keith71

1/32 jig head teamed up with 1 to 2 inch curled tail grub. Strike king bitsy pond minnow.Rebel teeny wee craw.Rebel cricket hopper is my favorite for topwater strikes, dont reel it in I barely twitch it on the surface and bluegills hammer it.Get the cricket hopper in yellow so you can see it from afar,its especially good if theres a mayfly hatch. I throw all of these baits on 4lb trilene xl.

Berkley power 3 inch craw.Was the best river small mouth lure out there for me.Loved the plum color.

Cant beat livers and panty hose.You can cast it a mile and perch and bluegills cant peck it off.I tie all mine off the night or day before. 1/2 to 2oz barrel sinker brass swivel and bead and 3/0 Kahle hook.

I use a the bitsy bug on rivers near my home on med-light spinning and 6lb line all the time.I have landed lots of fish and some nice ones.Yes you will lose some but you lose some jigs no matter what you use,its the nature of the lure. Make sure you use some small trailer and I wont fish a jig without attractant. A crayfish scoots backwards an inch or two or three at a time very slowly if its not alarmed,your jig should do the same. Your not under-gunned with your outfit,all rod and reels are just tools.A med-fast spinning rod with 8lb test is a great "tool" for small jigs(1/16 - 1/4) small worms (3-5" senkos,shakey heads,light texas rigs) good luck.

Dont second guess yourself.If your instincts say fish the jig then you better fish it.There is nothing like the tap on the end of your line and the weightless feeling as you know the fish has inhaled your bug.When you set the hook with strong hooks and strong line and you dont know if its going to be a dink or a donkey.Thats what its all about to me.

I remember when the color came out in the early 80's Field and stream did an article about it and its popularity.It was so popular Mann's baits had a tackle pack for sale with every type of lure in that color scheme.Its from the color of cooked pumpkin like canned or in a pie.Pumpkinseed sunfish have very little if any brown tones.

Cadman,I really dont fish them as much as I should.I tied a few this past winter but haven't gave it a fair shake yet.I was told by a member here (sorry I dont remember whom)to slowly crawl the jig rather than hop it off the bottom,more like a football jig retrieve I guess.Light line (6 to 10) and no weed guard seems to be preferred by some too. Im going to the lake this afternoon and I hear the smallmouths are staging on some points so I might give it a try.I'll let you know how I do.

I like adding that copper flash to certain jigs.On some lakes I fish it does not make a difference,but on one lake I fish I wont throw a jig without it.Thanks for the kind words.

David Dudley,best instincts out there.

Heres a few

Lightest you can get away with.In water less than 10 ft its usually 1/8 to 3/16. very bulky plastics 1/4 to 5/16.

Rods break,part of fishing.Most of the pros have a dozen or so laid out o the deck,cant tell you how many times they step or lay down on them when they get excited landing a bass. Sixty five# test braid does not yield to a log on a hook set and these guys and most of us swing for the fences on a jig bite.

You'll probably have a better chance to catch a bass on crappie jig than the other way.If your going for a mixed bag its hard to beat a Blakemore roadrunner.

Its a whole body of work that makes a pro,if you let them practice a day or two they will win.To be more realistic,put a pro and a Joe on a body of water that neither has fished to see the true talent.

The advantage with jig fishing is you can get bye with one or two refills of braid a season,saving you big bucks in the long run.I have used straight flouro and Im sure a lot on here do,but a three foot leader is a heck of alot easier on the wallet .If your going to use straight fluorocarbon for jigs I like it between 15 and 20# Seaguar for all my heavy stuff 12# on Eakins style jigs.

They should be fine,they all have a craw look to them. The watermelon gold is one of my favorites in my area. I think for me (its just my opinion) I would break that blue on up with some black either 50/50 or 75/25 black to blue. Good job.

I tie my own jigs and have for some time now,but I still use bitsy bugs from time to time. If you bought the regular Bitsy,I throw them on 6-10lb test med light spinning gear.The bitsy flip has a much better hook and you can throw it on whatever you want. I like the Bitsy craw trailer or the tiny Paca craw to tip these bad boys.

"Back in 82 I could throw a pigskin a quarter mile"

Thanks for the tip,it was tough.

Zoff, I fished that tournament Saturday and struck out.My partner and I fished Gills creek and Blackwater with everything form square bills to spinnerbaits and jigs.Thought it would get better as the day went on but it didnt,guess thats just fishing.Good job catching eight.

It looks custom,Ive never seen that jig or a mold for that style.

Hi Alex,welcome aboard! I used to live and fish in Rhode Island ,some good waters there.You'll find some great people and lessons here.

Now that's a teacher.

Doug was another pioneer in the sport,one of the first to show the underwater world of the large mouth bass.I bought one of his floating snake heads that you attached a plastic worm to back in the early to mid 80's so he was a pretty good pitchman too. See you on the big pond in the sky brother.

3/16th shakey head,Zoom green pumpkin trickworm.Close second 3/8 oz jig brown-green pumpkin blend.