Fish Here Don't Eat Jigs?

[roadwarrior]

Jigs work everywhere, but not all the time anywhere!

[TriCityBassin']

Speaking of profile.  Here is a picture of the "small/finesse" jigs i use a lot.  They are made locally and only available at one tackle store in Richmond, Va.

 

Note the total jig size compared to the zoom chunk and the 3/8oz 4/0 hook.  This is the size that has worked for me on this lake. 

 

I did try to use just a Gambler little otter not on a jig and got bit....all little fish.

 

Question.  There has been some discussion of jigs not working on shallow muddy lakes for different people.  This goes against punching mats.  Most punch baits resemble craws.  Grass grows best on a muddy/soft bottom.  Thoughts? lol

 

 

Thank you to everyone who has chimed in on this discussion.  The dialogue is great!

[TriCityBassin']

Nitrofreak

 

I could absolutely be picking the wrong places.  I took the approach of using it where plastics work.

 

Typically, i stay on the deeper banks with a fast taper into deep water with blow downs.  When snaking through the cypress, I do really good on slider worms but no heavy hitters. 

I follow up with the jig looking for a bigger bite....no luck.

 

I have never seen any ditches/drains or sharp drops for old creek beds. As it was all shallow stuff that got flooded.

 

The lake was built at or before 1918 (stamp on the train bridge in the back of the lake).  Possible that with the low current flow, most of the breaks have silted in.

 

As i read through this topic, I am starting to picture crazy color combos that I don't have in my jig box.  like green pumpkin/blue skirt with an orange trailer, etc.  Who knows, it could just be the wrong color.

[Nitrofreak]

I honestly don't think it's your jig size but it just seems that you may be in the wrong place imo, the blue/black should work there as well as just black, but you keep mentioning how soft the bottom is,  I think if you can find some harder bottom areas, the jig should be more successful and give you that jig bite you are looking for.

 

Is it soft around the bridge areas too? 

[TriCityBassin']

no, just deep by the bridges.  Lol.......12-15' deep! hahaha, like i said swampy.

 

Why the correlation with hard bottom and jig?

 

Would it not matter more the type of cover and depth associated with the area and not bottom composition?  If we were talking smallies, i would be on board.

Again, jigs work in lillypads, grass, etc. and these areas are soft bottom.  Crayfish live in soft bottom areas (they burrow into the banks) and so do bluegills.

 

Just trying to learn the correlation as I have never considered it.

 

Now, i am not talking soft like you step and sink up to your knees.

[Nitrofreak]

no, just deep by the bridges.  Lol.......12-15' deep! hahaha, like i said swampy.

 

Why the correlation with hard bottom and jig?

 

Would it not matter more the type of cover and depth associated with the area and not bottom composition?  If we were talking smallies, i would be on board.

Again, jigs work in lillypads, grass, etc. and these areas are soft bottom.  Crayfish live in soft bottom areas (they burrow into the banks) and so do bluegills.

 

Just trying to learn the correlation as I have never considered it.

 

Now, i am not talking soft like you step and sink up to your knees.

 

Not the hard bottom and the bait, the hard bottom and the bass, thats the correlation I am reffering to, hard bottom and hard cover provide a couple of different things, bridge pilings, boat docks, rocks, all will have algae growth which attract bait fish, places that have changes especially abrupt changes like a big rock or a couple of rocks in close proximity of one another create opportunities for bass to ambush their pray, silt bottoms don't supply enough food source for bait fish but however is great for plant life and bass love the 02 rich water that the plants help provide along with the cover, but if a dominate species other than bass already occupies that area, then bass will be hard to find in such cover.

 

Yes I agree craws love to burrow themselves in the silt, but they will also find cracks and crevases in which to protect themselves as well.

 

If you can find a grassy area in a litlle deeper water with a rocky or sandy bottom, thats where I would be working my jig.

[A-Jay]

Yes, all the time.  They are a staple of mine when fishing the bigger tidal rivers here and lakes like John H. Kerr.  I consider myself skilled with them (not a pro, but i hold my own).

 

I am fishing in a lake, not a pond.  Roughly 700 surface acres (i think).

I have used swim jigs in Sexy Shad....only caught pike on those as well.

Typically I do very well on Bass in this lake and my staple is a 7.5" Culprit, finesse worm, spinnerbait or topwater.  I am trying to get a bigger bite with the jig.

The lake is basically swamp, some deep areas but not a lot of structure..sharp breaks into creek channels, etc.  Absolutely no rock as it is on the eastern coastal plain, all sand and mud.

Points are looong..and slow tapering not what you see in bigger impoundments.

 

I have used them on brush on deep drop banks, cypress bases, laydowns and docks (which are few on this lake.)

One thing i have not tried is red.  I don't see many red crayfish around here.  I mostly stay with black/blue or pumpkin/pb&J.

 

None of you have had a body of water that they would not hit a jig in?  That is shocking.

 

Here is a link for info.  http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/waterbodies/display.asp?id=36

 

Something to try -

Go to spot where you've caught fish (highlighted in red above)

Anchor your boat right where the fish were caught. Not where your boat was when you caught them, actually anchor right on those fish.

Then turn around and cast your jig out into the open water.

Let it go to the bottom and work it back S L O W L Y - up what ever drop there is.

In fact, fan cast that whole area.

I bet if you do this in enough of the "Spots" where you've taken fish before, eventually you'll make contact with the size fish you're looking for, as you'll be fishing the water they frequent.

Doesn't work every where or every time but it does work.

 

Good Luck

 

A-Jay

[TriCityBassin']

A jay,  i have never done that with any bait on that lake.  novel idea.  I have done it on larger reserviors with more abundant pelagic baitfish. 

 

I am gonna try that this summer!

 

I also like the clarification about hard bottom.  Explained that way, I was looking at it totally different.  That too is an interesting take on it.

[A-Jay]

A jay,  i have never done that with any bait on that lake.  novel idea.  I have done it on larger reserviors with more abundant pelagic baitfish. 

 

I am gonna try that this summer!

 

I also like the clarification about hard bottom.  Explained that way, I was looking at it totally different.  That too is an interesting take on it.

 

OK - well what ever you do - do not fish the same technique I described using a hollow belly swim bait on a 1/2  or 3/4 oz jighead - it simply doesn't work . . . . . .

 

A-Jay

[roadwarrior]

Something to try -

Go to spot where you've caught fish (highlighted in red above)

Anchor your boat right where the fish were caught. Not where your boat was when you caught them, actually anchor right on those fish.

Then turn around and cast your jig out into the open water.

Let it go to the bottom and work it back S L O W L Y - up what ever drop there is.

In fact, fan cast that whole area.

I bet if you do this in enough of the "Spots" where you've taken fish before, eventually you'll make contact with the size fish you're looking for, as you'll be fishing the water they frequent.

Doesn't work every where or every time but it does work.

 

Good Luck

 

A-Jay

 

What you really need is a number of these spots marked. Spend 30 minutes and move to the next spot if you don't

get a bite. Fish will stack up in these spots nearly everyday, but not necessarily at the time you are there. Rotate

around and come back. Last summer two boats and four fishermen struggled without a single bite for 5 hours. When

we finally found 'em we caught 45 bass in an hour and a half!  

[WRB]

no, just deep by the bridges. Lol.......12-15' deep! hahaha, like i said swampy.

Why the correlation with hard bottom and jig?

Would it not matter more the type of cover and depth associated with the area and not bottom composition? If we were talking smallies, i would be on board.

Again, jigs work in lillypads, grass, etc. and these areas are soft bottom. Crayfish live in soft bottom areas (they burrow into the banks) and so do bluegills.

Just trying to learn the correlation as I have never considered it.

Now, i am not talking soft like you step and sink up to your knees.

Check out the thread "how bass bite jigs".

Bass normally avoid soft mucky bottom areas unless they have no other choices. The reason is the muck is made up of decayed debris and some soil that depletes dissolved oxygen. The bass tend to stay under green weeds or wood suspend off the bottom where they are more comfortable, when bottoms are muck.

A jig is fairly heavy and sinks into the muck and T-rigged worm, unless the weight is pegged to the hook, the worm guides suspended off the muck, giving the bass a better opportunity to engulf into it's mouth without sucking in the muck. If the bass doesn't strike the jig on the fall, the jig hits bottom.

You are using lighter weight jigs that falls a little slower, that is good. But you are fishing in a few feet of water, the time is short for the bass to strike.

You can use a Brrush Hog for a trailer to slow the fall for example. Take a look at Zero Gravity jigs that fall 1/3 rd the rate of traditional jigs. For colors stay with PBJ jig skirts and soft plastics similar to the worms that work.

Tea colored water tends to defuse light and I have found the copper flakes and purple or blue neon highlights work good. If it's overcast black/ chartreuse skirts with black trailers can work at times.

Tom

[JT Bagwell]

I actually have a lake that I catch a lot of big Bass at but almost never catch anything there on a jig (and jigs are my go-to bait).

 

Over the years I have caught a handful there on jigs but not very many. I actually catch a much higher number of fish there on Senkos than I do at any other lake too. It is definately what I would call a Senko lake, any size, any color.

 

It's funny how that stuff works.