Dragging Jigs On A Soft Bottom

[Catch and Grease]

I don't have a whole lot of experience dragging jigs and I fish mostly natural lakes with soft bottoms and not much in the way of hard bottoms, what jigs do you like for dragging on a soft bottom? Do you even drag jigs on a soft bottom or usually use a different technique?

[gulfcaptain]

Normally if it's soft I'll drag a dropshot to keep it my bait out of the mud and muck.

[F14A-B]

Flip the jig, muck bottoms suck for jigs, try a 1/4 oz Florida rig with a soft plastic for better results

In hydrilla. Pitching Jigs to Cypress trees base's can be great as well.

[Catch and Grease]

Flip the jig, muck bottoms suck for jigs, try a 1/4 oz Florida rig with a soft plastic for better results

In hydrilla. Pitching Jigs to Cypress trees base's can be great as well.

Yeah I don't have much luck fishing a jig on the bottom, most of my jig fish are pitching to cypress trees and swimming.

[Bankbeater]

I start off with a 3/8 jig and go heavier or lighter from there. I like to stir up the bottom just enough to leave a trail in the mud.

[Shane J]

Stuff like that, you're probably better with a C-Rig.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

Stuff like that, you're probably better with a C-Rig.

I've started  throwing that into the mix at a few spots of mine. it produces well.

[Matthew2000]

I would use a Texas rig instead. The jig will throw up to much muck IMO.

[papajoe222]

I like a pointed rocker style head where the line tie and point are above the 'belly' of the jig.  That style rides on top of softer bottoms a lot better than most and won't dig in as easily. It also will come through the weeds that you'll most likely encounter and dig up some bottom silt along the way.  Just keep the weight to a minimum and stick with a floating plastic trailer. Some shakey heads are shaped like this, but do double duty when dragged along a softer bottom.

[smalljaw67]

Jigs with flat eye hooks are what works and the lighter the better. We have small natural lakes around my neck of the woods and finesse jigs are the only jig that can be dragged over soft bottom flats. You'd also be surprised at how much weight a soft bottom is going to hold before it digs in. Look for wood like deadfalls coming out of the muck, the bottom around those can usually keep a 5/16oz jig up and when dragged in short spurts it will kick up sediment making it look like a fleeing craw or other bottom dweller ripe for the picking. For areas that the bottom is too soft I'll empoy a hopping presentation and it won't cover a large area, instead it will be near a target, I'll make the cast and give the jig a few hops and a shake and let it sit and repeat up to 3 times depending how big the piece of cover is and if no takers I'll bring it back and hit the next spot.

[Senko lover]

I hate when my jigs gets junk on it, so I'd probably go with something else.

[aceman387]

I like to use some of the smaller bitsy bug jigs like the 1/16 oz size. Last year i picked up some of these micro jigs off of tackle warehouse that were even smaller. They came in handy for this shallow cemetery pond by me that has a mucky bottom.

[DocNsanE]

sounds like a job for the jika rig? haven't used it yet, just thought it could be a good fit

[kikstand454]

I'd go with a bitsy jig if I were to stay with a jig. But in that situation in open water, I don't think I could justify the pita.

Carolina rig FTW.

[primetime]

I sometimes use a light weighted hook, I like the ZMan Trigger Hooks in 1/16 to 1/8 since I am almost always near soft bottom and c-rigs frustrate me no matter how I modify it unless weeds are not an issue which is rare. I like a sliding texas rig with a light weight and floating baits, or the mojo rig with 2 bobber stops to adjust leader length and I like the elaztach baits...Zman Craws, SKing Zulu, tubes with some foam in them, bass pro makes a floating lizard that is hard but good for topwater and over weeds as well as on the bottom.

 

The "Rage Rig" seems to work well similar to the Jig rig for muddy bottoms as it is light enough and I like to use a bait that has a flat bottom for a gliding action and the straighter the shank the better imo. The trigger hooks fit most worms and creatures pretty well and are sharp, and come with bait buttons to keep baits from sliding and you are not bending  those hooks no matter what you do, they are stout and give baits an action unique compared to other weighted hooks. Great for the floating frogs as well.