Trouble With Jig Hookups?

[QUIENYO]

I noticed that of the more common lures I fish with, the jig gets tossed way more often than the others. Its probably not fair to compare hookup rates to a lure with treble hooks, but the TX rigged plastics seem to be more reliable.

My initial thought is that the trailers leave less hook exposed, thereby allowing a feisty large mouth to more easily toss the jig. The other thing I considered was that the jigs I throw (most are 1/2 oz.) are targeting larger Bass. Larger Bass have been around a bit longer and maybe have learned a few tricks of the trade. If the trailer idea or the old wise Bass is not the cause, then it looks like it is operator error on my part. Is this just the cost of doing business with the jig? Is there a common mistake that I'm making here?

Any suggestions, comments or criticisms are welcomed.

Thanks,

Nathan

[Jigs 4 Pigs]

Watch your line and set the hook ASAP, try to keep the pressure on 'em, and you can't wait to set like soft plastics because they'll spit it IMO.

[Nitrofreak]

A jig is the most friendliest bait on the planet imo, but the hardest one to detect bites, that is unless you have the proper tools, even with the right tools it can be difficult, patience is key and time spent fishing the jig is key.

A jig rod is a good place to start, if you don't already have one, I like mine to be around 8' and MH and with a fast tip, I love spiderwire braid there is no give when setting the hook while fishing a jig, quick penetration matters a lot, and to me, mono, floro, wont cut the mustard, especially when trying to horse one out of heavy cover.

[piscicidal]

My experience is the opposite. Of all the techniques out there, I think my catch rate is highest with the jig....I would guess somewhere around 80%. My last time out, I had six bites and caught five fish. It's one of the reasons I love jig fishing in tournaments...big fish and high catch rate. You hit that fish hard, and just wrench him out before he has a chance to do something that dislodges the hook.

Even with the right equipment (parabolic rods, mono line) I lose many more fish with treble hook lures. Just the nature of that beast, especially fishing around cover. And I'm certain I don't approach a 80% catch rate with frogs, toads, worms, swimbaits, etc...

[bigbasshunter]

Cut 3-4 fibers out of the weed guard, this will make hooksets easier. Also make sure your hooks are super sharp, I've caught a few this year that set good enough to get the barb through. Good luck.

[shimmy]

Like NitroFreak said, i noticed my hook up ratio exponentially increased when i used a bigger rod. The rod just makes a world of a difference, especially with bigger hooks. It is easier to brace the butt of the rod and use that for a strong backbone. Used to only use a 6 foot rod since that was all i could afford, i spent much of my time trying to catch up after the hookset with this method and had my jig spit constantly.

[QUIENYO]

Thanks for the feedback. I use a 7'6" older Allstar platinum rod with my jigs so I think I'm good with the rod. I'm currently throwing with an older Abu C3 round reel, with a 5.3-1 ratio spooled with 50# braid. I must not be setting the hook as hard as I think I am. I don't have any problem feeling the bite, the problem begins after I've set the the hook and have a fish on. The closer I get the fish to shore, the higher the probability that the fish will jump and toss the hook. I'll bet my landing ratio is about 60-70%. I seem to always lose them near shore. I guess I'll try to rip some lips and see if that helps.

Just to clarify, I'm not comparing missed strikes, I'm talking about after the fish is on line and getting reeled in. Even with my perceived bad hook-sets, I still consider the jig my confidence lure. I'm just trying to tighten things up a bit.

[00 mod]

Also, I like my jig rod to be paired with the fastest of reels. Your 5.3:1 reel picks up 25.5'' of line per turn(IPT). The reel I use for my jig rods are Shimano Chronarch e7( 30 IPT) and a Shimano Curado e7(30 IPT). Might help to keep them coming at you faster and not give them any slack on the retrieve.

Jeff

[QUIENYO]

I'm throwing a Northstar 5/8 Hippy, alien head in brown and green. I generally "crack the whip" with my hook sets. Between what Zona says in the video and your comments Jeff, I think I may start looking had high speed reels. The slow reel-in seems to create times when the fish can out-swim my line, thereby creating a slacked line. It seems that this is when they tend to toss the jig. Now if I could just get my wife to see things my way. Anyone want to sell me a 201E7?

[smalljaw67]

I'm going to go out on a limb here but here is my 2 cents. You are using a 1/2oz jig mostly, that is a good jig and it probably sports a nice hook, pretty stout with some strong wire. If that is the case you can improve the hook up ratio with a simple tool called a hook hone. One of the biggest problems even with hooks Like Gamakatsu and Owner is even after a few fish the point begins to go away or develop a burr and it is only a tiny bit dull but when you use a stout hook like a jig hook it takes a lot more pressure to penetrate and then you include cover into the equation and it means even more to have a super sharp hook. Try it out, get the hook hone and after a fish or two or after you get hung up, just give the hook point a few strokes with the hone and go back to fishing, I'll bet it helps.

[Hi Salenity]

I noticed that of the more common lures I fish with, the jig gets tossed way more often than the others. Its probably not fair to compare hookup rates to a lure with treble hooks, but the TX rigged plastics seem to be more reliable.

My initial thought is that the trailers leave less hook exposed, thereby allowing a feisty large mouth to more easily toss the jig. The other thing I considered was that the jigs I throw (most are 1/2 oz.) are targeting larger Bass. Larger Bass have been around a bit longer and maybe have learned a few tricks of the trade. If the trailer idea or the old wise Bass is not the cause, then it looks like it is operator error on my part. Is this just the cost of doing business with the jig? Is there a common mistake that I'm making here?

Any suggestions, comments or criticisms are welcomed.

Thanks,

Nathan

USE BRAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[QUIENYO]

I agree, see below.

Thanks for the feedback. I use a 7'6" older Allstar platinum rod with my jigs so I think I'm good with the rod. I'm currently throwing with an older Abu C3 round reel, with a 5.3-1 ratio spooled with 50# braid. I must not be setting the hook as hard as I think I am. I don't have any problem feeling the bite, the problem begins after I've set the the hook and have a fish on. The closer I get the fish to shore, the higher the probability that the fish will jump and toss the hook. I'll bet my landing ratio is about 60-70%. I seem to always lose them near shore. I guess I'll try to rip some lips and see if that helps.

Just to clarify, I'm not comparing missed strikes, I'm talking about after the fish is on line and getting reeled in. Even with my perceived bad hook-sets, I still consider the jig my confidence lure. I'm just trying to tighten things up a bit.

[Mumpy]

I seen it mentioned once, but one thing I do to my Jigs is I trim the Weed guard at an Angle. I take my finger and run it down the weed guard and I should feel the hook point as I run across it. That's how I know I have my guard trimmed right.

[Hooligan]

I don't believe in trimming weedguards, or in modifying them. Most of the time what you end up with is a weedguard that no longer deflects cover and a guard that takes more effort to bend. I prefer a much longer weed guard, and leave it as is, NorthStar jigs are built that way.

I don't use braid, I have no reason to, the drawbacks are greater than the advantages. I have no issues setting the hook with fluorocarbon, none at all.

In most cases, with a jig hookset, people are getting far too short a sweep to effectively set the hook. When I'm fishing a 7-2 rod, as an example, I will reel down until there is zero slack, and then move as much of that line as I can by moving my rod to the side; if that means I'm turning 90+ degrees to the angle the fish is at, that's what I'm doing. I RARELY set the hook with a jig in vertical fashion, it's too hard to move enough line to do it effectively.

The most basic thing that I've not seen menitoned here: make sure your hooks are sticky sharp. They should come near to grabbing you and drawing blood just from it resting on your thumb. If it doesn't catch on your thumbnail when you pull it across, it isn't sharp.

High speed reels are a very good idea, but they're not always the answer. I have caught many hundreds of swimjig fish on a 3.8:1 reel when they want it moved dead slow, and I still have had zero issue with dropping hooks.

Sure, it happens that I'll lose a fish from time to time, but it is so incredibly rare that I don't really pay much heed to it. I chalk it up as being on the water. Case in point: This past weekend, I was catching fish on one of five Northstar Jigs during pre-fishing and during the tournament. It was like the fish would eat one, turn off and hit another color consistently. What made it even worse is that they were wanting different rates of fall on different structure, but they wouldn't hit anything but a jig. I had five jig rods out and rigged with everything from a 1/4 ounce Alien, to a 5/16 finesse, to a 1 ounce flip/swim. I lost one fish out of about 125 in roughly 24 hours fishing time. That's a PRETTY darned good average.

Check your hooks, make sure they're sharp. Sweep that set to move as much line as possible. Those two things will make giant differences for your jig fishing.

[QUIENYO]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Over the course of this summer I'm going to step out of my comfort zone with my jig set up. I have a spool of 17lb floro and a spool of 15lb yo zuri, I think I'll run both through my current set up. I also plan on picking up a highspeed reel, so that may change things as well. But the first thing I plan on trying is to sharpen up my jig hooks. Thanks again fellas.