Having trouble fishing jigs

[Bassin407]

I'm in your boat man I'm new to plastics been out a few times using plastic worms and it's hard to tell if I'm seaweed or it's an actually bite so I do a little of hook setting but I'm just catching water. Lol I'm fishing weightless Texas rig with a 5 inch worm. Size 4 offset hook. 20 lb braid. 

For somebody who is new to jigging, should they start with weight? 

[J Francho]

9 minutes ago, Bassin407 said:

For somebody who is new to jigging, should they start with weight? 

I'm not sure I understand the question.  Jigs come in lots of weights.  I generally throw a 1/2 oz. jig as a starting point.  Seems heavy, but you get a good feel for it and it's heavy enough to stay connected, but not so heavy it gets caught up in everything.

[Wbeadlescomb]

On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 1:14 PM, Bassin407 said:

I'm in your boat man I'm new to plastics been out a few times using plastic worms and it's hard to tell if I'm seaweed or it's an actually bite so I do a little of hook setting but I'm just catching water. Lol I'm fishing weightless Texas rig with a 5 inch worm. Size 4 offset hook. 20 lb braid. 

For somebody who is new to jigging, should they start with weight? 

4/0 hook or no 4 hook?

 

I like a 3/8 ounce jig. I rarely fish water over 20 foot deep. And deep that 20 I'm probably going to throw a 1/2 or 3/4

[Catt]

Weight selection has nothing to do with water depth!!!

Rate Of Fall!

I'll throw a 1 oz jig in 5' of water or a 1/4 oz jig in 25' of water!

[WRB]

Until the OP decides to come back and answer a few questions that has been asked, we are preaching to the choir.

Tom

[caudburns11]

Thanks for all the replies. Haven't been able to get back on until today. But to answer most of the questions I'm pretty much using 1/4 to 3/8 oz jigs with a reaction innovations trailer.

On April 25, 2016 at 11:51 AM, Catt said:

Those bumps, thumps, tics, & taps are easy to detect, so are the ones where ya see line movement.

It's the ones where the bass inhales your jig without any tell-tale signs or movement & proceeds to sit there until you apply to much pressure at which time they spit it.

Keeping a certain amount of tension while keeping a certain amount to slackness will "clue" you in on two bites.

If you jig/t-rig is sitting still & your line gets tighter or your line gets slacker odds are you've had a bass pick up your lure!

A-Jay & I have said it 100,000 times...try night fishing!

Thanks for the advice. I think some of my problem comes from not having the experience of how to retrieve the line and keeping tension in the line. I will try the night fishing if I get a chance. Thanks again

On April 21, 2016 at 10:20 PM, papajoe222 said:

Glen did a video on learning how to detect bites with soft plastic baits and a jig bite is often very similar. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/feel-bite.html If you are familiar with fishing a T-rig, you should be able to detect a jig bite.

One suggestion:  slow down. If your line is always moving, you're fishing too fast.  Pause between hops, or after dragging the jig a short distance. Dragging it along the bottom, using the rod to do so, will transmit valuable information about the bottom and the presence of cover more than hopping it.

The majority of hits when fishing a jig occur on the initial fall. This is why it's the perfect presentation when flipping or pitching and why it's used more for 'target fishing' than say covering a flat with multiple casts.

Check out the pinned topic at the top of this forum. There is a bunch of great info in some of the responses.

Thanks, I will check out the video. I'm learning more patience every time I go out and try. I think most of my problem comes from not letting the bait drop/reeling in to fast and not working it correctly

[caudburns11]

On April 21, 2016 at 7:26 AM, smalljaw67 said:

I say this in all sincerity, fishing a jig is the easiest thing to do but the hardest to learn. When I was teaching my grandson how to fish a jig, we started with small jigs, I suggest something like the Strike King Bitsy Bug with the bitsy craw trailer. The reason they are hard to learn is that they aren't a numbers bait, they tend to get bit by larger fish on average and during a tough bite smaller fish that would bite a worm will often pass a jig by without as much as looking at it. Bites are going to be one of 3 distinct ways, the first is the "thump", that is the one we all like, there is no mistake on whether it was a bite as it just about rips the rod from your hands, these are the ones you get the least. The second type of bite is the "tap-tap"  this is one you get most of the time and there is no mistake, you will know when you get this type of bite. The 3rd type, and the one that is the hardest to detect, is the "extra weight" or "weeds" bite, you'll often get this type of strike when dead sticking (letting it sit still for a minute or so) a jig, you begin to move the jig slowly and it feels like it is bogged down with weeds of something else that feels "mushy", these are missed by the novice jig fisherman but once you catch that first fish on a jig, that is when it gets much easier. I remember when I started fishing a jig, it was with a 1/2oz Arkiy style jig and I remember thinking that the fish in my waters won't eat that since it is so big. I fished with it for a full day and nothing so the next day I decided to only make a few casts and then forget about it, and on my second cast I felt the "tap-tap" and I set the hook and it was my first largemouth on a jig and we didn't have hand held scales back then but we did have a tape measure and it was my first bass that was over 17", the fish went 20" and I was a jig fishing fool since, that was 1981 or 82.

Thanks, the 3rd bite you described is what I'm struggling with because of all the wood and stumps in the bottom of my local pond. I always feel a little weight every few cast and I'll set the hook and it will be nothing. I'm hoping with time I'll be able to distinguish whether it's a bite or not once I get a feel for the bait

[primetime]

There are so many good videos online where you can really learn alot. I would suggest learning in an area you know for sure holds fish. I would try to find a pond with a high volume of Bass and also an area of weeds and cover where you can work on your pitching technique since water entry and accuracy are often the most important parts of catching fish. It really is all about practice, and you will learn something new everytime you fish...The Strike King Bitsy Bug Flipping Jig is a good jig to learn with, the weedguard is a bit stiff, but you can fix that just don't cut them shorter without giving it thought, it makes them stiffer and complicates the problem...

It is important to have the right Jig for the job..I like the advise above about using a pegged texas rig...If you can get bit on a 1/2 oz., pegged creature, you can fish a jig....Just my 2 cents....

[J Francho]

For that matter, if you can get bit on a senko, you can probably get bit on a jig.

[WRB]

7 hours ago, J Francho said:

For that matter, if you can get bit on a senko, you can probably get bit on a jig.

Getting bit is the easy part, detecting strikes is what separates the good jig fisherman from everyone else.

What Catt was discribing I call controlled slack and that varies depending on a lot of factors that only time on the water can define.

Everyone gets upset when I say most big bass jig bites go undetected, it's true!  A jig isn't a mouth full of soft plastic for bass 7 lbs and up, it's a gum drop that gets rejected quickly if you can't detect it's in their mouth in time.

Tom

[J Francho]

I know how to detect the spit out better than the take!

[Catt]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Getting bit is the easy part, detecting strikes is what separates the good jig fisherman from everyone else.

What Catt was discribing I call controlled slack and that varies depending on a lot of factors that only time on the water can define.

Everyone gets upset when I say most big bass jig bites go undetected, it's true!  A jig isn't a mouth full of soft plastic for bass 7 lbs and up, it's a gum drop that gets rejected quickly if you can't detect it's in their mouth in time.

Tom

Reminds me of Glen Lau videos

[WRB]

The premonition bite; should be a fish there so you swing and there she is! Sometimes you just go with instinct.

Tom

[BaitMonkey1984]

I like to power fish but my strength is really soft plastics. I am an alright stick with a senko or a chigger craw. And after years and 1000s of bites I can detect the bite on those baits and set the hook vis a vis muscle memory. Despite that, I still struggle with a Jig. I got a little better last year and I think two things helped. One is I made sure to trim the weed guard making it softer and used smaller trailers. Secondly, like others started I slowed down. Soaked a jig. Got me more bites, hope it helps you out too. 

[J Francho]

15 hours ago, BaitMonkey1984 said:

One is I made sure to trim the weed guard making it softer

So others don't get confused, trimming a brush guard so it is SHORTER makes it stiffer.  THINNING a weed guard by trimming out a few fibers makes it softer.

[BaitMonkey1984]

21 hours ago, J Francho said:

So others don't get confused, trimming a brush guard so it is SHORTER makes it stiffer.  THINNING a weed guard by trimming out a few fibers makes it softer.

Correct, thanks for making that point clear, as it is a very important distinction. 

[WRB]

Back in the day when I used a weed gaurd cutting the fiber strands off just above the hook point parallel hook shank then spreading apart to make a V worked OK. This way the bass doesn't bend down the gaurd more than 1/8" and 2 smaller bunches of fibers bends easier then 1 bunch. Today you can order or make jigs with smaller bunches of fiber with smaller diameter fibers.

I only use a fiber gaurd when necessary in heavy cover, otherwise I use a hitchhiker type spring to attach a short 2" worm section to protect the hook point from snagging.

Tom

[thomas15]

Good thread. Thanks.

[Munkin]

On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 9:58 AM, Catt said:

The art of feeling a worm/jig bite is a fine combination of watching your line and feeling for unnatural sensations of what your bait shouldn't feel like. Some times you will feel that classic Tap, some times you'll only see line movement, some times your line will simply go slack, but some times there will only be a feeling of heaviness that is almost like your line will not move. The bites where the bass moves after inhaling you bait are the easy ones to feel because there is line movement, the bites where the bass simply inhales your bait and just sits there are the hardest to feel. Feeling a worm/jig bite requires keeping a certain amount of tension on your line while at the same time keeping a certain amount of slackness in your line. To the average angler this makes no sense at all but the worm/jig angler it makes total sense. 

Maintain contact with your lure at all times, allow the lure to free-fall unrestricted, but without letting slack form in the line; follow your lures down with your rod tip.

Pay close attention to the depth you're fishing, any sudden change in the amount of line you're using could mean you've been bit. For instance, if you're fishing 6 feet of water and the lure suddenly stops at the 3 depth, it's possible a bass has taken the bait. If you're fishing 3 feet of water and 6 feet of line sinks beneath the mat, chances are good a bass is traveling with the bait. This is extremely true on the initial drop and no line movement maybe noticed.

Strikes will sometimes so subtle with no line movement that they can go unnoticed if you feel is a spongy sensation, as if the line suddenly got heavy set the hook. 

The hook set is the only part of this sport that is still free so when in doubt drop the rod, reel the slack, and set the hook.

This is what I have to try and explain to people learning to fish jigs! Get use to what the jig feels like on most casts and when something feels different it is a fish.

 

Allen

[Josh Smith]

On 4/21/2016 at 10:20 PM, papajoe222 said:

The majority of hits when fishing a jig occur on the initial fall. This is why it's the perfect presentation when flipping or pitching and why it's used more for 'target fishing' than say covering a flat with multiple casts.

I very rarely experience this.  Generally, I must work for the strike, meaning, I have to make the thing behave like a crawdad to get the bass to hit.  It's really fun to watch when sight fishing.

Josh

 

 

[J Francho]

15 hours ago, Josh Smith said:

I very rarely experience this.

Then you're missing bites when you aren't sight fishing.  I'd say more than half my bites come on the initial drop, if I'm fishing active fish.  Generally that's all I'm looking for.  I that fails, then I slow it down, and try to "finesse" a bite.  Also, by initial drop I just mean the moments after the jig hits the water and drops to the target.  It may be the first cast, or the 25th cast to that target.  Often times, you cant really hop a jig around in submerged timber, under a dock, or in heavy weeds.  I'm not even so sure I'm emulating a crayfish, though it looks like that to *me*.  Most of the time I think the bass just reacts to a vulnerable prey item.  I don't know if I'm that great a jig fisherman, but I use them a lot, and I don't overthink the fishing part nearly as much as the consideration I put into what type of jig I'm going to use.

[Sam]

Caud, please take all of the above into consideration when fishing a jig.

And I want to add one more tad bit of information: Fishing a jig is for bigger fish, not numbers of fish.

If you are like me and can't sit still or let the bait sit for thirty-seconds or more before moving it then you will never learn jig fishing.

Jig fishing is hard for me to do so I picture the jig on the bottom acting like a crawfish. As long as you can do this, and understand that sometimes the jig does not make it to the bottom on a flip or pitch, you will be a successful jig fisherman.

Now go outside, wherever you are, and throw that jig every day for two weeks. And only the jig.

[J Francho]

1 minute ago, Sam said:

If you are like me and can't sit still or let the bait sit for thirty-seconds or more before moving it then you will never learn jig fishing.

I can't remember ever making it 30 seconds!  I'm looking for active fish, not some dummy that has to stare at it's lunch forever to decide to take a bite, lol.  I'm sure I'll take some flack for that, but it's just my impatience as well. 

[Sam]

4 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I can't remember ever making it 30 seconds!  I'm looking for active fish, not some dummy that has to stare at it's lunch forever to decide to take a bite, lol.  I'm sure I'll take some flack for that, but it's just my impatience as well. 

Totally agree. Active fish make the day. I usually move the jig within 15-seconds but I do let it sit after the initial pitch for about 30-seconds. My problem is if I don't get hit within ten or so casts it is back to the shaky head, drop shot or Senko.

Old habits die hard!!!!!

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Sam said:

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

I can't remember ever making it 30 seconds!  I'm looking for active fish, not some dummy that has to stare at it's lunch forever to decide to take a bite, lol.  I'm sure I'll take some flack for that, but it's just my impatience as well. 

If you are like me and can't sit still or let the bait sit for thirty-seconds or more before moving it then you will never learn jig fishing.

The only time I'll wait that long is casting a jig on deep water structure!