Jig Help Needed for Tomorrow

[daviswill]

First off, I never fish jigs. But today I worked up the appetite to throw jigs all day tomorrow. With the water reaching 90 degrees in the afternoon I figured that I would fish deep structure and docks. I have 7 jigs (2 football, 2 swim, and 3 flipping), how would you go about this day and fish the jigs. Would you fish docks at all? Would you fish deep structure? I have no idea what I am doing with jigs. How would you work them? What signs should I look for on the depth finder? All help would be gladly appreciated.

[iceintheveins]

Learn to pitch and flip to targets if you haven't already. Pitch to the target (weedline, dock, rocky shoreline, wood ect), and let it fall on a semi slack line. Hop it off the bottom once or twice to let it fall again, then reel in for another pitch. Sometimes it takes several to draw a strike.

Swimjigs I fish just like a spinnerbait, pretty much anywhere. I do go a bit slower with a swimjig and will pause and let it fall more often.

Football jigs, there are two presentations I use. The first is just a plain dragging retrieve where I maintain bottom contact. Football jigs work best either in rock cover, or on structure (humps, points, creek channels, ledges ect). The other presentation is "stroking" the football jig. You sharply jerk the rodtip up and let it fall on semi slack line back to the bottom. When you jerk the rod up, smack the bottom of the rod near your reel and this will make it dart a long ways off the bottom, giving the jig more time to fall.

[daviswill]

Thank you for the help

[iceintheveins]

You're welcome.

[papajoe222]

Not knowing the lake, I'd start out working the docks (flipping/pitching) on the side of the lake the wind is blowing to. I'd stick with that as long as it produced concentrating on any shade the docks offer.  Moving my way toward deep structure with the swim jig targeting the inside (shallow) weed line first, the tops of the weeds as I moved deeper and the outside weed line before switching to a football jig and working any structural changes or cover on the structure.

Remember this though, jigs are not search baits.  You should have an idea of where the fish are located before you start.  Fishing a body of water that you know will eliminate a lot of searching with a slow presentation.  If you aren't familiar with the lake, I suggest you locate active fish with some other presentation first. Once found, you can switch to the jig presentation that best fits the situation. 

[WRB]

Jigs are the answer for what you are asking. Jigs are a simple lure that can catch bass if you locate them first and know how to detect a strike when it occurs.

Tom

 

[BiteFiend]

Just fish them where fish will be. You are on to the right idea and will be fishing them in areas that sound like they will produce. They are easy to fish. Many people just over-think it or fish them too fast. 

[daviswill]

I caught two bass and a yellow perch on a green pumpkin finesse jig with half of a baby brush hog as a trailer. They all came off of shady banks.