What Jigs Do You Use In The Spring?

[Nick86794]

You can talk about size, weight, shapes, colors, skirts, and trailers too! anything goes! I either use Black and Blue, Black and Blue and Purple, or Green Pumpkin! and usually in 1/4oz or 3/8oz area.

[aharris]

Of course it depends on water clarity, but in the spring time our waters in SC have warmed up a good bit and bream are pretty active. I usually try to match the hatch and find something similar to what they look like. Cant go wrong with neutral colors and black and blue. As far as trailors go, it just depends on water temps. If they're still kinda chilly, I'll go with something with less action, but if the water is up in the high 50's-low 60's I'll go with a trailor with more action. Sizes usually depend on whether im fishing cover or structure. Heavy cover, I'll go to a heavier jig but if Im fishing structure such as drop offs and points, I'll go with a smaller football head or something. Most of the time here in SC, spring means the fish are up shallow so I'll go with the bigger stuff.

[gripnrip]

I do 2 things in the spring. I slow roll a Biffle head with a craw type trailer. Reeling where it stays in contact withe bottom. I also use a 3/4 oz football jig in the same manner. As far as colors. Pick your poison!

[mnbassman23]

Up shallow- 1/4-3/8oz alien head jig in a sunfish pattern mostly, but also black/blue, bright blue, green pumpkin, and watermelon red. If the fish are sluggish i'll switch over to a hair jig in black or watermelon. Also to cover water i'll throw a 1/4oz swim jig in sunfish color. 

 

First drop off or deeper- Football or Alien head jigs, depending on structure, in the same colors as above. Weight will range from 3/8-3/4oz. Also i'll slow roll swim jigs in 3/8-3/4oz depending on depth. When i'm throwing the swim jig I usually put a 4-5" soft swimbait on and give those big females something to munch on.  

 

Trailers all depend on water temp and the fishes mood.  Less active, less action.. more active, more action. 

[that possum]

3/8 football jig, usually with a trailer of some sorts. Black/blue most the time but sometimes I go to a red/black.

[roadwarrior]

I don't think jigs have a season. I'm sure some colors are extra special on certain lakes,

but all the standard colors are somebody's favorite! The Seibert Outdoor's Big O/ Rage

Lobster, (both in Falcon), is one of my go-to combinations. Black with a blue trailer has

always been good to me, too.

 

 

[MrSwimJig]

5/16oz white Northstar Swim jig and a 3/8oz black and blue Northstar Premiere jig.

[Shane J]

I don't think jigs have a season. I'm sure some colors are extra special on certain lakes,

but all the standard colors are somebody's favorite! The Seibert Outdoor's Big O/ Rage

Lobster, (both in Falcon), is one of my go-to combinations. Black with a blue trailer has

always been good to me, too.

 

 

You will be hearing more from this combo after I get back from down south after the Classic, I promise. We will probably use the Falcon as our dark option, and Green Pumpkin/Purple Gold as our light option, though (on a Tilapia colored jig).

[Big Bassman]

5/16 & 3/8 in dark green w/green metal flake trailer, black w/blue trailer, and brown w/orange trailer. Usage depends on lake and water clarity. Agree with jigs good year around. Sometimes use a jig with long worm trailer in bright blue or grape color and swim it as well.

[WRB]

I will be the odd man out in this thread because Jig and trailer colors are just as important as soft plastic worms to me.

In the spring which I break into 3 seasonal periods; pre spawn, spawn and post spawn for the basses calendar.

Crayfish molt (grow new shells) during the "spring" time period. Pre spawn, the transition period between winter and spring, bass are in deeper water and looking for high protein prey like crayfish aka crawdads.

The cold water period (winter) crawdads burrow into clay banks and emerge to migrate into shallower or warmer water. During this period the crawdads tend to molt, shed their dark winter shells, the new shells are more transparent and greenish amber color where I fish. These molts are often called soft shell crawdads and bass target them. Jigs that have similar coloration; cinnamon brown/green (spring craw) is a good choice. We don't have black/blue crawdads where I fish, so don't fish them during the day time, good contrast color at night.

The other color combo I like is black/ purple/ brown or "anytime-anywhere"!

The spring craw I use brown or green trailers (pork rind) and soft plastics with black/red or purple high lights.

The anytime-anywhere color I use black, brown and purple (pork rind) and soft plastics black/red or purple high lights. Skirt materials are; deer hair or living rubber or silicone.

When there is a shad spawn I add white/green/chartreuse skirts with white trailers.

Tom

PS; jig weight is 7/16 oz about 90% of the time.

[Nick86794]

Thanks everyone! I'm a jig person myself, but I always love listening to different opinions that people have on fishing jigs in the spring because obviously everyone has a different preference, and I always am intrigued by different lures and techniques that people use! I myself usually stick to black and blue and green pumpkin, but I think I'm going to give some of these colors a try too, just to mix up my arsenal a.k.a. weapons of bass destruction! 

 

As for trailers I'm 50/50 when it comes to porks and plastics. I usually use Uncle Josh porks and missile baits and reaction innovation. As for my jigs, I still use   Boo-Yah, but I am going to start using Intruder jigs just because I'm tired of the silicone/rubber bands breaking, also with paint chipping too.

[Big Bassman]

When I first started bass fishing seriously I always used real pork trailers as well. Many times I would trim the excess from the bottom of the chunk and give it more action. As plastics got better and better over the years I use them exclusively now. Thanks Nick for reminding me, it's hell getting old!

[Bluebasser86]

I use a lot of finesse jigs and slow dragged football jigs in the spring because I'm fishing deeper, more open water. The water tends to be fairly clear so I use mostly natural, craw colors. Anything from 1/4-3/4 ounce depending on the depth.

[papajoe222]

I'm of a different mindset when it comes to jigs in the spring, especially during the pre-spawn.  Although I do fish jigs, the ones I use most often aren't traditional bass jigs. I'll take a bare jig like a stand up or football and dress it with a plastic bait.  Often that's a reaper or paddle tail grub on a stand up, or a spider grub or single tailed grub like a Kalins. As for colors, I stick to white or Holo-Clear or smoke/black pepper or just good ole black. The other style of jig I'll use is a Fuzz-E-Grub in white with either a red or pink head.

I pick jigs with light wire hooks and fish them on spinning gear with 8lb test original Stren.  Once the fish move up and start checking out spawning sites, I'll switch to traditional swimming or arkie head jigs depending on cover or lack of it, but if a cold front moves in and drives them deep, I'm back to these combinations.

[Bankbeater]

I will start with a 3/8 jig in blue/black, black, black/red, or wateremelon.  I will try and match the color of the trailer with the color of the skirt.  Normally, I will use a super chunk, or craw, as it warms up outside.  This time of year I would put on something that looks like a pork chunk.

[Bobby Uhrig]

Evo Jig

[JayKumar]

Black/black or black/blue swim-jigs early spring. For me they just work.

[ColdSVT]

I like a 5/16 or 3/8 in black and blue and green pumpkin with either a swimin chunk or a sweet beaver trailer

I also looooove to texas rig a sweet beaver in the spring usually a blue craw swirl or red pumpkin seed

[.ghoti.]

i use the same jigs all year. Trailers are selected to modify the rate of fall. Colors selected by conditions.

[merc1997]

i use hair jigs until the water temp reaches around 58, and then i switch to rubber or silicone. weight wise, 1/4 on the hair jigs, and then 3/8 to 1/2 oz. on the rbber skirted jigs.

bo

[J Francho]

In spring, I like to have a bit of red in the skirt and trailer.  Catch a crayfish, and you'll see why.