Pitching Jigs

[Stouty]

Heavy or light? Dark or bright? Thick or thin? Short or long ( trailer and skirt)? Anywhere or just timber? Slow or fast action? Rattle or no rattle? I need some help with these answers, Im new to pitching and don't I ow what to expect. Strong strike or a weak strike? On the fall? How would I present this slow or fast? Thanks

[RyneB]

I use a 3/8 oz head usually. Black/blue is my favorite color. Rage craw trailer to match skirt. I throw my jig anywhere and everywhere. I only throw a brush head into timber. Seems a football head gets hung up in the brush. A football is good for rocks and other open water type structure, just not good around trees.

[BassinMD]

3/8 will cover 90% of your jig fishing IMO, and I always buy jigs with very full skirts as you can trim them down and pull strands to adjust fall rate and bait bulk. Even changing trailers can help slow or speed up the fall rate. Let water color dictate the color of your jig as well, if it is murky less than 2' visibility go with black and blue or all black or even black and some chartreuse. If it is clear 5+ feet of visibility stick natural colors like green and brown. As far as skirt length I almost alway trim my skirts to 1/4 inch below the hook so they flare for on the fall and at rest on the bottom. And the trailer I like to keep my jigs compact unless the fish are very aggressive, since I only use chunks I don't usually have to trim them but I like to have the claw and just the head of the trailer showing to make it appear as a hidding crawdad. For rattles if I am imitatting a crawdad I have a rattle 100% of the time for swim jigs I never use a rattle. And finally the bite, if it doesn't feel normal swing this is also something you will get a feel for over time and be a line watcher I your line jumps swing, of it runs to the side swing, and obv if your rod jumps swing, hope this helps man good luck and don't give up on jigs, they can be frustrating but they will put some pigs in your hands

Tight lines!

[Hi Salenity]

Heavy or light? Dark or bright? Thick or thin? Short or long ( trailer and skirt)? Anywhere or just timber? Slow or fast action? Rattle or no rattle? I need some help with these answers, Im new to pitching and don't I ow what to expect. Strong strike or a weak strike? On the fall? How would I present this slow or fast? Thanks

YEP

[Captain Obvious]

The rule is when throwing jigs there are no rules. That being said here are some guide lines for "Pitching Jigs"

Heavy or light?

let depth be your guide here.

1'-12' throw a 3/8 oz jig

12'-15' throw a 1/2 oz jig

15'-20' throw a 3/4 oz jig

20'+ - 1 oz jig

Unless your fishing thick grass or trying to cover water quickly this applies. If you are fishing grass or trying to cover water faster then just bump every size up one depth.

Dark or bright?

Since we are talking pitching jigs stick with dark colors. Black/Blue, Brown, Green Pumpkin should cover all your fishing needs just fine. Not saying that you shouldn't try a white jig or something with more color to it. These are just the colors I pitch almost 90% of the time. If you want something a little brighter you can dye your trailer with a little chartreuse JJ's Magic.

Thick or thin

Thick because you could always thin it out. If you are looking for numbers then thinner might be better but I find thick skirt will get you decent numbers and bigger fish.

Short or long ( trailer and skirt)

Since we are pitching jigs I would say have a shorter trailer because most of the time a shorter trailer goes through cover better. As for the skirt I usually trim mine a little but still keep it behind the hook. Again if your fishing for bigger fish you better off with a longer skirt but that will to a point cut down on the number of fish. Most of the time I want the end of my trailer at least level with my jigs longest strands preferably a little longer.

Anywhere or just timber

In any type of cover. Only in extremely thick grass will I tie something else on. Then again you could always throw a A-Jay rig but that's getting a little to advance right now.

Slow or fast action

I already answered this question when I was talking about weight size.

Rattle or no rattle

I only use rattles in very dirty water,sometimes at night, if the water level has risen due to rain or flooding. The other 90% of the time no rattle.

Strong strike or a weak strike

Sometimes its a thump, sometimes its a tap tap, and sometimes you don't feel a thing welcome to bass fishing

On the fall

Yep most of the time but again you never know.

Like are said there are no rules for jig fishing. The best way to answer you questions is just to fish them and develop you own opinions about them. Follow these guide lines but they are just guides when you start tweaking them to fit your needs is when you will really start nailing them.

Good Luck

Capt.O

[Big-O]

I agree with the info above as well, and here's my 2 cents Flippin/pitchin is a drawing a reaction strike for the most part. For all of the waters that I fish regardless of locale, in 3 ft or more depth I recommend 3/8 to 1/2oz minimum and up to 1oz for increased depths and/or windy conditions. Slightly heavier presentations are easier to control for precise accuracy and better water entry when pitching, IMO. Rattles in dirty water or low light conditions. I use high action trailers regardless of water temps and slow my own movements or cover the water much slower and more thouroghly in cold conditions. Change the length or bulk in order to tweak the bite to optimum results. Craw style trailers are a standard throughout most parts of the country but I will use the Eeliminator when a longer profile is preferred by the fish and rigged as shown (3/4 inch off of head and threaded on the hook tail turned up toward the hook point)... This is not a plug for the bait... the wide tail whip gets'em excited on the fall or swimming and no other trailer can produce this action.

This is all my opinion and hope it helps!

[roadwarrior]

Completely new to me...I have never used the Eliminator as a trailer.

Thanks for the tip!

[Stouty]

Thanks everyone this has really helped a lot!