grimlin

The Jig Fished By Joe S. Representation, First let's start with what a jig represents underwater, I believe the most Popular use of it is to imitate a Crayfish but they also can imitate baitfish as well. Jigs come in many different shapes, sizes and colors etc. The most popular crayfish imitators seem to be the good old skirted jig usually tipped with some sort of plastic or pork trailer. Speaking of sizes, shapes, colors, I'm only going to really get into the skirted jig with a plastic or pork trailer as this is the bait I primarily use, and use it as a crayfish imitator only. Sizes, There is a very large size range available, I mainly use 3 sizes of Jigs in my arsenal or depending on manufacturer the closest weight to these sizes 3/8 oz , ½ oz and ¾ oz. I will mainly use a 3/8oz when fishing really shallow. The presentation has more time to be subtle because of the lighter weight than just crashing on the bottom in the shallow water. 1/2 oz. Jig This is my go to, if there was only one jig weight allowed in my box, this would be it. I guess you could say the happy medium. I fish this 99 percent of the time from a regular bank down to 15 ft and anything in between. The only time I go to a 3/4 oz. Is if I need to get through some thick weeds, the wind is really blowing or I am fishing deep but want to fish it faster than normal. Colors, I don't get crazy on colors when it comes to jigs. I have 3 colors that I have a ton of confidence in and those are Browns, Greens, and Black. It seems the jig has excepted rules on what colors for what conditions were faced with, green or brown, natural colors for clearer water and black or darker colors for murkier water or night time. I do follow that to a point but not because of the rule but because I have confidence in throwing those baits in those conditions. Ive caught fish in clear water with a black jig and fish in murky water and at night with a green jig so what's that tell us. Color is confidence in my book. Trailers/Chunks These come in many shapes and sizes, Most of them are made to represent the pincher end of the crayfish which are either threaded or simply hooked on to the jig. I go rather simple in this area as far as selection. I mainly use 3 colors in 2 sizes, Green, Brown and Black in 2 or 3 sizes I always match the color of the trailer with the jig, (just a confidence thing) I will normally start off fishing with a 2 trailer in tournaments, I feel the smaller size may get me more bites in order to get my limit then I may upgrade trailer size to go after larger fish, but there is no rule here either, as I have caught fish over 6lbs. on 2 trailers and fish less than 12 on 3 trailers. As far as the many styles and brands of trailers, my selection is simple I use my own, I feel they give me the best chances of catching fish and here is why. When a bass hits a jig they will normally engulf the whole lure, Jig and trailer. It only takes a split second for that fish to reject the bait if it notices anything artificial about it. When I make my trailers I add a lot of crayfish oil to the plastic prior to cooking then once poured they go through a 2 stage salting process. Once you get a fish to bite them they are hard pressed to let it go because there is so much taste for them. Because there is so much craw oil in the plastic it makes the baits very soft which helps release the oils and salt when the bait is bitten. (Shameless Plug I know, but I didn't want to cut out a whole section so forgive the plug please) The Bite! I have been fishing a jig predominantly for the last few years and have probably experienced every type of bite possible, but then again maybe not, sometimes you don't feel anything at all, then sometimes they almost rip the rod out of your hand, and then you have everything in between, you must always be ready to set the hook. It is a must to be a line watcher when fishing a jig because you may not always be in direct contact with the lure, and the little twitch in the line that you didn't see could have been a 10 fish or the fish of a lifetime. One thing I really like to do is know the depth of the water I'm casting to, I feel this is very important, a ½ oz jig on 15lb mono sinks at about 1ft per second. So I know if I'm casting it into 12ft of water and the line stops sinking when I count to 6, something sucked it in, reel in any slack and set the hook. This is where I believe salts and scents are very handy, normally when I'm fishing a jig I'm fishing some type of structure, rocks, wood, grass, etc. with the equipment on the market you can pretty much feel everything the lure bumps into, when first getting into jig fishing I might have questioned myself was that a fish or a rock, don't know for sure. But now using my own baits and good equipment as well as a lot of time fishing the jig, I have the confidence in them to know that when I feel that little bump, I can pause and wait a second or two to see if there is any activity or lack there of on the end of the line before ramming the hook into a nice bass, or a stump. Equipment: For fishing these type and size of jigs, I use a 7' Heavy action bait casting rod, I feel this is very important and will not use a Jig on anything lighter, for a few reasons, 1.) These jigs normally have stout hooks that require a decent amount of force to get good penetration. I don't want to take the chance of losing a big fish because my rod didn't have enough power to drive the hook home, 2.) You have the weed guard to deal with as well when setting the hook. 3.) A lot of times the bass will really clamp down on a jig to crush it making it harder to move the jig on the set to get a good hook set, I noticed this especially with small mouth bass. As for the brand of rod that is personal preference but I think you should get the best you can afford in this area for the added sensitivity. For a reel, I prefer High speed reels 6.1:1 or 6.3:1 and a decent amount of line retrieval per handle turn. I like this because I can pick up any slack really fast as well as keep up with the fish if it is charging towards me. This is another brand preference issue, I prefer smaller profile reels so I can palm the reel and rest the line going into the reel on my pointer finger for extra sensitivity. Line I mainly use 15 lb test mono line for most jig fishing, I don't really go any lighter than that, I will go heavier for certain situations depending on a few factors, structure or cover that I'm fishing, or even the size of the fish I have a chance at catching will dictate the size. In really clear water I will use fluorocarbon line for reduced visibility. And if I need to go above 20 lb mono for any reason I will switch to a braid for line diameter purposes. You can use any of the three all the time, these are just my preferences and how I utilize each for certain situations. This is not intended to be a know all of Jig fishing document, these are the ways and equipment I personally like to use and have confidence in for the situations I face,(Notice the title) there are so many variables in fishing that could call for a different tactic from the lure type and size, to the tackle and line, it would be impossible to list them all.

I stop for every single one.I can't afford a ticket....lol Cops hide out here,i saw one pop out behind a billboard once.Cops here don't care,you forget to turn your signal light on and they'll catch you for it.

The limit or slower when i see kids.That's 15 MPH in our park.

yeah,the way LBH explained it helped.I just wanted to say something early so nothing later on would brew from this.The way they run this site and board they definely do deserve the benefit of doubt.I didn't mean to start anything. LoL I was just hoping to clear anything if anything.

Usually $20 restricted,$28 all specie...will be jumping around $5-$10 this year.I like to get all specie just in case i go after salmon or trout.With that price increase i might be bringing dinner home once in awhile now.

Well then you guys are on the right path....1st choice however is an excellent one.

Newbies feeling left out....been to enough boards where people just stop going to boards because of these things. It seems like picking favor"ism" among a group of popular posters... :-/ I hope I'm wrong about this one though.

bad idea.....

Hilarious....we got an old computer and printer at work and everybody at one point or another thought about breaking that thing.We still do... ;D

I wouldn't blow off the Dallas Cowboys too quick. I still believe it's gonna be between Cowboys and Packers fighting for the Superbowl spot.

To me family comes first....so i always ask if there is any plans on weekends when i plan to fish during the spring/summer months.I can't wait to get my little guy out there with me,she told me she doesn't care how long i'm gone then. ;D...knowing her she loves to sleep,so while she sleeps me and my boy will be fishing. I always tell her where i'm usually gonna be at just if something happens and she needs to find me.I really need to invest in a cell phone soon.

Muddy i saw the all star Instinct for half price 3 days ago,went to see them again and now they are back up to $60....I'm kicking myself in the head for not getting 2 of those. >

Just watched hank parker's show...he was pushing this rod(drop shot rod) very highly.But for over $200 No Thanks!Can't afford that.

I've never really had a fishing partner who could really fish.I'm always on the teaching end to new fishermen & women. I don't mind either,always exciting watching them catch their first fish. Blue gill fishing can be extremely fun and don't require too much patience if we aren't staying long and aren't hard for me to find. Wouldn't mind having somebody to fish with as serious as i am.I'm by myself when it comes down to serious fishing.I do a lot of walking(no boat),so i don't want to hear whining and crying about hills and sore legs. ;D

2- 5 pounder LM this year or get 6 pounder.(get a picture of this as well otherwise i'll just be considered a fibber) For smallmouth i'm aiming for 3 pounds or better. and try to get a combo of 5 bass limit on many more outing...i only did 3 limits last year.I want to increase that number. I'm starting out slow.I've just gotten back into the fishing game as a serious angler 3 years ago. I'm still learning

Wow,that sucks.I stayed out of this thread once it turned ugly.I'm glad matt fly put the "pwned" in this thread. I truly hope they clean it up and restock it.

OSU-27 LSU-14

Don't have academy here.

I wouldn't know what i'd do without mine. Sure makes spooling much easier for me.

Let me set the scene.. Your driving on the right lane doing 57-59 on 55 speed limit,about 100 feets away there's a turn.Guy behinds you decided to pass you,get in front of you and turn slowing you down.It's like they don't even know what they did wrong.WHY THE HECK COULDN'T THEY STAY BEHIND ME!?!? This happens to me atleast 2 times a month...It was worst when i was in Texas.I don't understand this....

My first baitcaster was a abu rhino..from walmart.I got so fusterated i literally threw that thing in the garbage after 3 backlashes in a row.I didn't know what the heck i was doing.I probably threw away a perfectly good working cheap baitcaster just because i didn't know how to use it.

Tune up or alternator.Could even be the battery is going weak.Or worst timing like mine. Both my car and my girl's car does it.Mine however has something to do with timing.Will cost me $600 to fix it.My answer was screw that let it blow up.My girl's car however the alternator is going,will be fixing that soon as it's not to bad.Tune up did help her car alot...not mine however. The oil is fine,i forgot which one but one you mention runs better in winter time and the other runs better during the summer.Some people don't even change and just stick to 10w-30.We however do as it seems to help the car battle the cold here.

Well,he ain't fishing much anymore.So i highly doubt you'll ever hear from him again.He found a new passion in detailing his new car. :-/ Regardless he has some good knowledge of fishing techniques...every single piece of advice he gave me works. Honestly i like the guy,I don't know rather he's ***ting about everything he's done.For me it doesn't matter,he's been nothing but nice and respectful to me.

The fish here like it completely opposite.I slit the tail on a weighted t-rig 3/8 oz bullet weight with a 3/0 hook. I perferr *** though.

Not sure what's everybody's beef is with Craig Baugher.I find him to be an extremely nice guy and has shown me a trick or two for these MI waters and lakes. Clothes....i have crap from 10-15 years ago....why i have no clue! I don't even wear them.