Seeing what people have luck on around here as I'm getting into various jigs. Wondering what skirt colors might do me well in the variable stained water. Visibility anywhere from 1 foot to 4 foot. Water is brownish-mostly blue colored. 

Black and Blue.  Green pumpkin purple.  Brown orange. White silver/gold.

 

For muddier water I like bigger trailers with flappier claws and a slower bottom retrieve.  For cleaner water I like a more compact profile and a faster fall with less flappy claws.  For warmer water, seems like flappier is better and for cold water dead action seems to be better.

 

Swim Jigs with paddle tails are actually my favorite way to present them and I'll fish those on the bottom/slowly swimming/fast and then pause/burning/waking through cover and around structure offshore and they typically catch the biggest fish for me.

 

I like 4" swimbait style trailers like Yum Scottsboro Minnow, Xzone Swammer, 6th sense Whale, Strike King Rage Swimmer, Gambler EZ, Berkley Grass Pig.

 

Each swimbait trailer has different amounts of thump/wiggle and I find the bass like thumpier tails the warmer the water gets and the more wiggly tails in the cold water.

I live in the same area. I have too many jigs in too many colors. 

 

Jig - Green Pumpkin and Black/Blue is a great place to start. 3/8 and 1/2 oz. 

 

Trailer - Get GP, Watermelon Red, Texas Craw (green with some orange), and Black/blue trailer. I'm choosing these trailers because you can carry fewer jigs.

 

Sometimes our waters a little orange is a difference-maker - last craw I saw in a throat a couple weeks ago was GP/orange, and a GP jig with a gp/orange trailer was about perfect. And there's something about watermelon red around here too if they are on a craw bite vs a bluegill bite. If it's bluegill the GP or B/b depending on how dark the gills are. 

 

Rage Craw or Saw Craw or anything like that will do. For now, if you need less action just cut the claws off about halfway down, less stuff to haul around. 

 

 

 

 

Consider the Trashmaster jigs, they are a really good transition from a texas rig, they crawl through about any cover, and they are easy to rig. This is their GP, I like the two-tone. 

 

 

Oldham's Eye Max Jig in Coontail, PB&J, Black Neon

 

Rage Tail Craw to match 

On 5/16/2023 at 8:30 AM, Pat Brown said:

Black and Blue.  Green pumpkin purple.  Brown orange. White silver/gold.

 

For muddier water I like bigger trailers with flappier claws and a slower bottom retrieve.  For cleaner water I like a more compact profile and a faster fall with less flappy claws.  For warmer water, seems like flappier is better and for cold water dead action seems to be better.

 

Swim Jigs with paddle tails are actually my favorite way to present them and I'll fish those on the bottom/slowly swimming/fast and then pause/burning/waking through cover and around structure offshore and they typically catch the biggest fish for me.

 

I like 4" swimbait style trailers like Yum Scottsboro Minnow, Xzone Swammer, 6th sense Whale, Strike King Rage Swimmer, Gambler EZ, Berkley Grass Pig.

 

Each swimbait trailer has different amounts of thump/wiggle and I find the bass like thumpier tails the warmer the water gets and the more wiggly tails in the cold water.

 

12 hours ago, txchaser said:

I live in the same area. I have too many jigs in too many colors. 

 

Jig - Green Pumpkin and Black/Blue is a great place to start. 3/8 and 1/2 oz. 

 

Trailer - Get GP, Watermelon Red, Texas Craw (green with some orange), and Black/blue trailer. I'm choosing these trailers because you can carry fewer jigs.

 

Sometimes our waters a little orange is a difference-maker - last craw I saw in a throat a couple weeks ago was GP/orange, and a GP jig with a gp/orange trailer was about perfect. And there's something about watermelon red around here too if they are on a craw bite vs a bluegill bite. If it's bluegill the GP or B/b depending on how dark the gills are. 

 

Rage Craw or Saw Craw or anything like that will do. For now, if you need less action just cut the claws off about halfway down, less stuff to haul around. 

 

 

 

 

Consider the Trashmaster jigs, they are a really good transition from a texas rig, they crawl through about any cover, and they are easy to rig. This is their GP, I like the two-tone. 

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Catt said:

Oldham's Eye Max Jig in Coontail, PB&J, Black Neon

 

Rage Tail Craw to match 

 

Thank you 3. My Black/Blue football jig just got tore up by a snapping turtle so I'll grab some more jigs and trailers while I'm out replacing my poor football. Tight lines.

Black/brown/red.  Falcon lake craw is similar and effective.  

On 5/15/2023 at 8:09 AM, PTasker15 said:

Seeing what people have luck on around here as I'm getting into various jigs. Wondering what skirt colors might do me well in the variable stained water. Visibility anywhere from 1 foot to 4 foot. Water is brownish-mostly blue colored. 

Rod, reel, line specifics?

Tom

35 minutes ago, WRB said:

Rod, reel, line specifics?

Tom

I use a 6'10 Medium Heavy, Fast action casting rod. Rated for 3/16oz to 3/4oz.

Reel is a regular sized baitcasting reel, 15lbs drag and I think it's a 7.2:1

I use 20lb braid with a 15lb Fluoro leader. Might consider a bump up to 30lb but I don't run into too much cover and so far I can handle that cover well. 

Top is Coontail add a Falcon Lake Craw

Black-n-Blue tip add a sapphire blue craw

Black Neon is simply black with red metal flake. Highly under rated color. 

 

10 hours ago, PTasker15 said:

I use a 6'10 Medium Heavy, Fast action casting rod. Rated for 3/16oz to 3/4oz.

Reel is a regular sized baitcasting reel, 15lbs drag and I think it's a 7.2:1

I use 20lb braid with a 15lb Fluoro leader. Might consider a bump up to 30lb but I don't run into too much cover and so far I can handle that cover well. 

OK, casting combo.

Not a fan of braid with leader and 2 knots. Straight 15# (Big Game) mono or (15# InvizX) FC.* works good in moderate cover.

3/8 & 1/2 jig weight is good.

Catts recommendations are spot on.

Don’t recommend you start with more then 2 colors, better off having more of a few colors.

Tom

* FC use TangleFree line conditioner.

I haven't fished your area specifically, but I am on the AR River south of LR 2 or 3 days a week. The past few years I have been very successful throwing black neon (red). 

Brown is a consistent performer. PB+J works good too. 

28 minutes ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

Brown is a consistent performer. PB+J works good too. 

 

Coontail is just black/brown/amber, old school.

36 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Coontail is just black/brown/amber, old school.

Looks like it has the right stuff to make it happen. I’d probably pull a couple of the ambers though. 

4 minutes ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

Looks like it has the right stuff to make it happen. I’d probably pull a couple of the ambers though. 

 

I do that & occasionally replace em with red...bluegill 

Texas water clarity sounds a lot like Iowa. My go to colors are usually black/blue, green pumpkin and/or PB&J. 

 

I did buy some Missouri Craw jigs the other week, still need to throw em.

I have all green pumpkins. If I want to adjust color I try different trailer colors.  
 

I do have one blue black jig.  But most times I just put a blue black trailer on a GP jig.