into a fly, I had to overcome several important problems. Flies are generally designed to be easy to cast, which requires materials that are light and supple. The materials compress and pulse in the water, slowing the fly down and keeping it from gliding and sliding.

There have been great fly designs that turn in the water, but they don’t glide or slide in the way that a true glide bait does. So I knew I had to design a fly that would be as light as possible, and it needed to have the correct combination of materials that are stiff enough not to pulse or compress in the water. I had to wrap the materials super tight—much like spinning deer hair—to achieve a light, rugged body. Then I needed materials that would have a laminar flow or straight-line flow.

The key to the design is the chassis of the fly, which is the shank hook platform. I found that I needed a static front end without a hook. This takes me back to the fluke: When rigging a fluke, you need to run the hook through the bait in such a manner that the hook is hidden to help reduce drag and allow the bait to slide and glide freely through the water. The same is true on flies. By creating a long static front end without a hook, I was able to achieve the same results.

Next, I needed to choose the proper hook that would fit the platform and have sufficient hooking capabilities without creating too much drag. So, I chose the short-shank, wide-gap Ahrex SA274. (Since then, I have worked with Ahrex on a newer hook designed specifically for my flies.) I used a couple of smaller shanks behind the hook to add the swimming action in the back end.

One important point on the chassis is to make the front shank at least as long as the back section from the hook to the tail. For some reason this helps make the fly swim the best. My belief is that the long, unstable front shank, with the rattle in the back, helps aid in the action of the fly.

Next, I needed to match the weight distribution and buoyancy that allow glide baits and jerkbaits to perform. I looked at existing rattles on the market. I wasn’t happy with them, so I designed my own. These rattles clip onto the shank and are then tied in with glue and thread. This process is much easier than trying to tie a round object onto a round surface.

The rattle box I designed has a better weight, and the added clip and the gradual slope to the front of the rattle make for an easier transfer back to the shank when wrapping the brush onto the rattle and shank.  

I tie in the rattle on the back top of the longer front shank at the head of the fly. Then I add some foam in front of the rattle to aid in buoyancy by tying it in at an angle coming off the rattle. This creates a slope to the eye of the shank, allowing for a clean transition when wrapping the brush forward to the front of the fly.

For smaller flies, I tie the Jerk Changer with softer, flatter fibers like my Finesse Chenille from Hareline Dubbin. As the size of the fly increases, I use a combination of different materials in my brushes to accomplish the rigidity and suppleness with the flatter straight fibers.

When I trim and shape the fly, I want an arrow-shaped nose leading into wider shoulders at the back of the front shank, then tapering smoothly but sharply to a knife-shaped tail. All this dictates water flow around the fly and directs the flow in a way that creates the least resistance in the water.

By wrapping the brush tightly together, I keep the fibers rigid, and that reduces pulsing and in turn helps eliminate drag.

I trim the fly as I finish each section so I can adjust the taper better. Some tiers prefer to trim the fly after all the materials are tied in. Take your time trimming, and the final fly should have the appearance of a tightly spun and smoothly trimmed deer-hair bug.

Predatory Techniques

One key hunting principle is that predators look for the wounded, weakest link, and prey that acts wounded while fleeing danger. Knowing these key principles not only helps you fish the fly in a manner the fish want, but also aids you in understanding the predator/prey relationship.

As a perfect example, my good friend Larry Dahlberg once told me of a time when he was targeting muskies and using live suckers as bait. He bought some farm-raised suckers, and also caught some natural suckers in the lake he was fishing. The farmed suckers were easier to get, but he told me the native suckers would get eaten 10-to-1 over the farmed suckers. Why? He deduced that the suckers that lived in the same lake with muskies would react to a muskie in a more natural way by fleeing the area. This, combined with being attached to a hook and still struggling to leave the area triggered the muskies to eat the suckers. Conversely, the farm-raised suckers did not respond to the muskies in a convincing manner.

These are things to think about when determining the way you fish your streamers—add more movement with your strips, stay away from mundane actions, always assume there is a predator eyeballing your offering, and make your fly flee from danger.

The Jerk Changer shines when you fish it with short, sharp strips to create its signature erratic action—darting left and right, up and down, gliding on pauses, and mimicking an injured baitfish. Use a floating or intermediate line for surface or mid-depth presentations. Retrieve it with short, quick fly line jerks with downward rod slaps (to introduce slack) followed by pauses. This allows the laminar head and the tail rudder to steer the fly, creating swerves and triggering strikes. I also use this same stripping, rod-jerking action with heavy sinking lines for deep fish.

The leader is another key component to the action. As in conventional jerkbait fishing, it is crucial to add slack into the retrieve to help the fly slide and glide in the water. If you keep constant tension on the line throughout the retrieve, the fly will be hindered, and you won’t get the same movement. Introducing slack gives the fly a chance to move in the water without being influenced by line tension. I prefer Scientific Anglers fluorocarbon leader material for its stiffness and abrasion resistance. I use a long, stiff butt section for 40 percent of the leader, then a shorter middle taper section that is 20 percent of the leader, and then a long 40 percent tippet section that is more supple, to help create  slack.

The leader varies based on the size of the fly and my target species. With a 5- to 6-inch fly I use a 50-pound-test butt section tapered to 30- to 40-pound-test, then a longer 20-pound tippet section. If I use a 10-foot leader there’s 4 feet of butt section, 2 feet of midsection, and 4 feet of tippet.

For fly lines, I like an aggressive taper that helps deliver large flies on target. Scientific Anglers Sonar Titan Full Intermediate, Titan GT, and Titan are ideal for fishing Jerk Changer flies. In the tropics, I recommend Sonar Tropical/Jungle Custom Cut. And in cold water, the Sonar Musky Gen 2 is my favorite. These lines turn over the Jerk Changer and deliver it easily, allowing you to enjoy the process of casting for elusive predatory fish.

Choosing the right rod for this type of fishing is crucial when you’re casting repeatedly, hoping for that fish of a lifetime. Because I do a lot of trophy hunting I designed a series for Temple Fork Outfitters called the BC Big Fly Rod, and the name and action speak for themselves. I like a rod that bends a little deeper in the midsection to help transfer the energy through the cast.

Changing your casting stroke is also important when you’re casting large flies all day. The traditional overhead dry-fly cast is too inefficient for Jerk Changers and similar flies. I use a more athletic style, which the great Lefty Kreh showed me. He coached me to open my stance like a baseball pitcher and extend my casting arm and foot backward.

To backcast like this, think of yourself standing at a bar with your arm resting on the bar. You have a beer in your hand, and you must pass it to a friend standing behind you at the bar. The best way to pass the drink without spilling it is to turn sideways and extend your arm back. You cannot sit squarely at the bar. Smooth acceleration and efficient body mechanics will help you deliver large flies.

With the Jerk Changer I have landed some of my most memorable fish of the past year, including my largest-ever striped bass (pictured on the cover of this magazine) and my personal best redfish. And many friends have caught giant pike, dorados, payaras, giant trevallies, and massive smallmouths with them. If you are hunting fish that eat other fish, the Jerk Changer is the fly. With the right retrieve, you can catch just about any predator that swims.