This is just a bit of self-reflection.  I've got to get into the cover when I fish.  All my life I've thrown at cover, and along cover, but never really into the cover.  I'll do weedlines and around lilypads and along the edges of rocks and trees, but I've never had the confidence to throw right in there.  Too afraid of getting hung, or dragging back an 8lb ball of pond salad.  I'm not super skilled with lures that you can throw right into the midst of cover.  I thought I wanted to develop more of an offshore game, but I'm thinking I'd be better served at developing  a better shallow water game, since that's what I've fished most of my life anyway.

Shallow water is my bag. I caught this 7.2 lb. bass August 8th by skipping a jig way back under this canopy of overhanging trees. I had to go get the bass out by hand. I've done this with positive results for several years. Fish think they're safe back there. Get a bait to them and they'll probably bite.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I really just have to tie on a jig and leave it there until I get some more proficiency at it.  I've had pretty good luck with crankbaits this summer and I was never much of a crankbait fisherman.

14 minutes ago, billmac said:

Yeah, I really just have to tie on a jig and leave it there until I get some more proficiency at it.  I've had pretty good luck with crankbaits this summer and I was never much of a crankbait fisherman.

I decided a couple years ago to tie on a jig and never take it off and I haven't. It really is a big fish bait that works year round. After having some success with it I bought a dedicated combo for it. I use 50# braid with a 20# mono leader (so I can break off if necessary). I've been experimenting with jigs between 1/4 and 1/2 oz and different trailers. What I find is they all work well as long as you put them in a fish's face. Fish won't swim far to get them. But if they drop in his face, instinct tells him to kill it. This is low tech, cheap fishing for me because I use a kayak with no electronics. 

 

But I know the offshore game nets big fish as well. I used to do that some when I had a boat and they were above average fish. I'm just better at the low tech stuff. I'm not the kind of person who can be good at a lot so I specialize. That's why I decided to target bass almost exclusively in the first place.

One of the things I've picked up from watching the Pro's fish is to not care if you lose your bait.  They will throw them anywhere or at anything and they don't worry about losing the bait.  Once I adopted that philosophy my catch rate went way up.  I also don't think the rate I lose baits has gone up either, granted I do carry a lure retriever and an aluminum pole to help retrieve some errant casts.

5 minutes ago, camman said:

One of the things I've picked up from watching the Pro's fish is to not care if you lose your bait.  They will throw them anywhere or at anything and they don't worry about losing the bait.  Once I adopted that philosophy my catch rate went way up.  I also don't think the rate I lose baits has gone up either, granted I do carry a lure retriever and an aluminum pole to help retrieve some errant casts.

This is a big turning point for lots of jig fisherman I think...was for me for sure. You ain't there to protect that bait it's not your buddy and you don't owe it anything! I started really putting a jig in places I never would have dreamed a few years ago. These are my results: marginally more snags and lost lures...a lot more fish. My girlfriend gives me crap and says you sure do lose lots of lures...then she asks do your buddies lose as many as you? I say well probably not but ask them if they catch as many fish or the size of fish I do. Gotta pay to play in this lure to bass face game my friend.

You can minimize the monetary losses. One of the best baits I've used for this is a plain weedless Arky jighead with a Rage Craw. That's a cheap combo you can afford to lose more of. I use the skirted jig to increase size. I'm not sure that it does though. Jigs don't have to be expensive. I just bought 4 "blemished" wire tied Seibert jigs for $2 each. I caught some hogs on the plain craw as well. You can also just use a T rig and bypass the entire jig. Just use a superline or a flipping hook.

4 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

This is a big turning point for lots of jig fisherman I think...was for me for sure. You ain't there to protect that bait it's not your buddy and you don't owe it anything! I started really putting a jig in places I never would have dreamed a few years ago. These are my results: marginally more snags and lost lures...a lot more fish. My girlfriend gives me crap and says you sure do lose lots of lures...then she asks do your buddies lose as many as you? I say well probably not but ask them if they catch as many fish or the size of fish I do. Gotta pay to play in this lure to bass face game my friend.

you make a good point on jigs.  I pour my own.  I don't put the weedguards in any of my jigs I make.  I feel that they impeded the hook set.  I do lose a few more jigs in the process around wood, but I feel I hook more fish.

3 minutes ago, camman said:

you make a good point on jigs.  I pour my own.  I don't put the weedguards in any of my jigs I make.  I feel that they impeded the hook set.  I do lose a few more jigs in the process around wood, but I feel I hook more fish.

I've tried jigs without weedguards before and personally never noticed a huge benefit in hooking more fish.  But I will also say I'm not convinced you have to have one at all times either. A lot of times the shape of head and how you work the jig through wood using slow steady pressure to walk it through will keep you out of trouble.  But let's face it I don't care how good you are...I don't care how good your jigs are...if your throwing where you should be your gonna lose some. Period.

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

Shallow water is my bag. I caught this 7.2 lb. bass August 8th by skipping a jig way back under this canopy of overhanging trees.

I’ve been skipping a lot lately, but with a Senko WR. I’m surprised how deep under overhanging trees (like the cover you fished) you can reach skipping a Senko. 

 

And I think you are spot on. Bigger bass feel safe there and will attack anything that gets dropped right in front of them. So far my biggest is 4 lbs, but it is a fun way to fish! 

you sound like a future avid frog man, to me.  Get over that anxiety of losing them and you'll throw a frog into anything.

I dont use jigs as much as I do Texas rigs . That might be a mistake because I'm fishing in a lot of brush piles and keep getting crappie hitting the 8 inch worms ,  I set the hook and get hung , ruining the spot . Thats it , next time I'm tying on a jig . 

 

I like toads in scum but miss a lot of fish .Thats just the nature of the game . Cant catch them if I dont throw in  there .

 

  Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits go through wood real well  . Spinnerbaits have been hot for the past month and I get them deep into wood , often pitching .

41 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I dont use jigs as much as I do Texas rigs . That might be a mistake because I'm fishing in a lot of brush piles and keep getting crappie hitting the 8 inch worms ,  I set the hook and get hung , ruining the spot . Thats it , next time I'm tying on a jig . 

 

I like toads in scum but miss a lot of fish .Thats just the nature of the game . Cant catch them if I dont throw in  there .

 

  Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits go through wood real well  . Spinnerbaits have been hot for the past month and I get them deep into wood , often pitching .

You'll still do that with jigs. LOL. There's nothing like easing up to a perfect laydown and getting hung on the first cast, ruining the spot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. But you'll get used to working the jig through it and get better at it. I don't know who it was, but I heard a pro say working the jig too fast causes you to get hung up. You're trying to ease it over limbs so as not to bend the weedguard and expose the point. But I've also noticed lightly hopping it through gets me hung up less than just dragging it the way I would a conventional T rig. Also, the lighter the jig, the less likely it is to hang up. That seems to be my experience.

 

Also, I asked a guide once whether I should be pitching and flipping T rigs or jigs. He simply said "T-rigs in vegetation, jigs in wood".

 

A lot of times I'll run a spinnerbait through the easy part of a laydown before I get closer and pitch to it. That way i might pick off a fish before getting hung up. ?

There are times of the year where I will lose as many lures as I catch fish in one day, but I just haven't found anything more fun that fighting a bass out of a brush pile.  If you are worried about the cost here is what you should try:

1. Pegged t-rig with a worm.  Buy VMC hooks (EWG or worm) and Yum Dingers.  You are out pocket change when you break off.  Heck, my best producer in the spring is a weightless UV Speed Worm on a 3/0 worm hook that I jiggle into the thickest brush piles I can find.  When I break off I don't even lose a sinker.  

2.  Walmart sells Strike King jig packs that come with a jig with a decent hook and two or three trailers.  At my local Walmart they are $2.46.  I buy them by the dozen.  This is the only jig I throw in the huge piles of mess.  I won't risk my Sieberts.

3.  Sometimes you might need to try a treble lure.  I buy Cotton Cordell lipless cranks from Walmart for $1.96.  I have a whole bin of them.  I will skip them under ANYTHING that looks fishy and not give a single crap if I can't get it back out.

4.  Hollow-body frogs can be hung up, but it's a rare thing.  Give them a try, especially in the surface vegetation.  

 

My biggest fish last year was in LESS than one foot of water.  My biggest fish so far this year was in just about one foot of water.  Throw into the worst mess you kind find and wait for the "tap"...

 

The is off topic. I understand that losing lures is part of fishing. But I personally hate leaving lures in bushes and rocks because I know that in some of the places that I fish, kids do go swimming. I would feel bad if someone got hooked on the hooks that I left behind. Has anyone heard of cases where someone was hooked accidentally while swimming?

2 hours ago, the reel ess said:

You'll still do that with jigs.

I've done lots of jig fishing in the past . I know where a bunch of   fresh  brush piles are that texas rigs go through easier . The kind of brush with small spindly  limbs . But if I'm setting hooks on crappie , I might be better off using a jig . I'll see next time . 

33 minutes ago, georgeyew said:

The is off topic. I understand that losing lures is part of fishing. But I personally hate leaving lures in bushes and rocks because I know that in some of the places that I fish, kids do go swimming. I would feel bad if someone got hooked on the hooks that I left behind. Has anyone heard of cases where someone was hooked accidentally while swimming?

Most of the time when I find lures in the water or bushes the hooks are rusted away. Then again there’s close to 100% humidity all the time so maybe that’s why, I don’t know. I’ve lost dozens of crappie jigs and catfish rigs off my dock in the last two years  but I still swim there along with all my friends kids. I worry more about gobs of line than the actual hooks 

2 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I've done lots of jig fishing in the past . I know where a bunch of   fresh  brush piles are that texas rigs go through easier . The kind of brush with small spindly  limbs . But if I'm setting hooks on crappie , I might be better off using a jig . I'll see next time . 

I get bites on the jig from bluegill and whatever other bream there are in my lake. They'll take a claw off the trailer if I yank it. I feel like I HAVE to change the trailer if it only has one claw. If I suspect the bream bite (feels like a sharp tick-tick, I'll just apply light pressure to the jig. If it moves off or pulls back, I set the hook. If it's a bream, they'll drop it. Unless it's a warmouth. I've caught them on a frog.

4 hours ago, the reel ess said:

You'll still do that with jigs. LOL. There's nothing like easing up to a perfect laydown and getting hung on the first cast, ruining the spot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. But you'll get used to working the jig through it and get better at it. I don't know who it was, but I heard a pro say working the jig too fast causes you to get hung up. You're trying to ease it over limbs so as not to bend the weedguard and expose the point. But I've also noticed lightly hopping it through gets me hung up less than just dragging it the way I would a conventional T rig. Also, the lighter the jig, the less likely it is to hang up. That seems to be my experience.

 

Also, I asked a guide once whether I should be pitching and flipping T rigs or jigs. He simply said "T-rigs in vegetation, jigs in wood".

 

A lot of times I'll run a spinnerbait through the easy part of a laydown before I get closer and pitch to it. That way i might pick off a fish before getting hung up. ?

I agree with A lot of the above. Learning how to make a jig come thru cover is one of the most important details to jig fishing. When I first started I lost more jigs than I do now and now I'm throwing them into some gnarly crap. I've learned to use gentle slow pressure to feel what the jig is really doing to try and walk it thru the cover. My mistake when starting out is probably the same as most new jig fisherman...when I felt it hang up I tried to muscle it out,sank the hook in every time...game over. There is a learning curve but look at it like this...let's say you flip a lay down get hung pull back hard and boom snagged for good jig is gone. Next time you flip a lay down and feel the same thing try using gentle pressure while using the rod at a different angle to try and snake the jig through the limbs. If you lose it what the heck...it was already lost so your not out anything more than if you tried to yank it out. Also I to usually start with a moving bait like a spinner bait or swim jig and use my flipping bait be it jig or Trig as my cleanup bait.

 

2 hours ago, the reel ess said:

I get bites on the jig from bluegill and whatever other bream there are in my lake. They'll take a claw off the trailer if I yank it. I feel like I HAVE to change the trailer if it only has one claw. If I suspect the bream bite (feels like a sharp tick-tick, I'll just apply light pressure to the jig. If it moves off or pulls back, I set the hook. If it's a bream, they'll drop it. Unless it's a warmouth. I've caught them on a frog.

This is also very important. My local lake has bluegill and tons of green sunfish...they bite jig trailers a lot but they feel much different than a bass. I do the same thing of applying pressure to distinguish hat it is that has my bait...if I can tell it's a fish and it pulls back I crack em cuz that's usually a bass. Panfish usually drop a bait quickly when pulled back on..plus they just don't feel right once you learn the difference. Story time though:last summer I was throwing a 5inch senko around. Got a nice thump line started swimming off so I cracked her. Immediately it felt good but not bassy. Ended up being an almost 10inch gill...choked the whole senko down. That time I couldn't tell the difference..and was glad I couldnt!

Once I determine I have a bite I'm setting the hook . I cant tell a six lber from a 1 lber from a panfish . I know a lot of times a bluegill will go peck , peck , peck but I have felt large bass do the same thing .