Jig Meister

I usually fish solo, but anyone who is serious about fishing, loves to talk fishing techniques and tips, as well as mellow and easy going. I am a competitive person normally, but fishing is something that I do not get that way over. It comes down to skill in catching the fish, or luck of being at the right place at the right time. If someone's ego comes into my fishing world it will be the last time I will ever fish with them lol. It is not about the numbers when you fish with people, it is about the good times fishing can bring. I have one person I will fish with, and he is a good guy, mellow, and happens to be my wife's best friends husband, so it works out good lol.

Tackle warehouse, and I also believe Gander Mnt. has it for sale if there is one near you, I am sure Bass Pro Shops also has it.

if you are having issues that are caused due to paddling, make sure you are making a sweeping motion rather than jerky sharp stabs in the water with the paddles. you want to move smooth through the water, there will be some torso movement, not just hitting the paddle into the water this is going to cause you to move all awkwardly. my first ever kayak experiences was in a open bay in the ocean, and then through a mangrove forest in pureto rico, I survived almost getting pulled out to sea by a current, and also missing the bow of a huge ship, and I mean huge, like tanked huge. All this at night mind you, I learned really fast how to paddle, turn and maneuver lol.

Just curious what you guys all use for your trailers, I use the typical Chunks and Grubs (single and double), but I also use a lot of various soft plastics, usually for my swim jigs I will use larger trimmed worms for a nice long twister tail, or parts of other baits that have nice action, usually doesnt seem to have a dramatically different effect, but is fun anyway. Just wondering what you guys will use besides the usual craw/chunk or grub - the most common choices I find.

Here is a good example of the usual senario for myself. I was fishing in a spot that I know has to have fish, there is a tree line, with over hangs and a few holes. After a few higher casts into the trees, with the jig coming out short of where I wanted it I changed casting style and go it right under the overhang in the hole, a perfect cast, it dropped, maybe 1-2 foot of water maybe some more, I paused, and set immediately, and had a good sized bass. When you toss a jig into the basses home, they will hit it right away on reaction, when tossing like that into cover I pause a second and just go for a snap set, most often you will have a fish.

Dirty Jigs Gil Swim Jig

I catch the most numbers between 7 and 10 am, and the biggest bass I catch come from 7 - 12 pm. I catch a lot between 10am and 7pm, just seems to slow down, probably because the bass in the places I fish go deep, and since I am land locked 99.9% of the time, that is where my issue is.

I use a tackle bag, mine has 3 zipper pockets, I keep worms in one, single tail grubs in another, double tail grubs in the other. I keep them in the plastic bags, each pocket can hold around 10-15 bags, and each is filled with what I use most. I stopped using tackle boxes for plastics because to me, they are better used for hard tackle that I own.

Any size/style/color jig w/ zoom grub trailer (single or double tail) close second> any buzz-bait or spinner bait

Here is what works for me, I am by far no pro, but I only seems to toss either jigs, spinners, or soft plastics. If you are going to toss that baby into heavy cover, under a overhang etc, dead stick it for a bit, usually if there is a bass in the cover you will get a hit immediately, no mistaking it. I always pitch it in, maintain a somewhat time line and give a slight pull, if there is anything out of the norm I will snap set the hook. Don't need a hard set, with good tuned jigs (weed guard, sharp hook) the hook wont need much to set. If there is no hit I will slowly retrieve, dragging sometimes hopping. Either way always slow. If I am swimming a jig I just use a steady retrieve, speed depends on what the fish like, I always start off 'normal' and will go slower or faster accordingly, but warm days and water will call for faster return. Don't be shy to set the hook whenever you might think you have a fish, this is how I usually catch them, I set the hook when I feel like I know there should be a strike, and often that is when I connect, sounds odd, but once you fish jigs a lot you sort of know what to expect. Also, if you have issues with bass jumping off the hook, make sure you are not setting too hard as this will rip the hook insert.