Jig Fishing Questions

[boostr]

This might of been mentioned, but I'll mention it anyway. Another technique is skipping the jig, to get into those low hanging tree places or under those docks. A little tough from shore but doable.

[No Thanks I'll Bass]

I use the Booyah Baby Boo jigs with a rage tail baby craw trailer and there hasn't been a single time I have been out and not caught anything. I stay stocked on them at all times. Hands down the best lure/jig I have ever used. I highly recommend them in green pumpkin. You won't be disappointed.

[the reel ess]

I'm a relatively recent convert to the church of jig bassin, but I am struggling a little with this point.  Maybe it is because the jig rod is in my hands 80% of the time, but I've gotten somewhat picky and use my best reel for throwing the jig.

 

-I want the smoothest free spooling action for pitching and punching and 'tossing'

-The handles/grips have to be very comfortable - prolonged use, not to mention the hardest hooksets and dragging from cover make the handle/grips more important than I ever thought possible

-My 'cheaper' reels seem to be great for spinnerbaits, worms, jerkbaits, even frogs, but I want my best, most comfortable and fastest reel on my jig rod. 

 

I agree that the rod is absolutely critical as well....and I won't debate which is more important to spend more money on, but don't go cheap on your jig rod reel.

Me too, but that's still not a $600 reel. It's a BPS Johnny Morris I bought off Ebay and then sent to BPS to fix. Got $70 in it. Even if I bought it new today it would only be $159. But you can really feel the quality in it. That thing's bearings have bearings. I think I'll buy another when I need a replacement. Now I just need to wait for one to break.

 

I never considered it before, but that's a great way to save some dough. Buy someone's worn out junk and get them to fix it for $20.

[tnt2671]

Dirty Jigs makes some excellent jigs!   Thru trial and error, Rage Tail Craws and Netbait make the best trailers IMO

my thoughts exactly!! only jigs ill buy and rage craw trailer are by far the most productive trailers i've ever used

[Blwaz23]

Whats your favorite black and blue jig that you always can count on when fishing?

[butchm27@yahoo.com]

Any suggestions on rigging a Bass Pro Shops 16'' Snake Worms

Thanks Butch

[Choporoz]

Whats your favorite black and blue jig that you always can count on when fishing?

Siebert Storm Series Brush head in 'Roadwarrior' color. 

 

[Blwaz23]

Siebert Storm Series Brush head in 'Roadwarrior' color

 

Thank you 

[WdyCrankbait]

Well, I FINALLY caught my first bass on a jig.  Someone please call Guinness book of World records!  Granted, he was small and might not keep in a tournament, but I did it.

 

On the down side he should not have been my first jig bass.  I lost a monster the weekend before at my buddy's fathers private pond.  That bass was big!  I had hit a branch in the water several times and knew that "tap," was coming.  Hit the jig with it, then the jig just got "heavier," to move.  I would pull the rod tip back, then reel in the slack line.  Needless to say when I finally realized it was a bass, I was at the end of my swing and had very little room left to set the hook.  Fournetaly, I fought him for about 5 seconds and got to see he was about 6 lbs before he gave me the middle fin and got off.  I wanted to break my Powell Endurance over my knee right there, ugh!  (Also, some small kids next to me learned some new words.)

[monkeyman3dee]

LOL yeah always disheartening when you stick a pig, happened to me too at a local res not known for bass fishin anymore, coulda easily been my PB. Mine was rookie mistake by letting line go slack when he was at the bank  

[purdue92]

i just started pouring and making my own weedless football jigs quick question,,,, i like to use a hula grub and skip docks with them only problem is my hula grub slips off the keeper and its pushed back around the bend of the hook any suggestions on how to improve my keeper so i can skip with them with the bait in tact and no slippage?

[stk]

i just started pouring and making my own weedless football jigs quick question,,,, i like to use a hula grub and skip docks with them only problem is my hula grub slips off the keeper and its pushed back around the bend of the hook any suggestions on how to improve my keeper so i can skip with them with the bait in tact and no slippage?

I remember seeing a product called a bait button. Might work for you?

[purdue92]

I remember seeing a product called a bait button. Might work for you?

just looked that up thanks but thats not going to work. i seen some jigs at the stores they have a wire you have to push down to that helps to keep the keeper on not sure how i rig that on a handpour football jig

[Carterjig68]

Honestly jigs are my favorite technique. You can swim them, flip, pitch, skip, punch, hop, and just about anything you can imagine. I love the versatility. Finesse jigs are great too. The hits you get are hard and the hook sets are crazy fun. They flat out put fish in the boat.

[laduckhunter]

I just started using a jig and craw recently.  I seem to have a pendulum effect once my bait hits the water.  I do not thumb the spool or rotate the handle at all.  Should I possibly loosen the spool tension or do I need to just micro-manage pulling line from spool until it hits bottom?

[Todd2]

I just started using a jig and craw recently. I seem to have a pendulum effect once my bait hits the water. I do not thumb the spool or rotate the handle at all. Should I possibly loosen the spool tension or do I need to just micro-manage pulling line from spool until it hits bottom?

You can loosen the tension, just remember before you stop pitching and start casting. What weight is your jig?

[laduckhunter]

You can loosen the tension, just remember before you stop pitching and start casting. What weight is your jig?

Right now all I have are 1/2 oz jigs.

[Todd2]

Right now all I have are 1/2 oz jigs.

Yeah, you should be fine loosening the tension unless you're talking about deep water and then it doesn't hurt to strip off some line slowly.

I mostly fish 3/8, but am loading up on some 1/2 oz for next year. I got away from the jig some this year and I think my big fish numbers show that.

[Senko lover]

I wanted to say a big thanks to everybody who has contributed to this thread. You guys inspired me to pick up a jig and fish with it until I caught something. I've been using them for almost a year now and am absolutely in love with their versatility and fish-catching ablility. They've produced some of my biggest fish this year, and you certainly won't find me putting them down.

 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge! You've won another convert to jig addiction 

[GoCougs14]

For black friday I picked up 2 of the siebert dredge jig packs in both 3/8th and 1/2.

Still have yet to catch a fish on a jig, but then again I havent given it much of a chance. Determined to put them to good use here in the springtime.

[GetBent]

I felt compelled to try jigs after this article and first cast started in them. I went to a spot that I always do well and tried other baits first to know the fish were there. I picked up my jig and began pulling them in. Nothing big just a couple of 3lbs fish maybe 4lbs. Lost a 5lbs fish (only fish I lost lol) broke the surface, rolled over, waved, shook it's head and left me yelling obscenities. Broke off a big fish in another spot. Set the hook felt a big shake and popped my 20lbs leader. I hate to admit it but think I should have checked my line. I ordered more jigs once i got off the water lol. Thanks for the tips. Pic is of my first jig fish.

[Fishersfritz]

I am new to Jig fishing.  I purchased some jigs in hopes to learn how to properly fish them.

I have a couple of questions,

When is the proper time to use a jig?
How do I work the lure?
Are trailers required? and What advantages do they add?

Any help or advice would be appreciated. 

 

Hey man! I love jigs, probably because they bite 'em all year here on Lake Norman, they're good just about anytime, you just need to know when and where, generally there will always be dock fish that want it, deeper fish may eat it if you find a school of 'em on a ledge but I generally fish primarily docks and rip rap with them

 

as far as the retrieve goes, I would invest some time into learning how to skip a jig under docks, the further back, the more fish, let it sink to the bottom and here's where you can get creative, generally you want a mixture of drags across the bottom and small hops, this doesn't mean rip it like a spoon, a little shake of the rod tip will do, try the drag, drag, hop technique and remember to fish slow, if you think you're fishing too slow, slow down!

 

As for trailers, you are basically fishing the trailer, that is your primary lure, the skirt is just the icing on the cake, I prefer small chunk trailers and I don't just poke the hook through the middle, I run the hook all the way throught the bait, the normal plastic tears up easily with he skipping, that's why I prefer, the Zman batwingz in 2.75'' because it doesn't rip up and it floats but you can also throw craws on there, and if you're swimming the jig here and there, I would HIGHLY recommend using a twin tail grub as your trailer.

 

Well, Good luck to you and I hope you catch a hog!

[jignjake]

I was in your same boat about 3 years ago, always heard about jigs and BIG bass biting them. A couple absolute MUSTS for fishing a jig.

 

* A fast baitcasting reel, when fishing a jig the bite usually occurs on the fall so you will need to be able to pick up line in a hurry AND picking up line is must when setting the hook through the brush gaurd.

 

* A stout rod at least 6'8", preferably a 7'2" Heavy action. Again, The ability to swing and pick up alot of line is KEY to hookin up with a jig. Also the Heavy action is necessary to set the hook through the brush gaurd.

 

* Braided line when you can get away with it. Only if the water you are fishing is CRYSTAL clear I would use braid solely for its' sensitivity, nothing compares to the feel you get with braid.

 

* As far as the bait itself, different head styles are very important if you don't wanna spend your day snagged in logs, brush or rocks. 

Pitching/ Flipping jig styles are best for all around cover but especially for logs and brush.

Football Jig styles are superb at not getting nestled between rocks and boulders

Swim jigs/ Punch jigs are better for grass and weeds. Milfoil, cabbage etc. 

 

* Trailers are determined by what you are trying to imitate, unless you are using a swim jig or "swimming" your other style jigs you should be imitating crawfish. Swim jigs you will want to use swimbaits or paddle style trailers.

 

* Colors for me are based on the water clarity and bottom color. Crawfish naturally blend into their environment as their camouflage is their main defense against predators. So generally natural colors, maybe some highlight colors to catch the fishes attention. Darker for muddier water, lighter and more subtle for clearer water. Don't underestimate a fishes eyesight, get to your body of water and tie on your jig, drop it in the water where you can see it against the bottom, you want it to be the same hue as the bottom generally.

 

* First off you must get good at subtle and near silent entries into th ewater with your jig, plenty of great videos on youtube showing flipping and pitchin techniques. I fish out of a kayak 90% of the time and therefore cant flip or pitch, I have found a good roll cast with your wrist can work almost as well. Fishing Technique for me is based on contact with the cover and bottom. I want to feel what kind of cover I am fishing, dragging, hopping and popping the jig off or over anything it comes in contact with is KEY! Crawfish DO swim but most of the time they are getting around by crawling and climbing over stuff. It will take practice discerning between the log you just pulled your jig into and the classic "knock" of a bass biting your jig. Again this is why braided line is soooo nice to help you feel the difference. When in doubt SWING BATTER BATTER! Hooksets are free my friend.

 

* As with all techniques practice makes, not perfect, but CONFIDENCE! Once you get the "feel" down for this bait it will be hard to put down because of its ability to pick apart high percentage areas for bass.

 

Check out Dirty Jigs, GREAT colors, hooks and head styles to choose from.

[Airman4754]

I'm sure d**n near everything has been covered but I'll add my little wrinkle. Crawdads molt every full moon, so I if the moon is 80% full waxing or waning I'll throw a jig & trailer with a bright orange or bright red accent to it because they look gnarly when they molt. 

During the spawn (late Feb to late March)  I'll always throw a jig with some purple in it so it mimics an egg stealing blue gill. 

Most the fish you catch on a jig will make the weigh in, so you owe it to yourself to work one in. 

[ww3869]

Not sure if this info has been covered in the thread, but I was reading through some old jig threads and found this post by WRB which I thought was awesome and would help the new jig fisherman.

"The mistakes most new jig anglers make that normally T-rig a soft plastic worm is use too heavy weight jig with a compact hook/ head design and create too much uncontrolled slack during the retrieve.

Without knowing what type of jig you are fishing with, my suggestion for a casting jig is a football head design that has more distance between the hook point and jig head than a flipping/pitching type (Arkie) style jig.

The next item is the jig hook; use jigs with premium sharp hooks with standard wire, not a heavy wire hook when using lighter line.

Always use a trailer when casting and retrieving a jig. The trailer should be a high floating or not a soft plastic with heavy salt added. Trailers with good swimming action at slow retrieve speed or falling down through the water on controlled slack line is important. I am not familiar with RageTails, they look great, GY twin tail grubs work good. When I teach new jig anglers to cast and retrieve a jig, my suggestion is a 3/8 oz plain GY wire guard football head with GY 4" twin tail Hula grub, color similar to what the T-rig worm is that works for you.

You can make up a similar jig using sponsored components.

Bass tend to hold onto a T-rigged worm longer than they will with a jig, so you needed to detect the strike and set the hook instantly. The bite is quicker so concentrate on the jig and don't loose contact with it always feeling some slight weight. The classic tick bite is easy to detect, all other bite not so easy. Fishing jigs we have a saying "swings are free" so set the hook when you feel anything odd with the jig, vibration, getting lighter, sudden stop, the line move.

Hook sets; when casting a jig over 30' away, I use the reel set with rod sweep, keeping the rod tip lower than a T-rig so I can sweep the rod back firmly. When the jig is closer or more vertical I use the snap set, whipping the rod into the controlled slack line. Never lower the rod and take up slack with a jig, you will miss 90% or more of the jig strikes.

Good fishing.

Tom"