Bass Jig Weed Guards : Fan Out OR Leave Alone ?

[ChrisD46]

For your bass jigs (football , pitching , flipping , & swimming) do you fan out the weed guard bristles  OR leave them alone in a single clump of bristles ?

Any advantages you find to fanning out the weed guard or leaving them alone in a single clump (i.e. stock)  ?

[smalljaw67]

I like to fan my weed guards out when fishing deadfalls with a lot of thin limbs, for heavy cover I fan it a little bit. For me it is a confidence thing, in my mind I feel the weed guard will protect a larger area fanned out so that is why I do it, but there are times when I was in a hurry and tied on a new jig and left the weed guard alone and I was fine with it.

[Catt]

If you buy a quality jig you shouldn't have to touch the weed guard!

[alzun664]

I leave my weed guards stock on all my jigs, can't say if its an advantage or a disadvantage but I haven't had any issues with them.

[scaleface]

I separate them in half with my thumb then press down just enough to slightly spread them .If the bristles are unusually stiff , I bend them back and forth to weaken them.

[Siebert Outdoors]

I fish them how I build them.  I cant remember the last time I modified one of my jigs weed guard.

[dave]

23 minutes ago, Siebert Outdoors said:

I fish them how I build them.  I cant remember the last time I modified one of my jigs weed guard.

No trimming at all...?

[Damn Yankee]

I usually trim mine when I get them, skirt also.Sorry Mike just personal preferance.

[Scarborough817]

i leave mine stock never had any issues with hook ups plus i find it attracts the bigger girls if you leave a big hairy skirt

[A-Jay]

In the past I tried the fanning deal and the 50/50 spread / split deal but never really noticed that it made that much of a difference.

So now as long as the hook is sharp & straight, I fish it as is.

A-Jay

[buzzed bait]

i was trimming the weedguards on mine for a while, but quit and have noticed absolutely no difference.  only thing i've done since is snip a few strands out of a few jigs that i wanted to be a bit more "finesse" in some clearer water.

[Siebert Outdoors]

1 hour ago, d**n Yankee said:

I usually trim mine when I get them, skirt also.Sorry Mike just personal preferance.

No reason to be sorry.  Fish them the way you prefer. 

[Cgrinder]

Remove a few strands to preference. Trimming doesn't seem to do anything except stiffen the weedguard, which is good or bad depending on what you're doing.

[Bankbeater]

Sometimes I bend them over so that they fan out, and other times I just leave them alone.  It depends on the jig.  Sometimes I trim the skirt to even it up, but again it depends on the jig.

[WRB]

Like nearly everything today we have choices regarding what we need and fiber weed guards come in several configurations. The original fiber bundle was 1/8 dia with .024 diameter fibers X 1  1/4" long, "standard" fiber weed guard used to make most off the self weedless jigs. Today there are; 1/16 dia with .018 or .021 dia X 7/8", 5/64, 1/8 dia and 5/32  dia with .018, .021 and .024 dia fiber X 1  1/4" long, the smaller dia fiber being softer, the larger harder or stiff. Choices...buy jigs that meet your needs.

Cutting a fiber weed guard shorter stiffens it.

Tom