Do You Struggle?

[Brent Bartman]

The key I have learned with only jig fishing for two years now is practice. I pitch and flip in my yard every night. And I fish 2-3 days a week uaully two evenings and one full weekend day. My skills are still improving I master one skill and then learn the other arm. I'm no pro but I can put the jig where I want evey time- almost also I've learned the importance of pitching or flipping a log wait 3 seconds bounce it an wait 3 more seconds then I slowly reel it in swimming the jig and stopping on every log/ rock I hit. The slower the better it seems. And I increased my numbers just by swimming the jig back to the boat I have probably caught 100 lbs or better of fish in that past year and a half after I started swimming just on the swim back . With the guys who have never felt the bite or caught a fish on the jig once you do it you never forget it. Once you feel the bite you start adapting to it. It seems most my fish are caught with no bump or tick just nothing. Like ill flip up and my line won't fall or won't move like I expect And for the price of jigs I love using cheap jigs. If you loose them who cars I usually go with the BPS kits and buy better trailers. The yum money craw is my favorite trailer I bite it down and that seems to be my best. I like the pricey jog but losing 30 bucks in 5 jigs sucks I'd flratherloose thirty or 20 jigs that's jut my $0.02

[Catt]

During an interview Denny Brauer was asked what a jig bite felt like?

His answer "I don't know but I know what it don't feel, I set hook on everything, grass, limbs, rocks. When in doubt set hook, people think I'm crazy but I'll not miss a fish cause I didn't set hook."

[J Francho]

Those mushy, pressure bites in early spring are the toughest. I can't imagine how many fish I missed when I first learned this.  If it doesn't feel like a jig anymore, set it!

[CountBassula]

Well since i read they catch big bass i started fishing them few weeks ago... since then i spend $70 on jigs in Bass Pro, which I promptly gave to my brother after getting my first batch of Siebert Outdoors jigs and realizing they are superior in construction.

 

i've since lost 3 or 4 of my nice jigs by hangups on rocks and wood... few days ago i snagged on a HUGE log in the canal, having 50 lbs braid on i pulled slowly and brought what looked like 100 lbs of wood from 6-7 feet deep water and then the line broke. that's frustrating.

 

also i'm not having much luck so far, it's super slow in FL now and i don't know if i should blame my super noob jig skills or the nasty heat on the fact that i'm not catching squat. so yea, i'm struggling bad!

[CountBassula]

Those mushy, pressure bites in early spring are the toughest. I can't imagine how many fish I missed when I first learned this.  If it doesn't feel like a jig anymore, set it!

 

oh man when i fish jigs it happens on almost every cast that it stops feeling like a jig or there is much less resistance... i guess i'm missing a lot of bites ha?

[WRB]

6. Relaying on the rod to feel strikes.

I thought this would create some discussion because most bass anglers rely too much on the rod to feel strikes. We pay premium $$$ for super sensitive rods. I believe in using high quality light weight and strong jig rods and have been doing that for 40 years, since graphite rods came on the market. A 40 year old rod doesn't compare to today's state of the art rods, yet we managed to detect jig strikes back then using the same technique I use today. The bass haven't changed how they strike a jig; engulf it, crunch it and reject it. If for some reason the bass decides the jig is real food and continues eating it, we all can detect that strike because the line is moving and we feel that movement with the rod. The truth is the most expensive sensitive rod can't detect slight line movement. For this reason you should run the line over the tip of your index finger so you can detect the slightest differences in line movement or tension far better than any rod ever made.

With time on the water you develop a sense of feel and know without seeing or feeling the rod move a jig strike and set the hook into nothing that turns into a bass. If you rely solely on the rod, you will ever develop that intuitive feel needed to become a good jig angler.

Tom

[WRB]

Bo's Nu Jig isn't a sponsored product on this site.

I did look at this design and like it, FYI, TW offers this jig with a Owner hook.

Both both site sponsors NorthStar and Siebert offer high quality jigs in several head designs that are very competitive priced ith excellent hooks and materials. Bottom line we have excellent jigs to choose from today.

Tom

[SirSnookalot]

I don't think it's a matter of struggle in using them, it's fish cooperation.  Right now in my part of Florida the best way to catch bass is with a stick of dynamite.  Not catching them on jig now isn't any one's fault, except the fish's lack of interest, not that you can't get lucky every now and then.  Moving the calendar up a few months a jig will be a great producer, it's pretty hard to fish them wrong.  I don't normally fish them for bass too slow for me, but I spent about 2 months solid last winter using them for a change of pass, I did exceptionally well.  I actually found it to be about easiest way to catch bass.

[ReggieT]

I'm a jig guy no doubt. With that being said I struggled more to learn how to fish a jig than probably any other technique I've ever tried to learn. 

Hmm...I struggle more with plastic worms than anything...guess we all have our "fishing nemesis." 

[sarcazmo]

Bo's Nu Jig isn't a sponsored product on this site.

I did look at this design and like it, FYI, TW offers this jig with a Owner hook.

Both both site sponsors NorthStar and Siebert offer high quality jigs in several head designs that are very competitive priced ith excellent hooks and materials. Bottom line we have excellent jigs to choose from today.

Tom

Not a sponsor but a darn fine product.

 

I have plano boxes full of Northstar and Siebert as well dont you worry. 

[J Francho]

oh man when i fish jigs it happens on almost every cast that it stops feeling like a jig or there is much less resistance... i guess i'm missing a lot of bites ha?

Only way to find out is to set the hook.

[CountBassula]

It is very difficult to cast and retrieve a jig from one position standing on the bank due to the fact you are always retrieving the jig up hill from deeper to shallower water. The seasonal period when bass are close to the bank where a shore angler can cast to a shallow water bass with a jig without spooking the fish is during the spawn or spring. It can be done, the question is why use a jig when shore fishing?

I realize some anglers are shore bond, no boat or boats are not allowed.

When I shore fish my jigs stay home and I use a T-rigged worm, grub, plastic craw or creature. I do this because a T-rig can use a wider variety of hook styles and sizes, easier to carry, less trouble with snags and versitile by pegging a glass bead for a instant slip shot rig. I can use different weight and bigger worms.

Another point to clarify is the pace to fish jigs, it's not always slooooow, sometimes a faster pace is better than saturating a piece of cover with lots of casts, I hate to that! I would rather make a long casts and cover more water, structure and potential bass, then make short precise cast to targets. I will make several casts on a piece of structure and fish it thoroughly from several different angles and depths from a distance, often well over 90'. I can't remember the last time a bass bite a dead stocked jig! 99% of jig strikes happen when the jig is moving through the water or stopped for a brief moment with the skirt breathing, the trailer moving, unless you are bed fishing.

The thought process that active bass are loners holding on a specific piece of cover or structure isn't true. . Bass, especially active feeders, move around when hunting and rarely feed alone! Inactive bass tend to be loners and very difficult to catch. When I catch bass on jigs, it's usually several on one small area.

My advice; look for groups of active bass and forget the notion of targeting single random bass. When you catch a good size bass, there should be more close by, don't leave active fish to look for another lone bass.

Tom

 

most of the canals i fish i can cast all the way across. i usually have the best luck casting on the grass across and making a soft/quiet entrance (it works wonders with frogs and snakeheads). i've been doing the same thing with jigs the other day (really confused neighbor's dog LOL) throwing it on a nicely mowed grass, slowly reeling it to the edge and then gentle hop into the water (i mean you should have see that confused poor old dog LOL); sometimes it would land on the vegetation so i would pull gently and it sinks, and sometimes it goes straight down (most of our canals are just a vertical drop 6-10ft deep). so going "uphill" is not really an issue for me; btw all the bites i had so far happened within 2-3ft of the bank's edge...

[cadman]

I used to be a die hard crankbait guy about 3 years ago and got a lot of fish fishing them. Then I fished with one of my customers and all he fished was jigs. Well anyway, to make a long story short, he kicked my butt fishing jigs. He outfished me 2 to one every time and with bigger fish. So I finally took his advice and started to  fish jigs. My numbers the first year doubled and the quality of fish also increased. From that time on I rarely throw anything else. My three rods in this order are jig rod, wacky worm and a trap or a husky jerk. The first two always produce fish. Now as far as jig fishing goes, since I fish from a boat, I will say that fishing from shore is harder as you will get more snags, lose more jigs and possibly lose fish as you cannot maneuver around easily. With that being the main problem you will catch fish from shore. Jig fishing like mentioned is a very slow process. I literally had to retrain myself when I started jig fishing, because throwing cranks for so long, my reel speed was way too fast. The key to jig fishing is you have to fish them slow, and I mean slow. Cast the jig out wait about 10 seconds so the jigs hits bottom. Wait for a bass to pick it up, if you feel nothing, raise you rod tip up to 12 o'clock position and drag your jig. Lower rod and wait another 10 seconds,  see if you feel any taps or any movement. If you do wait for the fish to swim off with it and then set the hook. Now the best way I learned this method was by casting out and closing my eyes. This may sound stupid, but this forces you to concentrate and feel with your hands (since you cannot see and get distracted), line movement, fish bites if any and weeds. Do this until you finally can feel the line movement through the rod guides with your hands. You will feel pick-ups and line twitch because you are focusing with your mind on what you feel not what you see. Once you get to the point of slowing down and start concentrating better, open your eyes and focus on your line. Now you can watch line movement and still be able to feel the taps  as you have conditioned yourself to do this. I guarantee if you do this you will catch more fish. Don't give up as this will take awhile . I say about a month or so to get your mind, hands and eyes in sync with each other. I am not an expert, but I would never go back to throwing cranks all day long. I've gotten too many bigger fish from throwing jigs. I use 10 -12 pound mono, mh  6'6'" rod with a baicasting reel. Nothing fancy.

     One last thing, is I only fish finesse jigs. This means 1/8 - 1/4 oz jig max with a trailer.  I throw nothing heavier and I mainly fish 10 FOW or less. An 1/8 oz jig with a trailer sinks pretty fast in my opinion, but maybe I finally got used to the slowness of fishing jigs, and I'm glad I did.

[Downeaster2010]

I have been fishing jigs for more than 30 years for bass.  Like many others early on I was reluctant to

throw a jig in heavy cover for fear of losing it.  I solved that problem when I bought molds and started

to pour off my own, and learning how to tie the skirts on. Mixing colors of skirts to the time of year

whether it be spring or fall. I keep up to 50 jigs on the boat at all time.  Now jigs are an acceptable

loss.  Just tie another one on.  The same thing with Senko's.  I bought a mold last year pour my own

mixing colors etc.  It much more affordable to create your own.  I also love aT-Rig worm, and rarely

fish a crank bait.

[Bluebasser86]

Hmm...I struggle more with plastic worms than anything...guess we all have our "fishing nemesis." 

I don't struggle with jigs anymore, I struggle with the fish that keep eating them!