Football Jig Retrieve

[iceintheveins]

I'm getting into football jigs more. Do most of you start with a straight, slow dragging retrieve on the bottom to feel cover and bottom transitions? So far I've done just dragging, shaking it sometimes while paused with a few bass. I know hopping it and even swimming it are options that can work better, but in general what has worked best for you and what should I start with?

[smalljaw67]

It depends on where you find the fish, what depth and what season. In the summer I'm using 1/2oz most of the time because the natural lakes I fish have very little oxygen deep so I'm normally fishing 20' and less. That said, my favorite place to use the football jig is on points, I'll have to boat in deep water and cast toward the shore, most points I fish are tapering so I'll be in 5' of water and I'll slowly drag the jig back. I'll do this for 4 or 5 cast and then work angles, making around 30 casts for each point and I'll start with a dragging retrieve followed by hopping it. If I see active fish or I'm marking fish just off the bottom I'll stroke the football jig and that is my favorite way to fish it. This is done with a 1/2oz being the smallest with 3/4oz and 1oz being the main weapons for this tactic, it is meant to get a reaction strike. Make a long cast and let it fall to the bottom and then "stroke" it off the bottom quickly and let it free fall back to the bottom. There are videos on you tube that demonstrate the technique and it is easier to see it done that to try and explain it but I like it because it is an active way of fishing and it is a good way to get big fish. The thing is you can use it as a search tool for an area, I was out with no electronics and me and my buddy figured we would fish shallow and when nothing was happening we decided to stroke some football jigs and we had a blast, we would rip the jig off the bottom and as the jig was falling back you'd see the line jump before it even got close to the bottom, that is why a high speed reel is very important when doing it.

[Bluebasser86]

Drag it, try to feel every rock down there with it. That's my favorite retrieve anyways. 

[Siebert Outdoors]

I typically drag them but I drag the jig by slowly pulling the rod up not to the side.  This aids in pulling the jig over rocks instead of wedging the jig in the rocks.

[deep]

I don't fish football head jigs, but if you mean casting jigs; I cast it out, let it sink (watch the line, or keep physical contact with it whatever's your game to detect bites on the fall), pause, and then fish it with the reel pointing the rod at the bait. Pause it every other reel handle turn or so. When I hit a rock/ brush or something, I pause it before and after coming over the obstacle (using the rod if necessary to guide the jig over it).

[Montanaro]

Drag it till you feel a good rock and jiggle it a bit. Looks like a craw trying to back into a hole for defense. Then hop it over and repeat.

[KevO]

I typically drag them but I drag the jig by slowly pulling the rod up not to the side.  This aids in pulling the jig over rocks instead of wedging the jig in the rocks.

 

that's how I fish them too, stroke the jig a time or two along the way also.

[Hogsticker]

Retrieve means nothing. It's all about that tight spiral! I fish it like anything else. The colder the weather gets, the slower it gets dragged. I've even dead stuck one in 17 degree weather, water in the low thirties. Caught some dandies that way. Few and far between, but some real footballs.

[WRB]

I fish deep rocky structure lakes and prefer to work a jig down hill, especially in the fall. Deep has discribed how to retrieve a jig that you cast and retrieve so you can keep in contact, detect strikes and have the rod in position to immediately set the hook.

I like to run the line over my index finger tip, under my thumb to help detect the slightest changes in the jig that indicate a bass has engulfed the jig before it spits it back out.

The pace you retrieve the jig and the rate of fall or how fast it sinks are factors that can change hourly, keep experimenting until you get results.

Tom

[David P]

Easiest way is to drag it. Find rocky bottom and drag that sucker! Can work on all type of bottom whether hard are soft, but coming into winter I like to drag on rocky areas. Practice dragging and feeling everything you can down there, pay attention and really try to think about what your bait is doing down there.

 

 Slow dragging although at times can be boring, is HIGHLY effective and a great way to gain confidence in jig fishing.

[ww2farmer]

I drag them 100% of the time using three different methods:

 

#1 drift and drag............cast it out behind the boat, and let the wind naturally drift you through the target area while maintaining bottom contact at all times.

 

#2 cast and drag.......self expainlatory

 

#3 long line drag.....just like long lining a crank, cast it out, let all you line out, and then begin a slow "crawling" retrieve with your reel maintaining bottom contact at all times. I use it as an alternative to the drift and drag when I have a vast area I want to probe, but no wind to drift me over it.

 

Weight is your friend with a football jig. The lightest I use is 1/2 oz., and most of the time I am using 3/4 or 1 oz.