When do you throw a tiny jig? Say a bitys bug?

Skinny Bear jigs have been popular for decades out west. I don’t consider a 1/4 bass jig being tiny. Turner Jones 1/64 oz micro jig is tiny.

Tom

 

When do you throw 1/4

I fish my 7/16 oz buck tail hair jigs year around. If the bass want something falling slower or smaller I down to 1/4 oz with 2” - 2 1/2” trailers. 
It’s easier to work lighter jigs in cover than heavy jigs because they snag less often. 
My 2 favorite 1/4 jigs are Skinny Bear Pro series and lefty’s Puff ball living rubber.

When? Year around!
Tom

I'll fish a 1/8 oz jig when there is a lot of fishing pressure, or when there is heavy vegetation growth that is matting on the surface.

I throw a small jig when I want to imitate something small. I throw a big jig when I want to imitate something bigger. I throw a heavier jig when I want the jig to fall faster. I throw a lighter jig when I want it to fall slower. 

I throw a bitsy bug almost exclusively as far as casting jigs go. Granted, I'm still figuring the whole casting jig thing out. But over the past 3 seasons I don't think iv ever caught a fish on anything bigger than the bitsy bug. Caught quite a few including my PB 5LBer on the bitsy bug. 

 

Can't tell you why. Just is what it is. I say I gained confidence in casting jigs. But the reality is iv gained confidence in the bitsy bug. 

I just started using 1/4 oz. jigs. I used a Dirty Jig Finesse swim jig this morning and caught 6 and missed a few. Much better than I have done with heavier jigs. 

1/4 oz jigs are good when you want to hover The Jig in the middle of the water column or swim it near the surface slowly.  They're really good when the bottom is mucky or muddy or you're less than 2 ft of water.  They're excellent in Lily pads or other types of solid emergent vegetation.

 

They are also definitely the easiest to work through heavier cover like laydowns as Tom points out.

 

I also like them when fishing pressure is high. 

 

Probably throw a 1/4 oz or 3/4 oz more than any other weight for jigs specifically and it's because most people throw a half or a 3/8 oz jig.  I also love throwing the sneaky 7/16 oz weight a lot especially for compact finesse jigs.  1/4 oz jig caught my biggest jig bass and I was swimming it very slowly over submerged wood near a grass line in February with a very large paddle tail trailer in about a foot of water. 9.1 lbs

 

3/4 oz caught my second biggest jig bass in March of this last year in 2 feet of water off a long laydown with a rage Craw on the back just letting it fall vertically. 8 lbs 15 oz.

 

I love fishing jigs!

For smallmouth around deep submerged stumps.

River smallies.

Goby, darters and crayfish imitations are all good spring to summer. Come fall its baitfish.

I tie and fish alot of jigs under 1/8oz.

 

I go big or go home. Big jigs, big worms for big dumb bass. I don’t know the Spanish word for finesse. 

I throw the Missile Bait Micro jig 1/16 and 1/8 when targeting Spots. I fish 1/4 and up jigs for LM usually. 

The only time I go below a 1/4 oz I'm Crappie fishing!

 

Dog Days of Summer I will be throwing a 1/4 oz on offshore structures & creek channels in 20-25'.

@Catt nice. To confuse everyone even further, here:

 

Usually in the summer when it's hot and low clear water. The little finesse jig just works better for me.

 

Allen

 

 

When I want to fish a smaller jig I don’t necessarily drop down to a lighter weight. 
 

For example, there  are times when the fish are feeding on small crawfish. When this occurs I will still have a 1/2 oz. jig tied on but I will shorten the skirt and pull out several skirt strands to have a smaller profile.

 

For a trailer, I’ll take a 4” Gene Larew Salt Craw and cut it down to 3”. 

 

With this set up I still have a jig heavy enough to penetrate heavy cover like treetops and laydowns whereas a 1/4 oz wouldn’t. 

I fish a little, homemade 1/8oz jig pretty often when the bite is tough.

I fish a smaller profile jig in the summer months like the Jewel pee wee. I never fish anything lighter than 5/16 though.

Smaller finesse jigs (1/8th oz. - 3/16th oz.) using a small TRD as a trailer are great on a medium spinning braid + FC leader set up . The new micro bait cast set ups would be fun for this technique as well .