Whew... (Sigh Ensues)

[Buzz Wing]

As much as I would love to learn the jig, rather master it and have it be a lure I could turn to in a time of need, it doesn't seem to be coming together.

I've got a pretty good arsenal, topping 15 jigs easy, but none of the ways I toss, pitch, flip, flop, or drag, seem to attract them bass. I've tried nearly every technique and can't buy a bite it seems like. It could be confidence, but whenever I throw a lure, my confidence is at an all time high, so, I don't really know... After I toss and toss and toss, and don't get bit, my confidence pulmmets.

Are there any tips you could give me to boost my confidence and get bit?

We've been enduring a cold front for about two days, dropping temperatures from low 70's, to low 50's. Tomorrow is looking at some drizzle, possibly late thunderstorms, and 65F as a high. I still plan on getting out, post-frontal may bring it back together.

Thanks in advance,

-Buzz

[JB]

Just try to stick with one pattern a day on the jig, and that is target wood.
Only pick up your jig rod if you're in the boat when ya see any form of laydown, stumps. branches. Throw the jig in and let it set...dont reel it back, just wiggle the rod tip and move the jig only less than a foot. If nothing happens reel back in and flip/pitch back in..sooner or later you'll get bit.
The thicker the stuff ya pitch in is key, most bass trashy looking spots are easier to penetrate with a jig than a worm.
Dont let the jig pysch ya out. its just bout like fishing a worm, just heavier, and a bite that sometimes they just pick up, rather than the peck..sometimes its the peck and the line moves. set the hook HARD..you'll get one if its all ya fish all day.

[Buzz Wing]

Thanks, JB!

About the wood....

Do you use any specific jig, or trailer? Any color? By the way, here's the water I'll be fishin' it in..





-Buzz

[BassAddict]

Black/blue jig with a black Zoom Super Chunk Jr. or a green pumpkim Zoom Ultavibe Speed Craw. I wish you could come down here to Va and I'd take you to some ponds that if you don't catch a bass on a jig I'll kiss your.... well not really but I catch a lot of fish (big fish) here on a jig. I like Stanley and Booyah jigs. Just keep at it. sooner or later you will get bit. Like JB said... flip around wood cover... any place you would fish a t-rig worm.

[WTL]

Jigs are one of the last baits I think a lot learn to master. And that could be looked at as an odd fact, since they are so productive, but they just take some time to get a feel for. I'm still on a learning curve with them myself and I have been fish 12 years or something like that.

[jooleyen]

You want to gain confidence in a bait? This may be difficult, but take all of your rods, and rig them with jigs. Don't bring any other boxes or lures except for your jigs. Give it a good 8 hours, and you'll get at least one. Just commit yourself.

[Buzz Wing]

Thanks for all the tips, guys!

And, Addict, I'll pass... With my jig fishin' skill, or lack thereof, you'll probably have to kiss my ---. And I don't want to be seen on a private wooded lot with two guys, one guy with his pants down, etc... I just ain't gonna do it...

-Buzz

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by Buzz Wing

post-frontal may bring it back together.

Thanks in advance,

-Buzz

i wouldn't be suprised at all if your post-frontal conditions made matters worse for a jig bite. a lot of the time fish will suspend after a front and that is bad news for a jig bite. for the water you are showing us and i am guessing it is still pretty cold, fish a jig painfully slow. i mean really really slow. drag it or hop it slow, and long pauses. when you think you are fishing it slow enough slow down a little more. a lot of the jig bites you will get in cold water or with screwed up weather will be very light, i mean light enough that a lot of guys don't even realize there was a fish there.....or when they do realize there was a fish there it's way too late. most of my jig bites this year have been so light that line watching doesn't help at all, sometimes you will feel a real light tap but most of them were just a feeling of the bait weighing a little more or less than usual (get to know exactly how the jig feels so you can tell the difference when a fish picks it up). keep after it, a jig isn't an easy bait to learn but it is deffinatly worth the patience it takes to get it down.

[lowrider]

Spoken like a TV pro from the front of a 21' Ranger...or maybe a jig salesman. ha ha

[Bob Smith]

Your water looks dingy enough for black and blue with a black trailer. In fact I would go with a large jig with a big bulky skirt and a Uncle Josh #1A Black/Blue Pork frog for a trailer, or #1 in solid black. As CR01 stated, work it slow then slow down some more for post frontal. If there are no docks, or no wood objects/cover, then look for humps points and irregular features tht traverse the water column. I would presume this "water" we see in the pictures is a private pond or lake. If that is the case it might also be a dishbowl or a "borrows pit" that someone excavated to use the dirt and may have no features. In that case any kind of pattern would be a crap-shoot.

[Lilmoosecountry]

My only jigging consist of using Grubs. I use to jig & pig allot. But i also believe that to many people are throwing the same lure type. Bass get conditioned to it. I throw grubs on jig heads. I use many sizes. Even large saltwater sizes. Like Kalins "Magumbo". I use grubs in the very same matter as jig & pig. My technique is so old school many bass in the water don't see my presentation that much. When you think the jig bite has slowed down reach for a grub.

[flbassman]

I'd use a black blue with a craw trailer. Pitch up into some lilies on some braided line, and don't quit till you get one. As for confidence, a whole lot of boats have been won by guys flippin jigs, so just believe in it up front

[BigBassin144]

Lows 70s to low 50's! haha! It'd been 78 one day then about four days later, it was 30 degrees at night. Its just rediculous.

BB

[Buzz Wing]

Originally Posted by lowrider

Spoken like a TV pro from the front of a 21' Ranger...or maybe a jig salesman. ha ha

He is! He runs a Ranger and owns a jig company!

-Buzz

[lowrider]

really buzz? i had no idea...dummy

[MississippiBoy]

Man, lowrider...all that sarcasm is making it hard to breathe in here...LOL

[BigBassin144]

Originally Posted by carolina-rig-01

i wouldn't be suprised at all if your post-frontal conditions made matters worse for a jig bite. a lot of the time fish will suspend after a front and that is bad news for a jig bite. for the water you are showing us and i am guessing it is still pretty cold

When we were up there last weekend, the water at 59-61*. We saw a bass jump clear out of the water. I think he was just running scared form a Musky though.

BB

[Buzz Wing]

I was surprised tempertures leaped up five degrees in one day. I went out there Tuesday and water temperatures we straddling 57-59F, and yesterday they riding around 64-65F. Once it stabalizes, it should be game time..

-Buzz