What weight? 3/8 vs 1/2

[An Outdoor Guy]

so I'm wondering what weight do you guys use for what depth? I have mostly 3/8 oz jigs, chatter baits, spinner baits and crank baits and I'm wondering how deep do you guys fish them? when is a 1/2 oz better suited than a 3/8 oz? when would you use a 1/2 over a 3/8 and why?

[kickerfish1]

I always try to throw the lightest I can get away with. The action on the fall is also better the lighter you go as it isn't sinking like a ton of bricks. I don't have any rules on when to use a 1/4 vs 3/8 vs 1/2 vs 3/4 etc. Most of the time I would say for under 10-15 feet you would be fine with a 3/8 oz jig. Once you get closer to 20 FOW or more I would look at the 1/2 oz size just to get the bait down their faster. Most of the jigs I own are 3/8 oz if that tells you anything. It is a good all around weight for "most" situations.

[trick worms]

Depends on the bait but I always use at least a 1/2 oz. football jig to feel the bottom

[papajoe222]

I adjust weight for a number of reasons. The first is to maintain contact with the bottom and I mean feel the bottom.  You can keep a 1/8oz. jig on the bottom, but if you can't feel what's going on down there, what's the point?

The second is to alter the fall rate. You could do this by going with a bulkier bait, but sometimes this works better.

The third is to keep the bow of the line as minimal as possible under breezy conditions ( when I can't change my casting angle  

The weight of your cranks and spinnerbaits is moot as long as you can cast them. The blades/bills are what's important. 

[Catt]

Rate Of Fall triggers strikes.

The ROF depends on the mood of the bass!

I've caught bass in 20-25' on a 1/4 oz jig & I've caught bass in 10' of water on a 1 oz jig

3/8 & 1/2 oz are good starting points, ya just gonna have to throw one & adjust!

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Rate Of Fall triggers strikes.

The ROF depends on the mood of the bass!

I've caught bass in 20-25' on a 1/4 oz jig & I've caught bass in 10' of water on a 1 oz jig

3/8 & 1/2 oz are good starting points, ya just gonna have to throw one & adjust!

Agreed. Sometimes a heavy bait shooting past a fish will trigger a reaction, sometimes it will just shoot on past them. 

[WRB]

How fast can a bass swim a short distance? 

Faster then you can reel any lure or any lure weight can fall through the water column.

Sometimes a dead stick lure works better than a fast retrieve, most of the it's something in between at changing speeds. 

Jigs, it's important to keep in contact to detect strikes and if you can't feel what the jig is doing it's could be too light of weight. Lots of factors determine what weight to use like wind, current, depth, size and water resistance of the trailer or the line you use. 3/8 and 1/2 oz are very popular weights and you should have both. Add 1/4 and 3/4 oz when you gain more experience and confidence fishing jigs. 1 oz jigs may not be needed depending on where and how you bass fish, heavy cover, fast current, trailer size and presentation technique.

If you can't detect strikes you can't catch bass on jigs.

Tom

[An Outdoor Guy]

wow some great answers here! Thank you guys! looks like I'm going to get doubles of everything I have in 1/2 oz now!  I have been having trouble feeling the bottom on a 3/8oz jig. everytime I lift my rod tip up I can feel the bait come off the bottom  same with my texas rigged worms. maybe a 1/2 oz will keep it down there?

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

The only thing I'd disagree with is spinnerbait weight not mattering. Weight and blade choice both affect running depth. I prefer 3/4 spinners most of the time 1/2 in shallow or over weeds 

[primetime]

ROF and the ability to keep a bait at the depth you want is important. I find sometimes a 3/8 bladed jig will rise on me depending on trailer and line and retrieve, but a 1/2 will keep it down better most of the time.

For jigs, I usually use 5/16 as my starting point. When I first learned to punch I would use 1 oz to 1.5 oz weights and I missed almost every strike if I even knew I had one. In order to really learn I started with a 1/4 oz-3/8 Weight or Jig to get used to the feel of that since you can put that through most cover just not as fast, but now that I have improved, I can just work a 1 oz weight faster since it falls right through, but faster falling lures often generate more strikes when a standard fall is not working.

In clear water  I prefer heavy since I don't wan't fish examining a slow falling bait...I learned how to fish plastics on texas rig when young so Jig fishing was easy to learn, but I would get proficient with the Texas rig first, if bottom is soft you may not feel it, but learn to watch your line, and watch line fall to see how deep it is and then mark it with a marker, this way if your line jumps on the fall on slack, which sometimes is what they want, controlled is hard to always do, you will know you have a fish if your 6' mark is under water, fish is running with it...

Line watching is the best way to fish a jig imo if you lack confidence or have not learned to weight the jig. Any movement that is not normal is a fish, so swing......Under mats often suspended fish will travel from far away and want the bait pinned right under the mat, so always work it up to the top, control it slowly down and pause it mid way, shake a bit, let it flutter, then shake on bottom, pump it a few times, and when pinned I like to gently tap the top as if it was a bluegill eating bugs...Once you find a pattern you will gain confidence and start recognizing strikes and weights to use. Using really heavy Tungsten weights is hard, not all that fun, and you lose fish from popping open the mouth if not good at setting perfectly and on time...

Get in the habit of pitching with the hand you do not reel with. If you want to pitch with you RH baitcaster, with your right hand, I still do many days and it always comes back to haunt me at the worst times since you are fishing for only a few bites and they usually come in groups...2 hours with nothing and then next 20 yards you can limit out. Missing the first one can get you frustrated, I like to try to use 3/4 for punchiing with a worm to start...

[doyle8218]

16 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

The only thing I'd disagree with is spinnerbait weight not mattering. Weight and blade choice both affect running depth. I prefer 3/4 spinners most of the time 1/2 in shallow or over weeds 

This^

[Mike L]

14 hours ago, primetime said:

ROF and the ability to keep a bait at the depth you want is important. I find sometimes a 3/8 bladed jig will rise on me depending on trailer and line and retrieve, but a 1/2 will keep it down better most of the time.

For jigs, I usually use 5/16 as my starting point. When I first learned to punch I would use 1 oz to 1.5 oz weights and I missed almost every strike if I even knew I had one. In order to really learn I started with a 1/4 oz-3/8 Weight or Jig to get used to the feel of that since you can put that through most cover just not as fast, but now that I have improved, I can just work a 1 oz weight faster since it falls right through, but faster falling lures often generate more strikes when a standard fall is not working.

In clear water  I prefer heavy since I don't wan't fish examining a slow falling bait...I learned how to fish plastics on texas rig when young so Jig fishing was easy to learn, but I would get proficient with the Texas rig first, if bottom is soft you may not feel it, but learn to watch your line, and watch line fall to see how deep it is and then mark it with a marker, this way if your line jumps on the fall on slack, which sometimes is what they want, controlled is hard to always do, you will know you have a fish if your 6' mark is under water, fish is running with it...

Line watching is the best way to fish a jig imo if you lack confidence or have not learned to weight the jig. Any movement that is not normal is a fish, so swing......Under mats often suspended fish will travel from far away and want the bait pinned right under the mat, so always work it up to the top, control it slowly down and pause it mid way, shake a bit, let it flutter, then shake on bottom, pump it a few times, and when pinned I like to gently tap the top as if it was a bluegill eating bugs...Once you find a pattern you will gain confidence and start recognizing strikes and weights to use. Using really heavy Tungsten weights is hard, not all that fun, and you lose fish from popping open the mouth if not good at setting perfectly and on time...

Get in the habit of pitching with the hand you do not reel with. If you want to pitch with you RH baitcaster, with your right hand, I still do many days and it always comes back to haunt me at the worst times since you are fishing for only a few bites and they usually come in groups...2 hours with nothing and then next 20 yards you can limit out. Missing the first one can get you frustrated, I like to try to use 3/4 for punchiing with a worm to start...

Excellent post!

 

 

Mike 

[iceintheveins]

I use 3/8 of an ounce more often than a half ounce, I prefer a slow fall most all the time, it just seems to trigger more strikes. I actually use 1/4 ounce jigs and weights more often than any other if I'm fishing calm conditions in 12 feet of water or less, unless I'm trying to punch through heavy grass.

That being said, I have plenty of 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 ounce weights. Heavier stuff gets the call for Carolina Rigging, punching, or football jigs in over 15 feet of water.

[boostr]

I only carry 1/4 oz and 1/2 oz Jigs. I use 1/4 oz jigs in shallow I'm talking maybe 4 to 5ft the deepest. I figure less splash is better when the fish  is right there. That's what I caught my PB on this past weekend. She was in less then 2 ft of water. 1/2 oz for skipping and draging bottom.

[An Outdoor Guy]

On ‎7‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 9:17 PM, primetime said:

ROF and the ability to keep a bait at the depth you want is important. I find sometimes a 3/8 bladed jig will rise on me depending on trailer and line and retrieve, but a 1/2 will keep it down better most of the time.

For jigs, I usually use 5/16 as my starting point. When I first learned to punch I would use 1 oz to 1.5 oz weights and I missed almost every strike if I even knew I had one. In order to really learn I started with a 1/4 oz-3/8 Weight or Jig to get used to the feel of that since you can put that through most cover just not as fast, but now that I have improved, I can just work a 1 oz weight faster since it falls right through, but faster falling lures often generate more strikes when a standard fall is not working.

In clear water  I prefer heavy since I don't wan't fish examining a slow falling bait...I learned how to fish plastics on texas rig when young so Jig fishing was easy to learn, but I would get proficient with the Texas rig first, if bottom is soft you may not feel it, but learn to watch your line, and watch line fall to see how deep it is and then mark it with a marker, this way if your line jumps on the fall on slack, which sometimes is what they want, controlled is hard to always do, you will know you have a fish if your 6' mark is under water, fish is running with it...

Line watching is the best way to fish a jig imo if you lack confidence or have not learned to weight the jig. Any movement that is not normal is a fish, so swing......Under mats often suspended fish will travel from far away and want the bait pinned right under the mat, so always work it up to the top, control it slowly down and pause it mid way, shake a bit, let it flutter, then shake on bottom, pump it a few times, and when pinned I like to gently tap the top as if it was a bluegill eating bugs...Once you find a pattern you will gain confidence and start recognizing strikes and weights to use. Using really heavy Tungsten weights is hard, not all that fun, and you lose fish from popping open the mouth if not good at setting perfectly and on time...

Get in the habit of pitching with the hand you do not reel with. If you want to pitch with you RH baitcaster, with your right hand, I still do many days and it always comes back to haunt me at the worst times since you are fishing for only a few bites and they usually come in groups...2 hours with nothing and then next 20 yards you can limit out. Missing the first one can get you frustrated, I like to try to use 3/4 for punchiing with a worm to start...

Awesome post man! I'm not real confident in jig fishing. I haven't caught a fish on it yet so maybe that's why. I try to catch a fish on a jig every time I'm out but no cigar. I always resort back to my slash baits and worms. After reading all these posts I feel more confident in jigs. now to just go and try to get a big one with it.