Help Me Escape Fast Fishing!

[tylerwyp]

I probably being similar to many others cannot stand fishing slow. I am not very good at it and have a very short attention span. I always do well on cranks swimjigs fluke and poppers when the bass are active but when the bass are finicky I never catch a thing. I am trying to teach myself to worm fish and jig fish but feel like I'm buying the wrong stuff and fishing it the wrong way. As a side note I mostly fish in ponds that are bout 5-8 ft with relatively clear water. What size/weight and color jigs and worms should I buy and how should I fish them? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Nave]

My father always told me; "patience is a virtue". When working a jig it depends on what time of the year it is. Strike King makes some pretty nice jigs. As for worms, Gary Yamamoto Senko is pretty good place to start!

[LgMouthGambler]

I never started fishing slow until I got my Shimano Sienna 2500 form NAFC. Lately I have been trialing different slow uses. Today I caught 32 fish in 3hrs doing a little slow style fishing. Spinning rigs deffinately help to get you to slow down your presentation. I personally like using a brush hog, or a little ultra vibe craw. You really just have to get out there and practice trying to slow yourself down. It takes time to slow doen, trust me, lol.

[roadwarrior]

We have two threads pinned at the top of this section; several videos in "Videos" (top of page in green); tons in "Fishing Articles"

and threads on a lot of pages if you want to thumb through the back pages here in "Tackle". Jigs and jig fishing are very popular

threads. So, to answer your question will take some research on your part, but I will give one specific response on how I generally

fish a jig:

 

First of all, some say match the colors of native crawdads in your pond. That's not me. I have an extensive collection of colors

as most guys do. Start with a couple of all-time classics: black w/ blue trailer, PBJ and Falcon with matching trailers. All of my

trailers are Rage Tail Craws or Lobsters.

 

Everyone has a variety of weights including a favorite. Right now mine is the Siebert Outdoors Storm Jig, 1/2 oz - 1oz football head. 

 

Line is 50lb Sufix 832.

 

Rod is 7'1" HF, specifically BCR854

 

Reel is Curado 200E7

 

Presentation: Cast our and let the jig settle to the bottom. SET THE HOOK if the jig stops falling. Otherwise, once it reaches

the bottom let it sit for at least 30 seconds. Then move it up 6"-12" by lifting your rod tip. Picture in your mind a craw moving

over a rock. Better yet, let's hope your jig is actually moving over structure or cover!

 

That's the basics of one method.

 

 

 

[K_Mac]

RW gives one method of "slow fishing" and references threads to many others. As the Nike commercial says, "Just do it!" I won't add any more specifics, but will tell you once you begin to catch fish-esp the larger ones often caught with this style, you will understand that forcing yourself to slow down is sometimes all the difference and worth the effort. Good luck.

[Arv]

My advice would to be to keep at it. Once you start landing fish and gaining confidence I bet you'll start to enjoy it more. My go to worm is a weightless texas rigged or wacky rigged senko worm. They may not always catch monsters, but they do flat out catch fish. You may also try a GY Fat Ika.

If you're on a pond with clear water, I would recommend 1/4oz to 1/2oz. I use 3/8oz a lot. As far as colors, I stick to browns, greens and black with other accents. Like RW said, there are many resources on how to fish a jig, what line, rod, reel to use, etc. etc. There's no right or wrong way IMO. I'll vary my retrieve until I get (or don't get) a bite. I use some combination of dragging, hopping, twitching and dead sticking a jig. I get most of my bites when the jig has settled on the bottom. It is usually very subtle so a sensitive rod and line are key. Good luck!

[Lunker7]

My father always told me; "patience is a virtue". When working a jig it depends on what time of the year it is. Strike King makes some pretty nice jigs. As for worms, Gary Yamamoto Senko is pretty good place to start!

yes the Yamamato senkos are a good place to start. You actually don't even have to fish these that slow.

[Comfortably Numb]

I have been doing alot of winter fishing this year with light (1/16-1/8) weights and plastics or jig. It is really teaching me to slow down and feel what is going on. Cant have any wind though.

[jbsoonerfan]

I'm glad I saw this thread. I too am a "fast" fisherman. I love the thought of catching fish on a jig. I even have a ton of jigs and a specific setup for jig fishing. However, I do not have the patience to fish a jig. Last year was my first year to fish tourneys and I feel that I missed out bu not being able to fish a jig. We did great in the first few tourn when they were hitting a crankbait, lipless cranks, t-rigs in shallow water,  and spinner baits. However, when the water turned warm and we needed to slow down and fish a lil deeper, we didn't have much success.

 

I am going to try to make it a point to improve my jig fishing this year.

[roadwarrior]

Well, jig fishing isn't always slow. The swim jig is another very effective lure that is always an alternative to a spinnerbait.

The trailer options are unlimited.  Here are four I use: Rage Tail Single Tail Grub and Menace; LFT Live Magic Shad

and GYCB Swim Senko.

 

 

 

 

[tylerwyp]

Thanks for everyone's input! It's reassuring to know that there is no right or wrong way to do it is is just patience. Good luck to everyone!

[nvhsaccel]

As others have said I too enjoy the football jig especially when fishing slow its easier for me to drag or hop on the bottom when trying for the finicky bite. Cant wait to get together again this spring!

[Bankbeater]

After fishing cranks for 10+ years, I couldn't slow down either.  What helped me was dead sticking.  I would move the handle a little bit and then let go of it and count to 15.  After doing that for a while bringing in a plastic with short hops seemed like nothing to me.