So for the first time in almost a decade I put the golf clubs away this year and focused on fishing again.  My son loves boats and fishing, and while he was my golfing buddy too, he gets a lot more out of fishing.  Boat is in the garage and we had snow yesterday, so season might be over....

 

I started out the year stuck in my ways.... swim jigs and crankbaits and picked off a few early in the year but nothing consistent.  Started mixing it up a little bit and threw some finesse swimbaits and toads as summer started to crawl in.  Lots of action, but nothing big on the swimbaits and had trouble hooking up consistently with the toad.  By the time I got the hang of it and started throwing hollow frogs, the bite was over.

 

In early September, I ordered some 1/4 oz brush jigs from Siebert Outdoors and paired them with a SK rage chunk.  I was excited about this because there are plentiful options for lighter swim jigs, but not really for anything I can flip with.  I started using these as a multi-purpose bait flipping them and swimming them, a lot of time on the same cast and my season completely turned around.  I caught more fish and bigger fish on this bait alone than I did all season long.  Black and blue was the money color but California Craw worked great too.  This was on the heels of Tom Monsoor winning the Mississippi event, I tracked down a youtube clip of him talking about swim jigs where he said two things that helped me out a lot: 1) Never uses anything heavier than 1/4 oz and 2) If he had one color for the mississippi, it would be black and blue.  Up until then, a color I had but one I was reluctant to throw.   Thanks Tom!

 

I say all this for a couple of reasons- looking forward to next season (already), I know I'll have a rod with a topwater/frog on it most of the time.  However, outside of that- I'm struggling to convince myself that I need anything else at the ready besides a jig.  It's a confidence thing for me, and a versatility thing as well.  I'm a little different than a lot of folks here because A) I'm fishing the same areas ALL THE TIME and B) my excursions are short, 3-4 hours max and I'm out once or twice a week.  Does anyone else here limit what they throw that much?  Obviously I've got a few favorites on standby if I need them (SK 1.5, Spinnerbait, Jackhammer, a few paddle tail swim baits) but I just have not had much desire to throw them.  I think I'm a jig junky....

My absolute favorite way to catch a bass is with a jig.  Is it because I catch most of my big ones with a jig or do I catch most of my big ones with a jig because I use jigs a lot???  Who knows.......lol

Once I caught my first jig fish, I was hooked.

 

I'm like an addict, cant get enough. Bought a mold, pot and all the makings, I now have fifty jigs in two days of pouring and tying. And now have no fear of putting them where the fish are.

 

I have two dedicated jig sticks a SA703 for 3/8 and down and a Champ 735 for 1/2 to 3/4. Plan on a Champ 736 also to be dedicated to jigs(1oz and up).

 

 

2 hours ago, Dens228 said:

My absolute favorite way to catch a bass is with a jig.  Is it because I catch most of my big ones with a jig or do I catch most of my big ones with a jig because I use jigs a lot???  Who knows.......lol

Haha this is what I'm going through.  I've said it before but the thing I love most about it is the versatility- which is why I have a hard time getting it out of my hands.

Just now, ajschn06 said:

Haha this is what I'm going through.  I've said it before but the thing I love most about it is the versatility- which is why I have a hard time getting it out of my hands.

If the thunderstorms miss me tomorrow morning I'm going out with seven rods, a swim jig, and underspin, and an Arky/craw make up three of them.........

55 minutes ago, Hewhospeaksmuchbull said:

Once I caught my first jig fish, I was hooked.

 

I'm like an addict, cant get enough. Bought a mold, pot and all the makings, I now have fifty jigs in two days of pouring and tying. And now have no fear of putting them where the fish are.

 

I have two dedicated jig sticks a SA703 for 3/8 and down and a Champ 735 for 1/2 to 3/4. Plan on a Champ 736 also to be dedicated to jigs(1oz and up).

 

 

I know what you mean..... I don't make my own but one of my favorite things to do when tinkering is matching up jigs and trailers- I could, and probably will, do it all winter long just to pass time...