Using A Crawfish Swim Jig For Bass In A Lake

[dosam]

Hey guys I have been fishing in the same lake for about a year now and know every fish species the lake has to offer. Theres a ton of baitfish in my lake but one forage I have never seen is crayfish. Now I have had a pack of craw trailers for some time now but have never used them. My question really has two parts to it. The first is is there any way to tell if crawfish are in a particular body of water? The second is is if there are no present crawfish in my lake will a bass bite down on a craw jig instinctively. In other words do bass have a natural instinct that tells them that this is a craw and its super tasty go for it? Oh and one more question. When i put together a jig and i am aiming for a certain weight for the jig, do I also take into account the weight of the trailer? Lots of people have told me to aim for a 3/8 oz jig but all my jig heads weight 3/8 and was wondering if when they tell me to get a 3/8 oz jig do they mean jig head and trailer combined?

[F14A-B]

Have you ever seen crayfish burrows? Or chimney's? aka, snake holes, lol.. Areas of rock, slab, concrete , feeder streams ? Chances are good they are there. If you wanna be certain, do the field work to find the crawdads. Or the signs of them...

[WIGuide]

If there's rip rap there, go flip over some rocks in the summer. You'll know pretty quick if they're there or not. Fish will still eat a craw even if there aren't any present.

[Catch and Grease]

I don't fish for smallmouth but I can tell you that a bass will bite a jig/craw lure even if there aren't crawfish in you lake, while the lakes I fish have crawfish (I just don't believe there is a lot of them) I still catch tons of bass on jigs and craw soft plastics.

 

As for your Jig questions they can all be answered if you search for previous threads on this site, tons of good information!

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/12403-jig-fishing-questions/

[Scott F]

Spinnerbaits are not native to the waters I fish, but they still catch a lot of fish. A worm is not a normal part of a fishes diet. Really, how often do you see night crawlers in your lakes? Worms catch a lot of bass too. Bass feed on whatever looks like it might be food, even if they've never seen it before.

[FunkJishing]

as everyone has said above a bass will eat prey that doesn't live in their waters. As far as the jigs and trailers go the jigs weight itself is important. Another thing thats good to know is that the weight of your trailer doesn't make your jig fall faster even though it makes the jig heavier. trailers actually cause your jig to fall slower due to the added water displacement. so if you want a slower fall to keep your bait in the strike zone longer add a nice sized trailer. Basically the bigger the trailer the slower the jig will fall regourdless of jig weight.  

 

for example, a bare 1/2 oz jig will sink like a stone in a calm body of water. To slow down the fall I'd add any trailer of my choice to get it to sink a little slower and add a little action to my jig. The same goes for any size jig (1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, 1 oz, ect.)

[Fisher-O-men]

Scott F has it! ^^^ Bass are opportunistic predators.  If it moves (or not) they will try to eat it.  They also may quickly spit it out. 

 

As to weight, usually when someone says 3/8 oz they are talking about the jig head itself.

[cyclops2]

Fish eat ANYTHING if they are hungry.

 

World War I  People were cutting up leather from shoes & boots. Then cooked & ate the leather.  Animals are usually hungry when Burger King closes.

[HoosierHawgs]

Generally if you are swimming a jig with a flapping craw trailer, it imitates a bluegill rather than a crayfish anyways. Many lures we fish resemble different things to fish than what we see

[roadwarrior]

I want a traditional to resemble a crawdad, a swim jig to look like a baitfish. My trailer for a

traditional presentation is a Rage Tail Baby Craw, Craw or Lobster. For swim jigs it's a Rage

Tail Menace or Shellcracker rigged vertically.

 

 

 

 

[Chris S]

Hey guys I have been fishing in the same lake for about a year now and know every fish species the lake has to offer. Theres a ton of baitfish in my lake but one forage I have never seen is crayfish. Now I have had a pack of craw trailers for some time now but have never used them. My question really has two parts to it. The first is is there any way to tell if crawfish are in a particular body of water? The second is is if there are no present crawfish in my lake will a bass bite down on a craw jig instinctively. In other words do bass have a natural instinct that tells them that this is a craw and its super tasty go for it? Oh and one more question. When i put together a jig and i am aiming for a certain weight for the jig, do I also take into account the weight of the trailer? Lots of people have told me to aim for a 3/8 oz jig but all my jig heads weight 3/8 and was wondering if when they tell me to get a 3/8 oz jig do they mean jig head and trailer combined?

what part of the country are you in??

[smalljaw67]

Do yourself a big favor by going on a scouting trip and that means leaving the rod and reel at home. The best time to do this is a warm summer day as you can just wear shorts and old tennis shoes and wade around and flip over rocks to see what you can find. Also get yourself one of those little nets that kids use to collect bugs, it will help you catch some stuff and the stuff you catch will lead to better fishing. The way it will help is you will find out what kind of forage is in the water and by catching the craws you will get to see the size and color of them and it will help you pick out jig sizes and colors for when you do go on a fishing trip.

[boostr]

If it looks like it's alive, and it can fit in thier mouth, they will eat it.

I've used jig and craws in lakes where I haven't seen any Crawfish, and still got bit.

[tnbassfisher]

I want a traditional to resemble a crawdad, a swim jig to look like a baitfish. My trailer for a

traditional presentation is a Rage Tail Baby Craw, Craw or Lobster. For swim jigs it's a Rage

Tail Menace or Shellcracker rigged vertically.

 

 

 

 

What sort of color variations do you like in this part of the country?

[roadwarrior]

Traditional jig: Black jig/ black w/ Blue flakes; PBJ: Falcon and Brown/ Green Pumpkin

 

Swim Jig: Bluegill/ Menace or Shellcracker (Hard Candy); White/ Menace (Smoked Shad oe Bluegill) 

 

 

 

 

[Catch 22]

Good advise to flip  rocks to look for the critters. Crawfish are  nocturnal to a great degree, so go searching the shallows for them at night with a good light.

When my kids were little we used to see how many could be spotted after dark.

It can be surprising what else you might see at night , like eels, snakes, minnows  and large fish close to shore.

 

Good point about the night crawlers in lakes.The kids and I fished a shoal about a mile offshore in Ontario years ago. The smallies  couldn`t get enough of them.

C22