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Old 10-04-07, 08:19 PM   #1
Wags
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Default Help...I'm Jig challenged

Hey guys, help me out here. To this point in my bass fishing career, I have caught the same number of fish on a jig as I have my sunglesses (both have found there way to the bottom of a lake), unfortunately, the jig was tied to a line, not my glasses. I need some basics for fishing these things. Is it best to fish them from deep to shallow, or shallow to deep?? Is a smooth bottom or weedy surface better?? Should I dress them up with a trailer of some sort? Colors? Speed of retrieve? Bump? drag? swim? HELP!!!! thanks
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Old 10-04-07, 10:10 PM   #2
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I've been jig-challenged for 35 years, wags. I just have no confidence in the traditional jig and pig combos that so many others have great success with. I'm not sure if it's a location thing (I fish in northern states) or technique, but I don't bother with skirted jigs at all anymore.

I do jig fish bass though. My favorite is a plain Slider Spider jig (1/16 to 1/8 oz.) tipped with a single-tailed Kalin's 5" Salty lunker grub. It will entice spooky largemouth to bite when nothing else will, and it is a killer set-up for smallmouth in rivers.
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Old 10-04-07, 11:19 PM   #3
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okay...at times they will catch fish anywhere, but my favorite place to fish them is on rocky or bluff banks (you can also add rock piles or brush piles to the list, and docks can be good too). sometimes swimming them around weeds or docks can catch fish but i mainly use them on the bottom. presentations can vary as much as color, i usually start out letting it fall to the bottom, raise my rod tip dragging it on the bottom when your rod tip is at 12 o'clock pause, then lower your rod tip reeling up your slack and then do it all over again. if the fish aren't responding to this i will sharply bounce my rod tip up to 12 o'clock rather than just raising it. this will make the jig hop and sometimes this will be a key to getting bit. also if you are in the rocks i suggest you use a football jig as the are better about not hanging up. i always use a trailer, as a rule softplastic until the water gets below 50 degrees and then it's pork. you can use a ton of different softplastics as trailers and all have there place. i always trim my weedguards, i mean always! but a lot of people don't so that is a personal opinion. i have one trick to kinda tricking out my jig that i don't mind sharing with most of the members on here but it is kind of a secret so anyone that wants to im me i would be willing to tell them on a top secret basis. as for colors, i usually use some form of a crawdad color but i also like black and blue at times. hope this helps some, jigs are a great bait and i never launch my boat without a jig tied on and usually 2 or 3 different ones, stick with them and they will catch you fish.
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Old 10-05-07, 02:43 PM   #4
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I have never caught anything with one yet either. But I guess I will keep trying.
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Old 10-06-07, 08:41 AM   #5
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Try searching the bassresource.com site, also do a search on this site for information..... Welcome to the board! Good Fishing, Mac There are a number of retrieves that work well in a variety of situations......so that is really a big subject.
Crawling s l o w l y across the bottom in a very s l o w retrieve sometimes works well, at other times, doing the slow lift and reel in slack then another slow lift as described above works well. Sometimes deadsticking with a very small occasional twitch will work, sometimes swimming the jig just off bottom or ticking submerged weeds will work...at times a quiet entry works well, also somtimes casting up on the bank and trying to sneak it in works well, at other times a little splash gets their attention....
Whatever the case, as soon as you feel anything or see your line move, set the hook hard. Sometimes, when lifting slowly, you don't even feel the weight of the jig....set the hook, sometimes you will feel a tick, set the hook. If you bump into an object, instead of pulling it over the top, shake the rod tip quickly making the jig jiggle.....it may emulate a craw trying to crawl under a rock or log, or even a weedy clump on the bottom and sometimes elicits a strike. Sometimes you can swim it across weedtops and then letting it drop in little pockets, depending on the weight of the jig. The most common jig is the one with many silicone legs hooked to a trailer such as a pork chunk or any number of soft plastics. Other jigs include some tied with a very few silicone legs for grub tipping and swimming, marabou jigs, hair jigs of various types of materials such as those made of rabbit hair, fox hair, bucktail, bear hair and craft hair. Each has it's own characteristics and profile in the water. Generally speaking, if you start with the silicone jigs most commonly sold, you won't catch so many fish, but they will definitely tend to be bigger fish.

A good thing to do, is not just read about a certain retrieve and think you have it down well after reading it just once, but very important, at least for me, is to actually practice the retrieve out on the water.....practicing seals it into your mind and therefore you have another tool on board when it comes down to trying to please the fish. You will also gain a great deal by practicing in a swimming pool, to actually see the jig and what it does on a twitch, a pull, a crawl, a shake, a swim, a hop, etc. etc. Reading helps, but doing teaches.

Here's one, for example, I would have never thought of when swimming a jig. For smallies, cast out and let settle to bottom, perhaps 14 feet deep or so....one retrieve is to swim it near bottom at a steady retrieve, but some fellows try this one, swim the jig in an upward fashion as if the jig was climbing a hill, occasionally gripping the rod handle with force, making a little quiver.....quivering the jig is done during short pauses in reeling....just ending up in a little occasional twitching of the jig, almost an undetectable nervous twitching, and then resuming the climbing retrieve. This change in action triggers a lot of smallmouth strikes. I've also heard the spinnerbait retrieve is better with an occasional side sweep of the rod which lifts the bait a little and then lets it fall slightly as if occasionally going over a worn down gentle speed bump.....this movement could also be used with a jig.....just a slight change of direction for a swimming jig.

Trailers are really a wide open subject, bush hogs, sweet beavers, single tail grubs, double tail grubs, a plastic worm, pork or plastic chunks, on and on and on it goes. For swimming jigs, I like grubs, the single tailed grub....I make a jig with white legs mixed with a few holographic silver strands and use a white grub....so far, I've done the best with that concerning swimming jigs....but like you, am quite new to jig fishing and have much more to learn and try.

There are some very fine and devoted jig fishermen on this board....be sure to ask them questions when you see their posts. Also, there are good sources for jig fishing on other boards such as nybass.com, bronzeback.com, riversmallies.com

Reading a lot is a great way to increase your techniques and capabilities. I will only recommend one little paper book, Crappie and Bass Fishing, by Charlie Brewer. If you get the book, read it 6 times just before going out on the water. It's a simply written, easy to read little book....that's the thing, it's so easy to read that it's also easy to miss the information contained therein. You read and one thing that happens is you think he's repeating himself, and sometimes even perhaps contradicting himself, but just re read the booklet another 5 times and you will understand what he's about. It's been the one book I've read that has had the most effect on my fishing, and my fishing has improved a lot.

Hope this helps and Good Fishing, Mac

Last edited by Mac10; 10-06-07 at 09:24 AM.
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Old 10-06-07, 12:13 PM   #6
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Default Mac....that was awesome.....

I've seen LESS information in a 500 page hardcover book. I am heading out to the lake shortly....I am bound and determined to lose my Jig virginity. One of the problems I have is that I enjoy catching fish too much to be patient to learn new techniques. I try things for a few casts and then fall back on old reliable lures and styles of fishing. I really want to learn a few more things so that I have a few more clubs in my bag for the days when the bass are laughing at me. I really appreciate the lengthy rsponse with so much info. Thanks Mac
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Old 10-06-07, 03:56 PM   #7
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Try going out on the lake with only a few jigs in your pocket. I had the same problem as you, didnt know where, when, how to fish a jig. I went out a few times with only jigs and fished them for hours, and they do produce! Spend time with them and you will learn what works best for your body of water.

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Old 10-06-07, 08:27 PM   #8
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Thanks Tex...that is a good idea...that would take away the temptation of running back to the ol' stand bys. Knowing me...I would smuggle a few senkos into my socks though...I know me too well lol
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Old 10-06-07, 08:48 PM   #9
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finding the spots to jig fish is probly the toughest part.. a pnj is ment to be a area speific bait..where you use a spinnerbait or a crank bait as a search bait.. i use a carolina rig anything bumps it but no hook ups i toss a jig at them.. this has been the easiest way to learning the lure i have found..

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Old 10-07-07, 11:20 PM   #10
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Guys, like Otto, I threw a jig literally for YEARS and never had any luck, but I kept throwing. Then one day 4-5 years back I was fishing dammed creek that had a lot of flood debris around a bridge piling. I threw a black/blue jig up an the debris and pulled it off. As it sank I felt a thump, set the hook and was rewarded by one that went about 3. A little later that day I caught another one on it. The rest, as they say, is history. Now I always have one tied on. Once I caught that first one I started to develop confidence in the bait, and that is the name of the game.

Keep chunking them-I guarantee eventually you WILL get bit!
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Old 10-08-07, 08:07 AM   #11
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Wags,

You mentioned Senkos.......here is an important tool to add to your fishing, get a pack of zoom speedworms in watermelon red and clip off the tails. Looks quite like a Senko type bait, but having no internal salt and rigged on a weightless 2/0 or 3/0 worm hook, will fall slowly. Great for deadsticking and slow fall presentations.

From this board, thanks Tom, I learned a skipping cast is often successful....skip the zoom speedworm body and let sink to bottom with an open bail, watching line at all times.....when on bottom, simply let set 30 seconds then slowly lift, that is s l o w l y lift to feel for fish until about two feet off bottom, if nothing on, flick with the wrist, popping the rod tip maybe an inch or to and let lure fall again....wait 20 seconds before lifting to feel again, if nothing on, reel in and re cast to another likely spot.

When one end wears out, rig the other end, when that goes, save for wacky rigging.

Of the colors offered in the speedworms, watermelon/red works the best....don't know why, just does.

Good fishing, Mac
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Old 10-08-07, 08:52 AM   #12
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I'm amazed when I read about people struggling with a jig. It has to be my favorite bait. I will ALWAYS have one tied on. Some days I only fish a jig and spinnerbait.
You need to mix it up with the retrieve but just hopping it works for me. I mainly target wood or rocks with it. I probably use a lighter jig then most people. 1/4 oz. is about the heaviest I use (I don't fish it deep that often). The majority of the fish I catch on a jig hit it on the fall. Black/Blue is the color I use 85% of the time. As a trailer I'll use black or blue and lately I've used a green pumkin ultravibe speed craw and have done well. You can use just about any plastic as a trailer. I've caught big fish putting a 7 1/2" Power Worm on a jig.
The key is just fishing it. You have to build confidence in it just like anything. If you have confindence in a specific lure you are going to fish better with it. Same with a jig. When I come up on a fallen tree or log jam... I lick my chops because that jig will catch em.
Good luck with it... once you catch them... you will be HOOKED!

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Old 10-08-07, 05:38 PM   #13
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Thanks guys....I will keep at it....if you see fireworks going off over mid-michigan, you'll know I've cracked my cherry!!!!
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Old 10-08-07, 06:03 PM   #14
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You'll get one. If you get a chancel, fish with someone that uses the jig n pig all the time, and pick up some pointers.
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Old 10-08-07, 06:26 PM   #15
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Wags, the guys in Michigan are on fireworks watch
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Old 10-08-07, 07:12 PM   #16
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Wags,
It's fall. Bass will be feeding on crawfish. Throw a small 1/8 or 3/16 oz pnj with a small trailer. If you can, check your livewell, and match the hatch. On the Potomac at this time of year the crawfish are brown and red. Wood or rock cover near drop offs will probably be what I'd be looking for.
If you can't catch them on a pnj then go to a tube or creature bait and see if they're hitting other crawfish type plastic baits.
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Old 10-09-07, 07:31 AM   #17
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If you want to get a couple crawdads to see the coloration....cut a 2 liter Coke bottle at the neck end where the bottle stops getting bigger as you go from the neck toward the tail end.....at the shoulder so to speak, reverse the funnel shaped cut off piece and duct tape around the edge. Drill holes here and there to allow the water to enter and escape, add a few small stones to make it sink well, add a mason twine line for retrieval and bait with canned cat food that is fish based from Dollar General or the like. Leave overnight and pick up the next day. The problem with matching colors without seeing some is that there are over 300 species in the US alone. A lot of the fellows on a smallmouth board say it's not all that important to match the colors, but in my opinion, it surely cant hurt. One fellow here in Tennessee starts the spring off with black and blue, then in summer switches to soft greens and muted golds, and in the fall, uses some browns and reds. Saw some this spring myself at the ramp which were jet black but having a fine white line outlining each shell section.....kinda like a drawing in the negative....really neat. Hope this helps, Mac
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Old 10-09-07, 07:47 AM   #18
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black and blue are sure winners here, then the mossgreen/brown during summer
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Old 10-09-07, 06:42 PM   #19
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Default you wont have to watch for fireworks

all you need to do is watch for the big splash as my fat arse falls in the lake from astonishment, lmao. not like i have alot of room to talk,lol, i have officially caught one fish on a jig(black n blue) sounds like the concessus color. i think myself and wags will be going out again soon, and maybe just be a jig fishing day. could be very boring, but we will catch something eventually, lol. it is hard to worry about color to much since i think i own like 2 jigs, and not sure wags owns many more than that. i will definitely get him out and jig fish only with him, the only way were gonna learn.

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Old 10-09-07, 06:46 PM   #20
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Like its been stated before, if you just take a jig out fishing and no other lures, eventually you will catch fish and then some more...its a matter of sticking with it, once you get your first bite you'll enjoy the hookset part the most.
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Old 10-09-07, 07:00 PM   #21
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I occasionally see them in the water and try to match them. I was fishing, and not doing well, a couple years ago and came across a 4-5" craw in shallow water. It was brown w/red claws. I switched colors to brown and red and started catching fish. Made a big difference. Didn't help me win any money but at least I didn't place as "Other".
Biggest craw I've seen on the River was close to 10" and the claws were over 3". It was hanging off a piece of brush that I was pulling up off the bottom after getting hung. Ugly brown/green with orange claws. The thing was very close to making the pot for dinner. Dropped off the branch before I could get it in the boat.
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Old 10-09-07, 08:08 PM   #22
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Wags, I only have a couple thoughts for ya. I live here in northern Indiana so were neighbors. Two techniques that have done well for me J&P fishin are these. Try pin pointing your entry spot rather than random casting with your jig. Get in close to the lilly pads where they lay flat on the water and place that jig right down in amoungst them. Use short little hops in an eratic way to entice a strike. I find that I get a strike imediately if there is a bass to be had. If not try another spot a few feet away. I use a 7 1/2 foot heavy flipping rod with braided line for this. Look for special places in amoungst the pads, such as where deeper water meets shallower water, or my favorite, where brush and pads mix. Work that jigs in those pads and hang on. Look for open spots in grass beds, treee trucks laying in the water, brush, areas like that. Another tip I have for you is to cast onto shore and crawl that jig into the water using a slow crawl back to the boat. This can draw a savage strike from any bass in that shallow. A bass that shallow is looking for a meal.
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Old 10-09-07, 09:34 PM   #23
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Holy crap...Being a newbie on the site,...when I made this post, I was just hoping for 1 or 2 replies. You guys are awesome. I promise a post in the near future of my first jigified conquest complete with a pic with the proof in its mouth.....even if the fish is smaller than the jig. Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 10-10-07, 08:11 AM   #24
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Just saw a technique on a loop tv at Bass Pro Shops.....Kevin Van Dam uses a heavy jig, dropping in near the edges of weedbeds....it drops so fast, the bass don't get a good look at it and this causes a reaction strike....he was casting at times near a lily pad bed, and at other, at the edges of thick weeds. PnJ, on this board, aka pig and jig, also spoke earlier in a very good post about using different weights to elicit strikes. I'd start off, myself, with the crawling, hopping, sliding...etc techniques and after that, keep the dropping technique in my head for later use.....just a thought....not having much experience myself with jig and pig use.
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Old 10-10-07, 08:12 AM   #25
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You may want to print this thread, there is a lot of good info in it.

You will also find that a lily bed will hold a lot more bass if it has an uneven bottom....read that somewhere. Also look for a change in weeds, such as from one type to another.....pads to spikes etc. Bass really like areas of transition. Also take note what you were near when you caught a nice bass. On some days, they like weeds that stand off the main group, sometimes they will even be more likely near clumps of three, other days, 5, other times 1 or 2. And yet, at other times, they'll be buried in the main bed itself.

The same is true with reeds.

Last edited by Mac10; 10-10-07 at 08:20 AM.
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