Jig/worm Questions

[VinnieT]

1.What makes a good jig trailer? 2.How do you prevent worms/jig skirts from melting? 3. Will a worm or soft plastic lose it's scent if stored in a plano box?

[Tuckahoe Joe]

Good jig trailers: Craws, flukes, single or double tail grubs, maybe even half a senko.

Worms/jig skirts melting: Never had that problem but heard something about some chemical in the plastic reacting to a differnt kind of plastic. Im sure others can elaborate.

Worms losing scent in plano boxes: Its possible. They'll most likely hold they're scent better if kept in the original bags.

[mc6524]

As far as jig trailers it depends on the season. Pork trailers work good when the waters cold < 55 degrees. It's more compact and when you downsize your jig it falls slower.n the best jig trailer in my opinion is any craw imitation, twin tail grub plastic chunk.

Jig usually melt in the heat if they have rubber skirts. Silicone skirts have less than a rubber when it comes to melting.

Any plastic bait with a scent runs the risk of loosing thatbscent over time unless it's in a airtight bag.

[Fontana Finesse Man]

What makes a good jig trailer? Action and rate of fall. Summer time, I like a crawdad trailer with craws that really flap. Until it is really cold in winter, I like a double tail twister. After water gets "colder" I will switch to a big craw without as much action or pork chunk.

How do you keep worms from melting? I leave bags of zoom worms in the sun to fade them a lot of times. I am sure some types melt, but I haven't had a problem with that.

As far as scent, never really noticed it making a huge difference, but I go thru a lot of soft plastics so mine don't sit in the box along time.

[CPBassFishing]

Just don't leave stuff in the sun in hot weather and it won't melt. Another note. Do not mix Elaztech plastics with other brands, they will melt. They also melt easily in the sun.

[VinnieT]

How long do you recommend the craw trailers be? Also, how long do you think the soft plastics could stay in a Plano box before they lose their flavor?

[merc1997]

as far as jig skirts melting, you would be talking about a rubber skirt. putting a rubber skirt up wet is a sure way to have one melt. one way to help prevent rubber skirts from melting is to rub a bit of armorall on them. it actually enhances the color too. plus, it makes your skirt slicker resulting in getting a better hookset because is makes it harder for the bass to clamp down on it.

bo

[VinnieT]

as far as jig skirts melting, you would be talking about a rubber skirt. putting a rubber skirt up wet is a sure way to have one melt. one way to help prevent rubber skirts from melting is to rub a bit of armorall on them. it actually enhances the color too. plus, it makes your skirt slicker resulting in getting a better hookset because is makes it harder for the bass to clamp down on it.

bo

What do you mean putting one up wet?

[merc1997]

vinnie, if you put a rubber skirted jig back into your box with the skirt still wet, and leave it, most of the time, the skirt will melt. you need to let the skirt get completely dry before storing back into storage.

bo

[Arv]

1.What makes a good jig trailer? 2.How do you prevent worms/jig skirts from melting? 3. Will a worm or soft plastic lose it's scent if stored in a plano box?

How long do you recommend the craw trailers be? Also, how long do you think the soft plastics could stay in a Plano box before they lose their flavor?

1. A good jig trailer - I don't think there's a formula for this. It all depends on the fish, time of year, water clarity, etc. I focus mostly on size and weight of the jig when deciding. I'm not a big stickler on color, as long as it looks close its always worked for me. Bottom contact jigs, I use a craw trailer. Swim jigs, I mostly use a paddle tail trailer. However, if I don't have a specific pattern I may use a Rage Craw on a NSCB Flip N' Swim jig to cover both applications. The Rage Craw has great action and can act like a twin tail grub (a popular swim jig trailer) or, obviously, as a crawdad. You can also hop/stroke a swim jig across the bottom to make it look like a dying baitfish. So, in summary, a lot of things can make a good trailer, just experiment and find what you like best.

2. To prevent plastics from melting, I keep them in the original package and do my best to keep them out of extreme heat.

3. I'm not sure if they will lose scent since I keep them in the original pack.

4. Craw trailer length can be varied depending on what you want the jig to do/look like. If the fish are finicky I'll usually use a smaller craw trailer on a 1/4 oz jig (I really like Strike King's Rodent). If the fish are more aggressive I'll usually use a larger presentation. However, the skirt size has a lot to do with this as well. I have some smaller finesse jigs that I tied myself that have thinner, shorter skirts than you would find on a "normal" jig. But I also bought a Berkley Gripper Finesse jig to try it out. This is a 1/4oz finesse jig but it has a very bulky skirt. I like it because it has a larger profile and a slower fall than my other finesse jigs. As a general rule, I like the skirt to expose the claws and a little bit of the body of the plastic.

Hopefully this is helpful

[Bankbeater]

I will use any plastic I have for a jig trailer. Once the bait gets too banged up to be used on a t-rig, or a c-rig I put in in a plastic bag and keep it with my jigs.

I have never seen a skirt melt before, but I guess it is possible if the conditions are right.

The scent depends on the bait. I have some plastics that have lost their scent, but I have other that still smell up the box if I don't put them back in their package.

[*Hootie]

I like Zoom super chunk Jr's, Berkley chigger chunk, Netbait Paca chunks. Another that has become one of my favorites is the Havoc Pit Chunk, not to be confused with the Pit Boss.

Hootie