smalljaw67

The rod with your line choice isn't ideal for a jerkbait. I use a short rod for jerkbaits but I use a mod-fast action. The Loomis mag bass taper is good but not with a 15lb fluorocarbon leader. Go with a 10lb fluorocarbon leader and make it long, 15 to 20 yards. The reason is a short leader with fluorocarbon or even mono and there will not be enough stretch to compensate for the rod stiffness. Even a 2 power swings hard in a 7' length so there are some things to correct. If you are set on using that rod fin but drop the line size. A lot of people don't know this but that bait was designed to be used on a spinning rod with 6lb. to 8lb. line. So 30lb braid with a 15lb leader is overkill but it can work provided you use more of a reel set and pressure rather than a full hook set. Those hooks are light enough that a fish will hook itself and then use the rod to keep pressure on the fish and you'll be ok. The best thing to do would be to lighten the line and use a long leader so you get some more forgiveness and let the tackle do its job by playing the fish out, not horsing the fish back to the boat or the bank.

Allen, I've only been able to get that spiral on a tube jig but I have it figured out. I make my own tapered tube jig with a 90 degree hook and put it in the tube. Make sure there is a gap between the top of the tube and the jig head. The larger the gap the wider the spiral but it doesn't work with a jig head on the outside of the tube or with a T-rigged or stupid tube.

Chris, just so you know for future reference. There is no industry standard with spinner blades and each manufacturer is different. Worth, which is the blades I use most, are smaller than Lakeland blades but mainly in the larger sizes. Hagens is larger than Worth but slightly smaller than Lakeland and Hildebrandt is larger than all of them. It isn't just length either, some are a little wider and it is why I stick to one brand. Barlow's sells mostly Worth but they have other blades like Lakeland's Royal blades. LPO sells mainly Lakeland blades but they also carry a Worth blade which is the whip tail blade. If you read some of the reviews on their willow blades you'll see the larger size than others mentioned. I think it is because LPO use to sell mainly Worth blades but then switched to Lakeland. As I mentioned before, Lakeland willows are larger so be careful buying blades from different sources.

I wouldn't recommend gluing anything to a jerkbait to get it to suspend better. The reason is that the way it suspends will change depending on water temperature. Jar11591 is spot on, suspend dots or suspend strips are what you want to use.

As a rule of thumb, I always start on the large side of baits. Nothing extreme in size but things like a Keitech 3.8 swing impact fat. If they aren't biting it or they are ripping the tails off then I'll drop down to a 3.3 or 2.8. River smallmouth will get what I call "Trout brain", that is when they will seem to be locked on a particular type and/or size bait. It happens a lot more than I like but the only way you really know is through trial and error.

Bomber 4A, 6A, and 7A are all workhorse baits for me. Mann's Baby 1 minus, Mann's Baby X, and the best wake bait ever made that is discontinued is the Mann's Waker. All of these are $7 or less but there are some that are $1 or $2 more that I really like. The Bagley line has some really good ones like the Balsa Shad, the Sunny B, and of course the Balsa B2 square bill. I also have a ton more the work like the Bomber Square A, Flat A and Deep Flat A. You can tell that I really like the Bomber line, something about those cranks that just catch fish.

One of my favorite square bills!!! I have a bunch of XCS 100 and 200 and they are fish catchers. Citrus Shad is a top producer for me. Before the did away with the Xcalibur brand they had a real craw series. They had a matte finish that was textured, I only have 2 left but they did a number on the river smallmouth!!! They run just about 3', you may get to 3.5" with 8lb fluorocarbon. I have both the original Xcalibur XCS 100, 200, and a few 300 models and the new Booyah XCS1 and 2. I don't see much of a difference between them so I'm guessing Booyah is using the original molds. If they are hitting shallow cranks in your water right now then that is a good one to throw.

Living rubber is just a term applied to round rubber. Old school rubber is a term used for flat or square rubber that was used in the 70s and 80s. Most of what is commonly used is medium or fine, large rubber is often called "regular". Round rubber was liked by a lot of anglers because it has a lot of movement. It fans out faster than silicone so when you're actively working a jig there is a lot more movement with the skirt. Flat rubber doesn't have the fast flare like round rubber but it moves a lot more water. In addition to displacing a lot of water it also creates a bulky profile. Square rubber now comes in tabs and is similar in shape to silicone. It is a little thicker so you get a larger profile while using the same amount of material. It has roughly the same action as silicone but is bulkier and displaces more water. Flat rubber, especially the fine grade, gained popularity when Edwin Evers won a Bass Masters Classic. He caught some good fish on an Andy's finesse jig with a skirt made with fine flat rubber.

I will target specific spots but I also hit the surrounding area. If I'm fishing an eddy or the back side of a boulder I don't limit my casts to just the prime spot. I'll make multiple casts to the prime spot and then I will fan cast open water all around that prime spot. When the fish are neutral they will hold in an eddy or current break. When they are active they will often be searching for prey around the spot they will hold in. On the Susquehanna River there is a place where there is a riffle leading into a deep pool. Adjacent to that are two small islands, one in front of the other. Those islands are roughly 40' apart and they create a nice slack water spot. I will fish the riffle, the pool and then the slack water first. After that instead of going to the next spot I'll fish the main flow that leads to those spots. I often intercept fish that are leaving or coming into those areas. So while I don't fish just everywhere, I do fish a lot of "nothing" type water around a prime location.

Bagley Balsa B 2 and the Rapala DT Fat 3. I also have a lot of others and some really expensive ones as well. The Balsa B and DT fat aren't expensive but work exceptionally well.

I like the fact I can use the size and brand hook I want. I often modify my molds to use larger hooks or use reducer pins in order to use smaller weed guards. Depending on how many jigs you go through it normally takes 3 years or so before you see any monetary savings. Once you do your fishing will improve because you won't think twice about throwing a jig into nasty cover as you won't lose as much.

Great job on learning the jig!!! My favorite saying is that the jig is the easiest lure to fish but the hardest to learn. The reason is that it isn't a numbers bait, it draws strikes from larger fish on average. I taught 2 of my friends to jig fish in the early '90s and it took about 5 or 6 trips before they started getting comfortable with it. Fish a jig isn't hard, it is learning what the bite feels like that is tough. Just as you mentioned, you didn't feel the larger fish bite, you just felt the weight when you moved the jig. Since a lot of bites are subtle it becomes very important to keep an eye on your line. The longer you fish with a jig you will begin to become a line watcher. You start focusing on it and before you know it line watching becomes second nature. Welcome to the wonderful world of jig fishing, good luck in the future!!!!!

This ^^^^^

I like both and once again it comes down to water clarity and a bit of personal preference. Watermelon seed is good in clearer water, if you get some stain the watermelon red flake will usually do better. As it was mentioned before, go with both if you can but if I had to choose one, I'd go with the red flake. The reason is that it is one of those colors that seems to work in every water clarity other than really dirty water. As for 6.5" being overkill for 1 and 2 pound fish? No, it is far from it, I can't tell you how many 10" and 12" fish I've caught over the years on a 7" Berkley power worm.

Don't settle for one weight if you can get more. I say this because there will be times when the weight will make a big difference. In January of 2012 me and some friends held a small tournament, 6 boats total. I caught 3 and lost 3, water temp was 37 degrees and I was the only one that not only caught fish but also got any bites. The reason was I had small 1/16oz shaky heads. The light weight forced me to move the bait at a snail's pace in order to stay on the bottom. All my fish came in 9' to 11' deep. I understand you are fishing from the bank but some worms will offer enough weight to help you cast. The more important part is how fast you are working the bait. Some days the fish will want it a bit faster, that is where a 3/16oz or 1/4oz will come into play. Other times you may need to move slower and then a 1/16oz or 3/32oz will be better. If you can only get one then go with 1/8oz. It is probably the most versatile weight in a shaky head. I think you fish the 1/8oz for awhile and get a feel for it and then dial it in more by adjusting the weight. Some worms will need a heavier weight and some a lighter weight. I should have mentioned this earlier, the type and size of the worm will make a difference to what weight you want to use. Good luck, shaky head fishing is really productive and I use it a lot more often than a drop shot.

Yes, Lefty Kreh is who he is talking about. Butch Ward's tackle is kind of primitive by todays standard but it is kind of incredible what he was doing. There wasn't internet and very little in the way of tackle making supplies. You had t0o go to an old tackle shop that maybe had a few molds and some jig hooks. The hooks back then wouldn't have stood up to todays super lines. Heck, even the mono we have today would have been tough on those hooks.

I think you go with black grape and I'll tell you why. That is a color that is good in both clear and stained water. Watermelon candy is more of a color for clear to lightly stained water and Junebug is more of a stained water color. If you are hung up on just those two colors go with Junebug. I do better with Junebug in stained water but I have had success with it in clearer water as well.

We have used a Ned rig for 25 years here. It wasn't called a Ned rig back then and we didn't use mushroom style jigs either. We used a 1/16oz jig head with a size 2 or 1 hook with 1/2 of a Senko or Case Plastics Magic Stik. When it was tough we would throw it in a riffle and let the current carry it into a pool. Most times it never hit bottom when it got to the pool. We called it fishing a "dog turd" or just "turd" and it worked and still does!!!!

Bomber Fat Free Shad. Bagley Bang-O-Lure Bagley Balsa B2 Before anyone asks, I have both the original and the new versions of the Bang-O-Lure and the Balsa B2. I don't throw the original B2 anymore as I have 1 left but the new versions work as well, even without the brass hardware.

Those serrated blades are really good. They seem to spin faster but it may just look that way. The rotation on them is really tight but not a lot of vibration. I use the #3.5 and #4 on a 3/8oz double willow spinnerbait. I also make a 1/4oz bait with a single #3.5 serrated blade that does well in really shallow water.

When you have a lot of rocks try to go as light as possible. For football heads you may have to go custom to get a 1/8oz or smaller.

NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The "chicken jig" is just what Outkast tackle calls theirs. All preacher style jigs have long hackle feathers because they don't use a trailer and adding anything to them ruins the profile. The idea with those types of jigs is they mimic a struggling or dying minnow and it is why bucktail is preferred over synthetics because bucktail has a minnow-like profile when wet. Jigs like that are best fished with clear water, at least 2' of visibility as they don't make noise or displace a lot of water. As for the size, I make my own mini style that is 1/4oz and I use it in 8' to 10' of water and it works well. You can simply cast and retrieve just like a swim jig or you can slow stroke it. What I do is make the cast and let the jig fall to the bottom. Then I hold the rod at the 10 o'clock position and give the reel around 9 or 10 fast cranks and stop and then let the jig fall back on a semi slack line. I lower the rod to follow the jig back to the bottom then slowly raise the rod back up and give the same 9 or 10 cranks and stop. Watch you line when doing this, a lot of time when you are following the jig back to the bottom you will get slack in the line as if it hit bottom, if you know you aren't on bottom then a fish has taken it. It is much easier than my explanation and the reason for not giving the jig a lot of input for action is it isn't supposed to move a lot. The tail feathers provide enough movement to suggest it is alive but lack of body movement is meant to mimic a baitfish ready to die so don't overwork the jig and you'll be good.

I fish river for smallies and I don't think those recommending Tungsten understand what you are dealing with. There isn't really any head style that you aren't going to wedged in rocks. That said, if you have an area that you can make you own, that will be the best option. Do-it makes a good ball head mold that have 6 cavities, 3 are 1/16oz and 3 are 1/8oz. It is a good mold as this mold is made to use both 2/0 and 3/0 hooks but I've used 1/0 and 4/0 in it as well. I use those heads for throwing 3.8 Keitech swimbaits in the summer months when the water is low. You will lose heads but it will be able to make them for a lot less than buying them. If you are unable to do that, go to Tackle Underground and post what you are looking for in the wire baits section. Someone there will be able to make that type of jig for you with a better price than you can buy them for.

Here is your problem. The wire diameter of the bait requires you to use a size #2 or #3 clevis. The small blades don't catch enough water to force the clevis to rotate around the wire. The only way I found to get a size #3 willow to spin is to either reel it very fast or build the bait on .028" wire and use a size #1 clevis. If you want to lead willow to spin freely at any speed you need a size #3.5 blade minimum or use really thin wire and a smaller clevis.