Jig Fishermen...how Much Is Too Much And Weather Considerations

[airborne_angler]

Ive been looking at forcing myself to learn a jig/trailer. I plan on going out with a Jig Box with assorted sizes from 1/4 to 3/4 oz. Ive got Arkie heads, spot remover (standup) heads, and football varieties.

Ive got a variety of colored skirts PB&J, Watermelon, Green Pumpkin, Black, Black/Blue, Brown, Black /Red.

Ive heard if you arent losing a few each outing, your not in the right location...this being said..how many jigs is too much...10,20,...does it even matter?

Is winter a good time to try to learn a jig, or not because of the inactivity of the fish. Not sure of water temps but air temps are like in the mid 60's around here during the day, and mid to high 30's even low 40's at night.

So do these temps sound "wintery" enough to try dragging a Football jig or can I get away with something with a little more action?

Just trying to get an idea of how I should approach things.

[iabass8]

You can never have enough jigs on hand but you can have too many colors to psyche yourself out in selection. keep it simple.

 

that weather is fine for learning jigs. especially football jigs.

[Loop_Dad]

I think lot of things 'depends'. For me some times I lose no jigs. Some areas are more prone to loosing them, and some are not. If you are fishing form boat or shore makes difference. If you have heavy equipment with braid, you can get them back more...etc

 

I agree with iabass8, keep it simple. You don't have to jump off of the cliff to fish jigs :-) Just get some and start fishing.

 

I would start with 1/2 oz jigs with brown, black and green pumpkin. My preference is Archy head, but that depends on the places you fish.

[Teal]

Winter is a great time to learn patience with jigs. Keep in mind your presentation will have to be slower. Football jigs are a staple of how o fish on the winter time. I look for ledges, channel drops, and humps. And ill typicallly fish those with a heavier jig like 3/4 to 1.5. I still stick with natural colors like greens and Browns. I also look for brush piles, submerged trees and brush, and boat docks. Depending on depth ill go a little lighter like 1/2 or 3/8.

I have a couple boxes of jigs bit its not truely necessary. I like having 5 or six of my colors in 3 or 4 did weights

[WRB]

Are you fishing from shore or a boat?

Parker canyon is a small lake of about 125 acres, deep rocky structure with planted rainbow trout.

Your question is about jigs, you may also want to consider a Huddleston 68 ROF 12 in rainbow trout.

Do you know if this lake has a crawdad population? Some AZ lakes don't have any crawdads!

Winter is winter, except you are located near the Mexican boarder at 5,000 ft elevation. The water is cold enough to stock trout, than it's cold enough to fish jigs slowly.

It is difficult to fish jigs uphill through rocky structure, if fishing from shore.

Tell us about your tackle; rod, reel and line you plan to use.

Tom

[airborne_angler]

You left out that the Shoreline all around this lake is choked with Eurasian Milfoil...yes this lake has a population of Virile Crawfish. Id be fishing from a 12' Jon Boat(sitting down) pitching/flipping is kinda out of the question.

Im using a 6'9" Shimano MH Jig/wormin rod(cant remember the nomenclature) with an Okuma reel spooled with 65# braid for the Milfoil

[smalljaw67]

You left out that the Shoreline all around this lake is choked with Eurasian Milfoil...yes this lake has a population of Virile Crawfish. Id be fishing from a 12' Jon Boat(sitting down) pitching/flipping is kinda out of the question.

Im using a 6'9" Shimano MH Jig/wormin rod(cant remember the nomenclature) with an Okuma reel spooled with 65# braid for the Milfoil

 

If you have a lot of weeds like that, look for irregularities like a place where there is wood within the weeds or even isolated. That said, winter is good for jigs as it is a slow presentation, you also have to realize it isn't a numbers bait but it can be in the right situation. When I teach someone how to use a jig I try to hit ponds and if the fish activity is high that is the best time. What that does is it allows you to get some confidence and you learn to feel what a bite is like and that is what you need to do. Take some jigs with you when you are on the water and if you get a day that the fish are active try a simple black blue jig with a trailer, 1/4oz is the starting point because the smaller jigs will get you more bites most of the time, for grass and weeds you want a bullet or cone style head, those come through grass better, good luck.

[Catt]

The jig is one of the simplest lure & yet the most over complicated by anglers, we all have our personal repertoire of confusion.

Despite its pure awesomeness one must keep in mind there will be days when the bass simply do not want a jig. So if you are going out with nothing

but jigs then be prepared to get skunked!

[airborne_angler]

Suppose its like swimbaits...might not catch much, but when you do its quality??

[WRB]

When this lake gets it's trout plant, it's time to use a swimbait in that area.

Milfoil tends to die back during the winter and can't grow in rocks or clay. I didn't find a topo map of this lake, so couldn't locate off shore features like rock piles.

Do you have a sonar unit?

Start your jig fishing at the corners of the dam and then move around and fish every point. Depth breaks with rocks create areas that should be free of milfoil. The key to fishing jigs in rocky areas is to keep the jig from settling down into crevices and wedging into the rocks. The weed gaurd will keep weeds off the hook, not from wrapping around the jig head or line tie. You fish slow, but don't dead stick the jig in the rocks, dead stick in clay areas.

If you have a sonar until, look for the depth you see fish, it maybe 5' or 20' that should be the depth you expect strikes to occur most often. Points are good to fish because you can fish close to the bank and out into deeper water without moving your boat and cover a good size area.

Good luck.

Tom

[Siebert Outdoors]

It is a good time to throw the jigs imo but I would not limit myself to only jigs.  Your selection and sizes are great.   I fish a lot of nasty stuff and I do not lose many jigs.  Last time I fished was before we got ice and I lost one jig in about 5 hrs.  Sometimes I can go several trips and not lose a lure.

[Southernjig]

I only throw jigs when I fish by myself or with somebody ! Lol

[Bankbeater]

I stick to natural colors, black, and blue/black. I don't go overboard on sizes either. The sizes I use most are 1/8, 3/8, and 1/2 ounce. Normally I start off with a blue/black 3/8 ounce and go from there.

[Raul]

I pour jigs by the handful, a jig in my hands seldomly lasts more than 3 trips, most last two and in many ocassions they last a couple of casts, so, how many is too many ? well, if the boat don´t sink .........

[roadwarrior]

I lose one or two an hour on most pond outings. On a lake and in a boat,

I rarely lose a swim jig and most traditional lures can be retrieved. On the

Tennessee River, maybe 10 casts, but I once lost six on six casts before

moving on to something different!

 

 

 

[Catt]

Grass = Bass

[Arv]

Grass = Bass

fo sho