Jigs And Spinner Bait

[GoTakeANap]

Hello guys. Just joined the website. The last few weeks ive gotten into bass fishing(more than I have ever been). Went out and bought a bass boat and all. Ive bass fished all my life but im ready to try out some new lures.

Need a few pointers on jigs and spinner bait. I have never had any luck fishing with either one. I dont know if im doing something wrong, or not using the best setup, or brands of lures. Any tips and info be helpful.

[hatrix]

As for spinners I like War Eagle or Terminators and there is tons of opinions and what not on here about jigs if you do a search.

[EwadeG15]

For a spinnerbait there is many ways to retrieve it. you can slow roll it and get it down deeper or you can fish it the way i like to do it and use it in the upper 5 ft. of the water column with a pretty fast retrieve. My 3 most important tips for fishing a spinnerbait is: 1. don't be afraid to get it in the trees or whatever you may be fishing. get it as close to cover as possible. 2. most of my bites come when i have a change in my retrieve. for example, keep a steady retrieve then slow it down and speed it up again to make the blades jump. 3. use a trailer hook. my trailer hook has caught me so many fish that the regular hook would have missed.

For a jig, most the time i fish a football head in rocks and i just pull it slowly with the rod tip a few feet at a time across the bottom keeping contact with the bottom the entire time. when you feel it get stuck on a rock or log, lift up the rod tip very lightly to pull the jig over whatever it is. most of the time if you try to jerk it over fast you will get it snagged. but thats all there is to it is keeping the jig on the bottom, maybe the occasional hop will also help cause the bass will bite it on the fall. I always use rage tail craw as trailers on my jigs but i suppose that is a personal preference. A jig bite can be hard to detect a lot of the times, so watch for your line to jump or start going to the side, reel up the slack and slam into a big bucket mouth.

...back to spinnerbait tips...in muddy/stained water i like to use bigger blades with more vibration such as a (Colorado) blade. In clear water I like to use a double willow-leaf to keep it high in the water column.

[LgMouthGambler]

As far as jigs go, I use a Gambler 1/2 or 3/4 oz in blue/black, and an Gambler Ugly Otter trailer.

[Bankbeater]

Welcome aboard! The first thing that I would do is start reading the articles on this forum.

My favorite way to fish a spinnerbait is to let it fall to the bottom and just start slow rolling it.

[Nitrofreak]

My favorite jigs are produced by Strike King, the Bitsy jig with Rage Tail craw is one of my best jig's.

My favorite spinner is the Hawg Caller, it's a willow leaf 3 blade, 3/8 oz.

Both are often fished the same exact way.

[GoTakeANap]

thanks for all the welcomes guys. im about to check out the sponsors stuff and all the things you guys use. thanks for all the info. hopefully a few other people will also post what they use as well. thanks again.

[guest]

I've never had much luck with spinner baits either. I've caught a few fish on them, but find I have much better luck with a flashy lipless crankbait (rat'l trap).

I don't catch as many fish on jigs as I do on t-rigged plastics. However, jigs seem to catch better fish. I usually use a jig fairly close quarters and around woody structure. Tips: Learn to flip the jig with the opposite hand you retrieve with; this will help you feel bites on the fall and allow for quicker hooksets. I flip it in near structure, follow it down with the tip of my rod with a little slack in the line (enough to let it fall naturally but still be able to feel a strike). If I don't get a strike on the fall I shake it and bounce it a few times, then pull it out. I then flip around the same structure in a few different spots, then move on.

I don't like to cover a lot of water with a jig because they don't slip through cover as well as a plastic. I mostly do a vertical presentation with a jig and only fish them when I'm looking for a quality fish.

If you are not confident in a lure, force yourself to use it for an entire trip. Most likely you will catch at least a few fish on it and build some confidence in it.

[GoTakeANap]

since im new to jigs. when you fish a jig, do you long cast it and jig it back across the bottom or just flip them in and around cover?

[Hooligan]

since im new to jigs. when you fish a jig, do you long cast it and jig it back across the bottom or just flip them in and around cover?

Yes.

It's tough to fish a jig wrong. Swim it, craw it, hop it, bump it, rip it, burn it.

There are flipping jigs, yes, and there are casting jigs. That's getting into a whole different ball of worms. Or something like that.

[GoTakeANap]

Yes.

It's tough to fish a jig wrong. Swim it, craw it, hop it, bump it, rip it, burn it.

There are flipping jigs, yes, and there are casting jigs. That's getting into a whole different ball of worms. Or something like that.

got ya. didnt know that. the jig ive been using is a footballhead jig. that a casting or flipping jig?

[River Rat316]

Football jigs are usually more of a casting jig, they usuallly have a light to medium wire hook, there are exceptions to every "rule" of jigs, my premier football head has the same hook as the premier flipping jig so it breaks that rule. My advice is if you are just getting into jigs is to get some cheaper jigs (like the pro series on my website) and get like 3 different colors black and blue, something in green pumpkin, and then something in brown, get 2 or 3 different weights like 3/8 all the way up to 3/4 to cover all situations and fish them exclusively to get used to jig fishing. As far as spinnerbaits, I am kind of a junkie, I have spinnerbaits from 1/8oz all the way up to 1ozers and about 30 different colors and blade combos, but like Hooligan I tend to throw a heavier model more often than not.

[GoTakeANap]

let me as you a question river rat. your avatar pic, is that a flipping jig or casting jig?

[Hooligan]

That's both.

Think of it like this, really: The only jig, in essence, that is generally not the best choice as a flip jig is a football. The Alien, as shown in RR's avatar, is an excellent jig for both casting and for pitching/flipping to cover. It excels in hard cover, and is very, very good in rock. It's superb as a casting jig for hard bottoms, as well. If you look at the jig below, it's got an inline eye, and a stout(er) hook that is meant for fishing in heavy cover. The eye creates a leading edge that will allow the jig to come through grass and cover very well. The way to hook sits, also, gives a very good hook angle in a flipping presentation, opposed to many casting jigs.

[NoBassPro]

With spinnerbaits, blade size and color are the two most important things as far as I'm concerned. 1/2 - 3/4 oz with a 4.5 or 5 willowleaf is pretty much my standard, but thats not to say thats what would work where you are.

[Michael DiNardo]

All things being equal, a willowleaf will run deeper, while the more rounded blades will "thump" more and run shallower. I would not use a spinnerbait without a ball bearing swivel.

Mike