Hair Jigs

[pwahmy]

I've fished regular jigs, but I've never fished hair jigs. Everyone says they shine in cold water, is that their only use? OR could you fish it when the fishing is slow or if you're around smaller fish? 

[OkobojiEagle]

Hair jigs will catch bass anytime of year, however, for much of the warmer months of the year other baits will catch bass as well or better than hair.

 

oe

[smalljaw67]

This is something that gets discussed a lot and the truth of the matter is that there are several types of hair jigs but they all work in warm water. For bass fishing there are 3 main types, there is the micro hair jig and sometimes called the black hair, it is 1/32oz to 3/32oz and is usually tied with marabou but also buck tail and other materials as well and fished in early spring, water temps from mid 30s up to 50 degrees. Then there is the regular hair jig, 1/8oz to 1/4oz, these are for cold water mostly and can work in warm waters, they are tied with a bunch of different material but usually buck tail or craft fur and these are good from the upper 30s and up but when the water hits the upper 50s or low 60s, the fish's metabolism begins to speed up and baits with more action seem to work better but on a slow bite a hair jig can work. Then you have the final 2 categories, the first is the 3/8oz to 1/2oz flipping hair jigs, these typically have a lot of buck tail and often include silicone or rubber strands and are usually dark in color. The last one are the big ledge hair jigs that go from 1/2oz up to an ounce or more, these are tied with buck tail and sometimes synthetic materials along with saddle hackle feathers and they are made to fish deep clear water where fish are schooled up waiting for baitfish, these last 2 categories are the ones most commonly used in warm water. The reason they are used more in cold water is because hair remains soft and pliable in cold water, the new plastics work as well but in the early 80s until the late 90s, the soft plastics would get very stiff in cold water and didn't work so well and because of this a lot of anglers felt hair worked better. The one reason hair works well when it is cold is because here in the Northeast where I fish, the bass don't have craws to eat when the winter comes and the water is cold so they tend to key on minnow forage. When they do that, grubs and small swim baits work but a good a small buck tail has very  subtle movement, just like the baitfish at this time, and the profile of buck tail when wet is a spot on imitation of a minnow. The smaller marabou jigs work better in the cold because the fish has a slow metabolism and will often only take something small, and marabou compresses when wet and mimics the profile of a small minnow as well and just slowly reeling it as it falls through the water column where fish often are during the cold water period makes for the perfect presentation. I hope this makes sense to you, and there is no rules, a good bait to use in warm water when the bite is tough is a 3" Senko or a Ned rig, these tend to do better than hair in warm water but there are always exceptions but there is no harm in trying a hair jig when nothing else is working, I've done it a lot and I find that hair does better for me in cold water but that is me so you may want to try it in your water.

[papajoe222]

Up until a few seasons ago, hair jigs were my go to presentation when faced with cold front conditions.  I just recently got into using spinning gear and for some reason never tie one on. A bulky buck tail has a nice slow fall an when tied with some body hair moves with the slightest current.