New To Jig Fishing...question

[bigal basser]

Hey All,

I'm new to the forums and also new to jig fishing. Done plenty of bassin' in my life but never thrown a jig. That said, I'm gonna start, and to do that, I ordered a few 3/8 oz. Northstar Premiers to get me started, along with some choice Paca Chunks for a trailer. They came in today and look great. My question though is this: I plan to start fishing two nearby rivers that I've never fished. They are both good bass waters and are what most would classify as dark-water, slow-moving rivers. I expect most of my jig fishing will be in 2 to 8 foot of water, maybe occasionally up to 10 feet or so. With a slow-moving current and at that general depth, will the 3/8 oz. and Paca Craw be enough to keep contact with the bottom, or should I go heavier. I've caught many bass on worms and also use as light a weight as I can get away with. That was my thought when I ordered the 3/8 oz. jigs. I plan to order quite a few more but want to be sure what will work best in this scenario. Thoughts?

Thanks for any input.

Al

[Brian Needham]

I would like 1/2 oz but I am sure many will say different.

I fished with some friends last year in some current. It was the first time I ever had fished in current, it was a feeder "creek" off a river.......well I kept setting the hook into air ......and my buddies were laughing and asked why I kept setting the hook, and I said MY LINE IS MOVING, especially on the fall lmao.

I then understood why they always used 1/2oz jigs.

[merc1997]

a 3/8 might be enough weight. really do not know just what your current is. one thing to remember when you go up in weight with your jig, you are also making the profile of your presentation bigger also.

bo

[Arv]

a 3/8 might be enough weight. really do not know just what your current is. one thing to remember when you go up in weight with your jig, you are also making the profile of your presentation bigger also.

bo

x2, I think 3/8 and 1/2oz are good all around weights and comprise most of my jig collection. But I completely agree with bo. Fish them and find out. If you need to bump up the weight, send your 3/8oz jigs to me. I'll take them off your hands free of charge

[papajoe222]

Welcome to the board. I wouldn't be too concerned with that weight in moderate current/shallow water situations. You may, however, need to either trim down your trailer for a faster fall rate to get it down into the deeper holes, or if you run into a situation where you're trying to fish a current break. Too much bulk there will get your jig past your target before it gets down where you want it.

If you've been fishing the same waters with, say a 1/4oz weight when worming you should be okay with a similar weight for your jig selection.

Sorry, you mentioned that you've never fished those rivers, so it's going to take a little experimenting on your part

[Nick86794]

I agree with papajoe. Weight isnt too much of a concern, I usually stick anywhere from a 1/4oz to a 3/8 ounce in about 2-8 feet of water. 9+ I usually have a 3/8-1/2ounce football jig. I like the paca chunk as well!. Papajoe, you might be thinking about the regualr sized chunk that netbait uses. anyways. I usually prefer a black and blue jig this time of year. Also don't forget the swim jigs, great little bait to have if they want something different than a spinnerbait. The other trailer I like to use is the sweet beaver by reaction innovation, give it a look online and see what you think. And fishing rivers will take some experience and learning, however, just keep at it and dont give up, once you get the hang of it, its a blast! I like to use BooYah jigs too, they work well for me, but thats my opinion, I'm sure other people have thier favorite jigs and for good reasons too. Experiement on jigs until you find the right one!

Goodluck!

[Backwoodsbasser]

I use the paca chunk often it's one of my go to jig trailers. Anywhere from 1/4 to and ounce works well on the river I fish which is not to quick but a slow pull to it except for on run riffles and rapids. You may find going a bit heavier will allow for a bit more accuracy as well as holding ground in current the paca chunk is bulky and catches water but its a great plastic yull love it

[merc1997]

bigal basser

here is another tip that i have hardly ever shared with anyone other than very close fishing buddies. many times bass will hit a smaller profile bait or jig, but the depth the bass are holding in or current, as in your case. if you increase the weight of your jig to effectively fish deeper or deal with a swifter current, you many times will be presenting a bigger profile to the bass that they very well may not touch. how do we solve this problem? it is an easy fix, and one that i have used for years. the fix is to add a slip sinker on your line ahead of your jig. use as big of a weight to adjust your fall rate where you want it. you are still fishing with a small profile jig, but now have the weight to get where you need to be. the other advantage to using this method is that when you stick a bass, it just has the weight of the jig in its mouth to sling around, and the extra weight of the slip sinker is slid up you line. give it a try and your will increase your catching rate.

bo

[bigal basser]

That's a great idea, Bo. You never hear of anybody adding weight (in this case, by using a slip sinker) to a jig, but I don't see why not. After all, we use them with worms, don't we? Another plus to that idea, at least for me, is that, since I will be fishing dark water, the little clicking sound of the slip sinker hitting the head of the jig when I hop or shake it, might just enhance my presentation and help Mr. Bass find it more easily.

Thanks to all for your thoughts and ideas--I appreciate the input. I'm thinking I will be just fine with the 3/8, and if need be, I can always add a small slip sinker to get the desired results. I'm excited to try and learn to fish the river...not to mention, seeing my new Northstar jigs and Paca Craws has me a little pumped too.

[WRB]

I see that Nortstar is a forum sponsor and took a few minutes to look at their jigs. Basically 3 styles; swim jig, football and brush head flipping jig, using Owner hooks. Good quality components and they look well made.

Back to your question about weight: you need enough weight to over come the line drag in the current and not more! The heavier the jig weight the faster it will fall to the bottom and into snags. It's been my experience to use a round head when jig fishing in in rivers with current. I don't believe the jig you have is a round head, more than likely a football head, which should work OK as long s you don't let it settle down into the rocks on slack line. With a 3/8 oz football head your line size and type is also important. The line needs to be strong enough to pop the jig loose from snags, yet not so heavy it creates too much drag.

So what line type and size are you planning to use?

Tom

[River Rat316]

I am thinking he has the Premier Alien heads from Tacklewareouse. Like WRB said you just need to get past the drag of your line, there are a couple "tricks" to getting a lighter bait down, the big one is to minimize how much line you have in the water or dragging across the top of the water. This goes against conventional wisdom, but hold your rod tip high to minimize how much of your line is dragging, and also try to make your presentation as vertical as possible. The second one is easy, the first one takes a bit of practice to keep your line from dragging on top of the water but still keeping enough slack in the line getting your bait down.

[shimmy]

quick question for the serious jig fisherman, i have found that i never down size my jig when fishing. I was wondering if some of you actually downsize yourself or stick with the bigger jig. Obviously conventional wisdom always says to downsize when the bite is tough, but it reminds me of the swimbait mentality of staying big no matter what for that one big bite. I tend to keep the latter and wonder how serious jig fisherman decide what size to use as well. The main lake i fish i would guess does not have crawdads as big as the jigs i am fishing, but i still seem to catch a nice one most outings, limiting all small bites and catching some big bites. Curious for some real life advice on the matter.

Troy

[WRB]

The obvious when fishing current, river, power generation riverine lake or tidal current is to remember bass face into the current and like to use current breaks to bring prey to them. So making shorter accurate casts up current and guiding the jig down current keeping just enough controlled slack to feel the jig and to keep from snagging, requires a higher rod tip presentation. If you are used fishing current, fishing a jig should be easy to adapt to.

Good luck!

Tom

[SirSnookalot]

Some of the South Florida guys know the current I fish in almost daily. Being tidal the current not only fluctuates from fast to exceptionally fast but the water level changes by the minute. Bucktail jigs are the choice for just about everyone, usually anywhere from a 1/4 oz to 3/4 oz. I'm fishing pretty much the same way as I fished fly in streams or rivers, letting the current move the bait, in essence I feel I'm using nothing but a weighted fly. In my area this is probably the most productive method to fish with the widest range of species. I do not vary my technique all that much from species to species, to me fish are fish, just have to know the nuances of each. A good bass fisherman can catch any species, and an other species fisherman can catch any bass.

[bigal basser]

I see that Nortstar is a forum sponsor and took a few minutes to look at their jigs. Basically 3 styles; swim jig, football and brush head flipping jig, using Owner hooks. Good quality components and they look well made.

Back to your question about weight: you need enough weight to over come the line drag in the current and not more! The heavier the jig weight the faster it will fall to the bottom and into snags. It's been my experience to use a round head when jig fishing in in rivers with current. I don't believe the jig you have is a round head, more than likely a football head, which should work OK as long s you don't let it settle down into the rocks on slack line. With a 3/8 oz football head your line size and type is also important. The line needs to be strong enough to pop the jig loose from snags, yet not so heavy it creates too much drag.

So what line type and size are you planning to use?

Tom

I am thinking he has the Premier Alien heads from Tacklewareouse. Like WRB said you just need to get past the drag of your line, there are a couple "tricks" to getting a lighter bait down, the big one is to minimize how much line you have in the water or dragging across the top of the water. This goes against conventional wisdom, but hold your rod tip high to minimize how much of your line is dragging, and also try to make your presentation as vertical as possible. The second one is easy, the first one takes a bit of practice to keep your line from dragging on top of the water but still keeping enough slack in the line getting your bait down.

Tom, Chris is right--I am using the Premier with Alien head. From what others have stated and from some communication with Chris, this style of head will be very effective for my conditions. By the way, very few rocks in the rivers I will be fishing--mostly clean, sandy bottoms with a lot of stumps, logs and brush. Because of the current and dark water, very little grass and weeds. Also, they are both generally slow-moving currents, with many breaks and slack areas as well. I am fishing 15 lb. copoly P-Line that is pretty tough, so I think it will be up to the task of being able to do just what you suggested, but yet, hopefully, not create too much drag.

Chris, some good tips here. It is dark water, so I tend to work fairly tight to the cover, meaning shorter casts, thereby accomplishing just what you said--minimizing the amount of line in the water. I worm fish an awful lot--it's what I'm most comfortable with, so I'm used to fishing with my rod held high. Sounds like that will also help with what you stated here and virtually eliminate line drag.

Thanks, guys. Good stuff.