I smallmouth fish.  I use skirtless jigheads with plastic more often than skirted bass jigs with trailers.  Having said that... I assume many of you consider yourself successful fishing skirted bass grubs for both largemouth and smallmouth and l'd like to read your "theory" about why a skirted jig is more successful for you than a skirtless jighead?

 

 

oe

IMO one isn't more successful than the other. With that said I tend to catch lmb with skirted (jig and craw) and smb with skirtless (ikas, hula grubs etc.).

Not sure why.

Felix77... do you think it is a species preference between the lmb & smb or a technique preference you have when fishing for the different species?

 

 

oe

I think gives it a larger profile, and when it flares out it adds to the effect of a crawfish in its defensive stance with its pinchers up. Just my 2 cents

All have a time and place but there are a few things I learned when it comes to skirted jigs. The first is size, skirted jigs present a larger profile and at times it will produce more fish but more often it produces bigger fish. I had a friend fish just trailers, a Berkley Power Craw to be exact, he T-rigged his and I cut some of mine off and threaded the rest on my jig, the end results were he caught more fish, 17 to my 11, hi average size of fish was 13.5" with his largest going 16" and the average size of my fish was 15.75 with my largest being 20.25. We have done this a few times and it normally comes out like that, the 2nd deal is the movement, when I use skirted jigs for smallmouth, I get more bites dead sticking a skirted jig than just a jig head with a plastic bait on it, I attribute this to the skirt material moving with very little current, but it could also be a product of larger profile. Skirts can do a number of things for you, it just depends on where and when, in my smallmouth river it slows the fall of my jig and gives off more movement but it could also be a deterrent, but I like using skirted jigs over a skirtless jig head most of the time.

I catch plenty of smallies on skirted jigs. Generally they like a BIT smaller profile, such as a booyah baby bug jig, strike king bitsy bugs, pepper jigs micros, and other finesse jigs. Have caught plenty of smallies on full size largemouth jigs though, smallies as small as 10".

For smallies, I rarely use a skirted jig.  Not that I fish for them a lot as the lakes I frequent are void of them, but when I do it's a hair jig and minnow imitation plastic trailer, or a bare jig with some sort of minnow imitating plastic.  I prefer a tube for imitating a crawfish, dragged ever so slowly along the bottom.

My PB smb came on a skirtless football jig with a paca sr on it. However I catch more SMB with skirted.

I catch more SMB with skirted.

 

 

Is your presentation to smallmouth equally split between skirted jigs and unskirted jigs?

 

 

oe

I catch lots of smallmouth on both types of jigs. I typically use the skirtless versions when they want a smaller bait and skirted when they want something bulkier. 

I catch lots of smallmouth on both types of jigs. I typically use the skirtless versions when they want a smaller bait and skirted when they want something bulkier. 

 

Are your skirted jigs the same jigs you catch largemouth on or down sized versions of the same?

 

 

oe

Given some of the responses indicate a bulkier profile is part of why a skirted jig is successful with smallmouth some of the time, do you think (or have you tried) throwing a larger un-skirted jighead/trailer at these times?

 

 

oe

Are your skirted jigs the same jigs you catch largemouth on or down sized versions of the same?

 

 

oe

Typically I fish the skirted jigs in lakes that contain both but I'm mainly targeting largemouth with them when the smallmouth bite. When I'm specifically targeting smallmouth with a jig it's almost always a finesse or football head jig and usually slightly smaller skirt size. All these were caught on jigs while I was targeting largemouth.

I use spider cut football jigs all the time. Hardly ever use skirtless. I target smallmouth at least 75% of the time and there is always a jig on a rod.