Football Jigs for Smallmouth

[NRV_Smallmouth]

   Hello I live in Virginia and I fish the New River very often. I usually use Senkos, crankbaits, and grubs to catch smallmouth but lately I've noticed a lot of people using football jigs. I've bought a couple but have had no luck. I've tried slowly dragging them and hopping the like a senko around spots that I usually catch smallmouth but again no luck. So how should I use football jigs and where?

[Turkey sandwich]

What conditions are you fishing them in and what depth/type of current are we talking about?

 

A 1/4 oz football head can be awesome in rocky lakes and some river conditions, though, most of the time I find 1/4 oz too heavy unless fish are holding deep (10' plus in current).   Typically, I'll favor a tube or grub with 1/8-3/16 oz jig for most of my river fishing (think about the lightest weight you can get away with, and for mostl on diction I fish 1/4oz and up is too heavy).  The exception to the rule (for me) is if I'm finding fish on flats and looking to slowly walk a soft plastic crayfish across stone or right outside a weed edge.  If I were bed fishing, I would have a football head/craw, tube, and weighted fluke rigged all day.  

Welcome to the forum, btw!

[NRV_Smallmouth]

Thank you! The water temp was about 50 but it was sunny. I was fishing at some eddies that were about 5-7 feet deep. I have football head jigs ranging from 1/8 - 1/4 ounces, I belive I was using a green and orange 1/4 ounce jig. Also I have caught a good number of fish on tubes and grubs I was just wondering if jigs were amother good bait to use or not. 

[Turkey sandwich]

I love jig fishing! 

It sounds like you've got the right ideas.  One of the biggest things to consider when fishing eddies in 4+ feet of water is the actual location of the Eddy and where in relation fish are holding. For example, in 6' of water you may see a boulder break the surface or the boulder may only stick up 1' from the bottom.  In both cases pockets of slower current are created, but fish may hold differently and may be feeding differently in the water column, which should impact how/what you present.  

 

For example, that Eddy on the bottom... It's likely going to have a smaller pocket of slow water in front of the boulder and the disturbance may show up on the surface several feet down stream from where the actual boulder lies.  Almost anything holding to it is going to be on the bottom and focused to the nearest edge of the current break.  I'm going to fish eddies like this primarily with bottom contact baits to keep them down and in the strike zone.  

 

Now, the bigger boulders can be treated differently.  Because they're larger, there's a bigger still water pocket in the front (where the most active, though maybe not always the largest fish will sit) typically with the slowest water on the bottom.  Also, just like the smaller Eddy, you have the seams and pocket behind it.  Because of the size of this Eddy, you can fish the whole water column.  One strategy might be swimming a soft plastic (fluke, grub, etc) on a light weight (1/16 1/8oz) high in the column and a heavier jig (1/8-3/16oz) fished closer to the bottom (tube, soft plastic crayfish, grub, etc).  

 

Still, though, as a general rule, use the lightest weights you can get away with to present the lure the way you want.  I know that this is a bit more than what you were asking, but hopefully it gives you a better idea about how to use weight to fish effectively in current. 

A good suggestion for better learning Smallmouth in rivers is checking out guides like Jeff Little.  He has several YouTube channels and has some really good season pattern DVDs. 

[NRV_Smallmouth]

Thank you! I'll be back on the water in couple days to try it out!

[Steveo-1969]

Great info here!  I also fish a river for smallmouth and started using jigs a lot more last season.  I've settled on 3/16 ounce as just about perfect for water from 2' - 8' deep.  I can feel the bottom well and don't get hung up often.

I'm assuming you are putting a trailer on your jig?  I've been using a Baby Rage Craw and biting off the first 2 segments to shorten it a little.

[NRV_Smallmouth]

I have been using either a 1/4 ounce or 1/8 ounce and yes i use a crawdad trailer. What technique do you use to catch fish on jigs? Dragging? Hopping?

[Steveo-1969]

I'm not sure what you would call the technique I use most often.  Maybe "hagging" (hopping/dragging)?  I make a cast generally quartering upstream and let the jig fall to the bottom.  Lift the rod tip until I feel the jig come up and move with the current, then let it drift and fall back down.  Repeat all the way back in.

I'm not standing up in a boat, I'm wading in the water.  So when I lift my rod tip the jig isn't hopping up very far, just enough to catch the current and move a little bit downstream before hitting bottom again.  (My heart just starting beating a little faster imagining what it's like to anticipate that "THUNK".  Man I love fishing a jig!)

I will adjust from there.  For example if I get bit as I'm quickly reeling back in to make another cast I will hop it more and fish faster.

[NRV_Smallmouth]

 I fish out of a kayak so it shouldn't be much different, I should be at the river this coming week I'll keep you updated - thanks!

[Steveo-1969]

Good luck!!!