Trailers for Jigs?

[FL_Sharpshooter]

Just wondering what kind of trailers I should be using on my jigs.  I generally throw out only Stike king's 1/4oz bitsy flip/bug jigs in three colors - Bleeding White, Green Crawfish, and Black/Blue. I'm fishing a canal in SW FL where there are not any sort of crawdads to my knowledge, so I kind of ruled out those as trailers.  The water is also around 10ft deep.  The only kind of bait fish I have seen in the canal are shiners.  I once used a tube with one of my jigs, and landed that 2lb 15oz bass in my avatar.  That is the only fish I have ever caught using a jig, I have tried using twin tail grubs, baby brush hogs, and crawdads are trailers, but no luck.  Any suggestions on what I should be using?

[Catt]

It aint always about what, it is more about where

There is a wide menagerie of plastics available for jig trailer usage, Rage Tail, Gene Larew, Zoom, or NetBait to name but a few. 

[Shane J]

On the Bitsy Bug, try the Rage Baby Craw or Chunk. It doesn't matter if there are craws there or not.

Step 1: attach Baby Craw to jig

Step 2: catch new personal best bass

Step 3: post a pic here for all to admire

[bigfruits]

my fav bitsy bug trailers:

rage tail baby craw

baby paca craw

3" craw papi

zoom tiny chunk

[00 mod]

rage tail baby craw!!

[FL_Sharpshooter]

I've been staring at those rage chunks in SK's catalog for a while now. I think I'm going to go ahead and order a couple bags of those. I'm just having a little bit of trouble matching up my camouflage colored bitsy flip jig to a rage craw color though. Not sure what to use for that one --I guess California craw? I'm definitely getting the black blue flake though for my black/blue bitsy. Thanks for the suggestions, I really appreciate it.

[senile1]

While you are at it buy some 3/8 and 1/2 oz jigs and some Rage Tail Craws.  You have to throw a bigger bait sometimes to hook big mama.

I would continue throwing those tubes as well but use a jighead made for them.  Or you could rig them with the hook threaded through a tube weight inside the tube. 

[J Francho]

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] J Francho.

[Catt]

PB & J is about as close to camo there is

[FL_Sharpshooter]

PB & J is about as close to camo there is

Thanks, I forgot about that color.  I'm looking through SK's catalog now and I don't see that color for the rage craw/chunks - is it offered on those?

[senile1]

I use the Bama Craw and Dirty Craw colors with a PB&J colored jig for the craws but I'm not sure the same colors are offered in the chunks.

[FL_Sharpshooter]

I use the Bama Craw and Dirty Craw colors with a PB&J colored jig for the craws but I'm not sure the same colors are offered in the chunks.

I suppose the chunks are no big deal, I can just order the larger ones and cut those down anyways.  Theres only 6 colors offered in the rage chunks (#2,46,50,51,100,102).  I did see though however that KVD has pb&j sr and jr chunks.

[senile1]

Looking at the Strike King catalog, color 102 (the Amber Green/Black chunk) looks like it would be a close match to PB&J jigs if you like matching the colors. The bits of green won't match the jelly color but everything else should be pretty close.

[Catt]

Cinnamon Pepper Neon/June Bug Laminated (Camouflage) is my #1 color but sadly it is getting harder to find.

Yum baby crawbug comes in Camo

NetBait Tiny & Paca Craw in Watermelon Jelly

Zoom Super Chunk Jr.in PB&J

We might have to yell at Big-O 

[piscicidal]

Just wondering what kind of trailers I should be using on my jigs. I generally throw out only Stike king's 1/4oz bitsy flip/bug jigs in three colors - Bleeding White, Green Crawfish, and Black/Blue. I'm fishing a canal in SW FL where there are not any sort of crawdads to my knowledge, so I kind of ruled out those as trailers. The water is also around 10ft deep. The only kind of bait fish I have seen in the canal are shiners. I once used a tube with one of my jigs, and landed that 2lb 15oz bass in my avatar. That is the only fish I have ever caught using a jig, I have tried using twin tail grubs, baby brush hogs, and crawdads are trailers, but no luck. Any suggestions on what I should be using?

I have had some luck with the Gambler Ugly Otter as a jig trailer, fishing these Florida canals.   I was kinda hungup on the craw issue also...I've never seen a craw in my fishing areas. The appendage on the Otter is more of a big paddle, rather than claws. I think it fairly closely resembles a sunfish. It's a nice bulky bait that displaces a good amount of water.

A nice flippin bait also...

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Just because you don't have craws in the area you fish, doesn't mean a bass won't eat it.  Bass are opportunistic predators.  They'll eat anything they think they can get inside of their mouth.  Don't limit yourself to small trailers on a small jig like that.  You get a much larger profile and more water displacement with a larger trailer.  You'll also get a slower sink rate depending on the action of the trailer.

[FL_Sharpshooter]

Cinnamon Pepper Neon/June Bug Laminated (Camouflage) is my #1 color but sadly it is getting harder to find.

Yum baby crawbug comes in Camo

NetBait Tiny & Paca Craw in Watermelon Jelly

Zoom Super Chunk Jr.in PB&J

We might have to yell at Big-O

You might be on to something there .

Just wondering what kind of trailers I should be using on my jigs. I generally throw out only Stike king's 1/4oz bitsy flip/bug jigs in three colors - Bleeding White, Green Crawfish, and Black/Blue. I'm fishing a canal in SW FL where there are not any sort of crawdads to my knowledge, so I kind of ruled out those as trailers. The water is also around 10ft deep. The only kind of bait fish I have seen in the canal are shiners. I once used a tube with one of my jigs, and landed that 2lb 15oz bass in my avatar. That is the only fish I have ever caught using a jig, I have tried using twin tail grubs, baby brush hogs, and crawdads are trailers, but no luck. Any suggestions on what I should be using?

I have had some luck with the Gambler Ugly Otter as a jig trailer, fishing these Florida canals. I was kinda hungup on the craw issue also...I've never seen a craw in my fishing areas. The appendage on the Otter is more of a big paddle, rather than claws. I think it fairly closely resembles a sunfish. It's a nice bulky bait that displaces a good amount of water.

A nice flippin bait also...

Sounds pretty interesting, I'll have to check that thing out. What size of jigs are you using, just out of curiousity? If you know as well as I do, these canals are completely covered EVERYWHERE on the bottom with thick coontail moss. You really have to sight fish the areas for dark open holes, which is when flipping/pitching comes in to play. That is what I am mainly interested in doing now anyways.

Just because you don't have craws in the area you fish, doesn't mean a bass won't eat it. Bass are opportunistic predators. They'll eat anything they think they can get inside of their mouth. Don't limit yourself to small trailers on a small jig like that. You get a much larger profile and more water displacement with a larger trailer. You'll also get a slower sink rate depending on the action of the trailer.

I was waiting for your reply, since you too live in south Florida and obviously fish it a lot . Maybe I'll try that baby brush hog again, I didn't really give it a fair chance the first time. I always thought to keep the jig trailers sticking out a little bit at the skirt. It looks kinda goofy with all that extra hanging out, but if that's what works, then awesome. Thanks for your tip Eric, I appreciate it.

[piscicidal]

Just because you don't have craws in the area you fish, doesn't mean a bass won't eat it. Bass are opportunistic predators. They'll eat anything they think they can get inside of their mouth. Don't limit yourself to small trailers on a small jig like that. You get a much larger profile and more water displacement with a larger trailer. You'll also get a slower sink rate depending on the action of the trailer.

Oh...I hear ya.  I've caught bass down here on craw baits in areas I'm quite sure do not have crawfish. Like I said...it's a hangup of mine.  I have a hard time gaining confidence in a bait if I think I am violating a "match the hatch" philosophy.

[piscicidal]

Sounds pretty interesting, I'll have to check that thing out. What size of jigs are you using, just out of curiousity? If you know as well as I do, these canals are completely covered EVERYWHERE on the bottom with thick coontail moss. You really have to sight fish the areas for dark open holes, which is when flipping/pitching comes in to play. That is what I am mainly interested in doing now anyways.

I usually use 1/4 or 3/8oz. 1/4oz for flippin into holes or skipping over pads (esp at night). I usually have a 3/8oz tied on as a 'follow up" bait...if I get short bit on a frog/worm/swimbait, I'll throw that 3/8oz where I had the strike. Sometimes I can get that fish to hit again, zooming that 3/8oz jig past him (reaction strike).

[SoFlaBassAddict]

I was waiting for your reply, since you too live in south Florida and obviously fish it a lot . Maybe I'll try that baby brush hog again, I didn't really give it a fair chance the first time. I always thought to keep the jig trailers sticking out a little bit at the skirt. It looks kinda goofy with all that extra hanging out, but if that's what works, then awesome. Thanks for your tip Eric, I appreciate it.

Try a baby brush hog on the back of a small jig.  That bitsy bug will work just fine.  Pull the arms off of the brush hog and just thread it on.  You may need to bite the head off of the plastic so it doesn't look too big on the jig.

As far as the coontail on the bottom goes:  my lake has the same problem.  Jigs can get a little difficult to work through those areas.  I generally use a texas rig in those areas.  If it's not too thick, you can get away with a lighter weight jig that will rest on top of the goop.

[garry77]

a good jig tactic in that coontail is to use a 1/2 oz. or larger with Rage craw or paca craw as a trailer(they put out a good bit of vibration).Throw it out,shake it on the bottom for a few seconds then pop it up hard and let it flutter down again.It looks like a baitfish or craw trying to get away.Be watching for the strike on the flutter back down.

[bandsr4me20]

netbait paca chunk and paca chunk sr

[roadwarrior]

Hmm...

Rage Tail Baby Craw, Craw and Lobster

Give them a try. You will find yourself

giving all that other stuff away.

8-)

[BassThumb]

I try not to make choosing a trailer style too complicated. I stick with a few that have produced for me.

Depending on the season and the fishes activity level, I chose between an action trailer and subtle trailer for different levels of vibration, and between large and small trailers for differing profiles.

I usually start with larger, kicker style trailers like Sr. Paca Chunks and switch to progressively smaller and more subtle trailers with less vibration.

[Catt]

Hmm...

Rage Tail Baby Craw, Craw and Lobster

Give them a try. You will find yourself

giving all that other stuff away.

8-)

Convince Big-O to offer something in Cinnamon Pepper Neon/June Bug Laminated (Camouflage)