Pitching Jigs

[bassbooger]

I have searched the posts and haven't found an exact answer for this, so here goes.

I have been working on my pitching and have started pitching jigs around docks. My question for you guys who have had success on them is this.

How close to the dock, or structure you are pitching to do you get?

I am afraid that I am getting too close that I am scaring any bass that may be under there, but yet if I am too far away I can't successfully get it all the way under if it is a dock. With my practice pitches I can get a good 25 feet, but I know that practice pitches off of a bucket are different than off of a boat that ir rocking with any waves.

Any insight on this would be appreciated.

[bassthumb32]

Its Hard To Pitch And Flip Clear Water High Pressured Lakes. Its Best To Pitch In Areas With A Little Stain In The Water.

[Captmikestarrett]

Let it land right on the pole and slide down. Shady side first or down current side. One hop or two at bottom and then on to next one. Repeat twelve hundred times to produce a fish.

Capt Mike

[bassbooger]

That is what I was doing wrong. I was only pitching it 1100 times. I knew I should have stuck around another 100 pitches. LOL

[bassguy2004]

Originally Posted by Captmikestarrett

Let it land right on the pole and slide down. Shady side first or down current side. One hop or two at bottom and then on to next one. Repeat twelve hundred times to produce a fish.

Capt Mike

Arrg, Cap'n Mike, ye be right about letting her land next to the pole but be sure to strip line from the reel to let yer jig get to the bottom. Be sure to watch yer line, the fish might pick up yer jig before it hits next to Davy Jones' locker.

[Captmikestarrett]

Monday was pirate day at your local IHOP right? Did you get the shiver me timbers special?

LOL

Capt Mike

[Bass Ackwards]

I tend to get it as close as I can to the dock skipping up to and even banking it off of the sides . I'll typically flip to the shady side and let it fall.

[bassbooger]

I think that most everybody didn't undrstand what I was saying.

How close do you get your boat to the dock or structure that you are pitching to?

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I noticed that I wrote it to sound as if I was asking where to pitch the jig to.

[Bass Ackwards]

That would depend on how good you are at pitching, if you can pitch it 15 ft with a smooth entry than I would pull the boat to within 15 ft.

[zooker]

to point out. i rarely flip/pitch a jig-i cast a jig- i flip and pitch t-rigged plastic baits. prefuring a baby bush hog.. when i pitch i can get a decent entry at about 35-38 feet.. but i only do this if i find the fish on vertical struture..

zooker

[lizardsrule]

I get really close(like 5' somtimes or even closer) if I'm fishing heavy vegetation. If you are fishing open water, then IMO a little distance is good. As already stated, the clearer the water or should I say the visibility you have to the fish, the farther away you should be. I also don't neccessarilly agree with a QUIET entry ALL the time. Many times a loud splash will get the fish to notice and "REACT" to your bait. To each there own on all of these points. I've had success using all types of techniques with them, I also love to fish them, Yo-Yo style on brush piles. The more you actually fish them, the more ways you find how to catch fish. I, just like many others took quite awhile to catch my first bass on one. Just stick with it and fish it. The key with jig fishing is "QUICK" hooksets, the fish will not hold on long usually, and line watching/knowing. The jig bites I get are 95% on the fall, so you gotta know what you line is doing. Now with all the crap I just typed, I must admit there are lots of folks on this forum who are much better than me with a PNJ, such as Pig N Jig, along with many others.

Lizards
Lizards

[bassguy2004]

Originally Posted by Captmikestarrett

Monday was pirate day at your local IHOP right? Did you get the shiver me timbers special?

LOL

Capt Mike

Nope, just messin' with ya. Arrrr! lol

[Hef]

good information above. I use jigs alot and I can tell you that pretty much every post above is correct.

[pig n jig]

Originally Posted by bassbooger

I think that most everybody didn't undrstand what I was saying.

How close do you get your boat to the dock or structure that you are pitching to?

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I noticed that I wrote it to sound as if I was asking where to pitch the jig to.

You have to let the fish tell you. If the fish are oriented to the front of structure, you may have to pitch 15 -20 feet in order to be able to catch them, if they are back under docks, or tighter to cover, you have to get closer in order to be more accurate, or you have to saturate the target with multiple pitches before you catch a fish.I personally don't pitch over 20 feet away, I find no need to do so.Most of my fish are caught 2-9 feet from the boat.You have to learn to use your trolling motor, or the wind to drift your boat silently approaching your intended targets.If you must use your trolling motor, leave it on all of the time,its less likely to spook the fish than a motor starting and stopping while your fishing intended targets.I generally always pitch, I rarely use the flipping technique.I find it easier to get in postion to set the hook when pitching than it is when your flipping.The only time I flip is in water 2 feet, or less so I don't have alot of slack line to deal with.Get in the habit of holding your rod in front of you as your lure is falling to the bottom. What I do is visually watch the line where the line enters the water as well as watch the line coming off from the reel at the same time.This allows your rod tip to be at a 9 0'clock position, with both hands in front of you so your able to get an instant hookset and be in position to pull the fish out of cover and into open water where it has less of a chance to get you tangled up.The reason I want to watch the line at 2 different areas is because there are different strike indicators at the 2 different points.The first being your line entering the water will suddenly swim off in a different direction and the second is if your line coming off the spool is not consistantly the same.For example if the line suddenly snaps in a quick upward motion in front of the reel and then appears normal again, engage your handle and set the hook.Most likely you will have the best fish of the day on .Normally you will not notice this kind of strike if you just watching your line entering the water. The guides on the rod blank will not allow the quick upward snap at the reel to be detected at the point of entry in the water.If you can't watch both, I would suggest you watch the line coming off from the reel. P N J

[bassbooger]

Thanks pig n jig. That is a very infomrative post and helps me to understand alot more about it. I haven't had any luck with the jig yet, but i am trying to stick to it so i can gain some confidence in it.