Jig Trailers

[IgotWood]

I am just beginning to dabble in jigs a little bit. A problem I have is choosing a trailer. I fish from a kayak, so I am limited in the amount of tackle I carry. I have a couple questions; What dictates the size and style of your trailer? Some folks like large trailers, some like small, some like the Rage trailers which have a ton of movement, and some like trailers with a more subtle action. How do you choose? 

I also see that many folks like to mismatch their trailer with their jig skirt. How do you choose? So far, for me, I carry Rage craws, which seem very big on the jig, and I often cut them in half and have been successful. I also carry Rage Menace, and Havoc Pit Boss, both of which have a bit less movement. So far, the Rage craw cut in half have been the winner for me, but my jig bites have been far and few between. 

 

[Airman4754]

You will get a ton of favorites and advice but the consensus will be less action in colder water, more action in warmer water. 

I use the KVD perfect plastic in winter, Rage chunk in summer, and a Paca chunk the rest of the time. 

[kickerfish1]

Matt Allen has some great pointers on this vary topic on his Tactical Bassn' videos. He talks about how different variables have an impact on what he chooses. There are no right or wrong answer but for me I like more action and movement in a trailer when fish are the most active which usually occurs when water temps are the greatest. I also like to use them during transition times of the year such as spring to summer and summer to fall when fish are starting to put on the feedbag. When water temps are really cold early in the spring or late in the fall that is when I typically go for less movement and more subtle choices. Chunk craws or beaver style baits are great at doing this. As far as size of the trailer that for me is usually dependent on the size of the jig and the size of the fish being targeted. For smaller finesse jigs a smallier beaver or a baby rage craw will pair better while a the 4.20 beaver or standard size rage craw will go better on 3/8 or 1/2 oz jig. I usually match the trailer with the color of the jig and don't really contrast them all that much. For example if I am fishing gin clear water and using a natural color jig I do not want my jig trailer to be blue sapphire. Also consider jig skirt material and how it moves in the water in relation to fish activity level. Living rubber, silicone, hair, and fur, will all look different in the water and have different triggering qualities to help you get more bites.

[Senko lover]

I use a Rage chunk most of the time, in the winter I may go to more of a subtle trailer without wild action.

[HeavyDluxe]

Funny coincidence... I just fished nothing but a jig all morning and was coming online to post something similar.

I started with a black/blue Siebert brush jig (3/8oz) with a black with blue/gold GYCB Flappin Hog as the trailer. Had a productive morning, and fished that trailer until only two appendages were left.  Then, I grabbed the wrong bag of trailers.  Being lazy, I stuck with it and just put a green pumpkin Hog on the same jig.  The mismatch still seemed to catch fish.  I was interested to hear more about how particular people are with color-matching the trailer.

re: Length - In this case, the body of GYCB Hog (the smaller size of them) runs a little more than 1/2" past the end of the hook and then the 'flappers' extend even further.

The other trailers I've fished were Zoom UltraVibe craws... They are a little more compact overall than the Yamamoto trailers. And, I definitely did 'downsize' even further sometimes by biting off a bit of the crawbutt from time to time.

[WRB]

Whenever you begin something start with KISS, keep it simple and use high percentage strike ratio lures. Consider the bass you are targeting are not active feeders, when they active they will strike nearly anything, when they less active is when jigs shine. 

The 2 trailers I like to teach anglers to jig fish are; Yamamoto twin tail 4" Hula grub on a plain black jig head and Berkley Chigger craw, 3" or 4", on a skirted jig. With the smaller size trailers that have swimming tails slows the rate of fall. 3/8 and 1/2 oz should work. Chigger craw in green pumpkin and Hula grub in brown tones like #221 cinnamon w/purple flake. You already have Rage tails.

Tom

 

[scaleface]

I really dont think the kind of jig trailers are that important and I dont buy plastics for the sole purpose as a jig trailer . If I have a torn up plastic craw that is what I will use . Torn up Lizards are another one . Twin tail Mister Twisters , even an ordinary plastic worm .  

[Fishes in trees]

I like the Netbait Paca chunks most of the time.

[BrianSnat]

Rage Tail space monkey. I cut off the first half of the body.

[long island basser]

1 hour ago, Fishes in trees said:

I like the Netbait Paca chunks most of the time.

 

This is what I like along with the pit boss in 3 and or 4".

[chadmack282]

double tail grub

[j bab]

Rage Craw is definitely one of my favorites too.

I think it's fun to experiment with jig trailers, because you can put just about any soft plastic on and it will probably work.

I've heard arguments both for and against matching trailer color to skirt color. As some have said, just try both  

[flyingmonkie]

I've got a craw of some sort on almost all the time... I'm not super particular, just pick something of the anticipated right action.  I will say that the Rage Menace has been a go-to this summer anytime I swim a jig.  in regard to size, I usually fish a pretty compact jig.  I'm almost always biting a section or two out of whatever I put on as I like my trailer action to be happening just past the skirt material.

I try to keep it simple with colors, usually doing a mixture of greens.  I like highlight colors in my jig skirt, like chartreuse or orange/yellow.  In dirtier water I'll usually do black/blues, although I feel i've done just as well sticking with greens.

[Bluebasser86]

In my kayak I try to choose baits that are versatile for a jig trailer. The Rage Craw, YUM Christie Craw, and YUM Woolly Bug are good jigs trailers and good stand alone baits. 2/3 of a 5" stick worm can also be good. 

[Catt]

When it comes to a Jig-n-Craw everyone has their own personal repertoire of confusion!

Many prefer Rage Craws/Chunks, I throw Rage Lobsters; I'll cut an inch or an inch & a half off the tail. I also throw a 6" Gene Larew Hawg Craw cutting the same off the tail.

From post spawn thought late fall I'm throwing bulky jigs!

During cold water I'll drop down to a 1/4 oz Bitsy Bug Flip & a Zoom Swimmin' Chunk.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Catt
Operator error

[bigfruits]

DT grub has a lot of action. i use the yamamoto one with football jigs a lot. both 4 and 5 inch.

[papajoe222]

I consider a few things when choosing the size, color and type of trailer.  First is the cover and/or structure I'll be targeting.  A trailer with a lot of action is a great choice for rock or gravel, sparse weeds, or flipping deadfalls, but it's a poor choice for heavy vegetation.  Second, and a lot of guys don't understand this, or are unaware, matching your jig and trailer combo to the predominate bottom or cover color. Lastly, the size of the trailer adds to the bulk of the presentation along with slowing its overall rate of fall. A light jig with a bulky, action trailer will give you a big bait that falls slowly and a heavy jig with a slender or one with less bulk is going to fall faster.  The second two are ways to tweak my presentation when I'm looking to find out what the fish want, but when it comes to a vertical presentation, I don't feel color to be as important.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[WRB]

I didn't suggest the pork rind jig trailers I use because they are not good for numbers of strikes, just the opposite but the few strikes they generate are well worth it to me. I suggested trailers that do generate lots of strikes and catch bass everywhere. Can't learn if your not getting strikes.

Tom

[IgotWood]

I really appreciate everyone's input. I was out yesterday evening and bounced jigs off a bunch of cypress trees. Wasn't getting any bites, so I threw the old faithful , wacky Senko and quickly got bit. I matched my jig and trailer as best I could to the Senko I was using, and I generated 2 bites, both small fish, but still fun to lob that jig and feel it bounce of off every branch and root on its way down. 

[Bluebasser86]

Next time, put 2/3 of one of those Senkos on the back of a jig. It works very well at times. 

[scaleface]

Wacky rig a senko as a jig trailer . 

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Next time, put 2/3 of one of those Senkos on the back of a jig. It works very well at times. 

I've done that quite a bit for river smallies using a Bitsy Bug . 

[PourMyOwn]

I use pork rinds or a Guido bug-both of which I believe are discontinued. Third choice is the Strike King 3x jig trailers, they are also quite durable and the claws float.

[WRB]

3 hours ago, IgotWood said:

I really appreciate everyone's input. I was out yesterday evening and bounced jigs off a bunch of cypress trees. Wasn't getting any bites, so I threw the old faithful , wacky Senko and quickly got bit. I matched my jig and trailer as best I could to the Senko I was using, and I generated 2 bites, both small fish, but still fun to lob that jig and feel it bounce of off every branch and root on its way down. 

Senko's fall rate is very slow, you needed to use a lighter weight jig to slow down the rate of fall to give those bass time to strike.

Tom

[IgotWood]

19 hours ago, WRB said:

Senko's fall rate is very slow, you needed to use a lighter weight jig to slow down the rate of fall to give those bass time to strike.

Tom

Makes perfect sense. Noted...thanks!

[timsford]

I carry a few basic styles and colors of jig trailers. For times when I want to displace more water, I use a beaver or pit boss, for more action a rage craw, chigger craw, or ultravibe speed craw. When it's clear or fish are finicky I use more natural crawl like the zoom lil critter craw, paca craw, or bitsy bug craw. If I see the bass eyeballing or following it in clear water or for my confidence bait anytime I'm frustrated, I use the Z man craw or whopper baits boxing craw because the claws float up and look natural. The only time I use anything besides craw baits is with swim jigs or chatterbaits. Then I use Keitech easy shiners, fat impacts, lunker city grubsters, or jackall rhythm wave swimbaits. On the craw baits I use black and blue, or green pumpkin or brown with orange claws like all the crawl in my local area. On the swim jigs I either use variations of green pumpkin and watermelon to imitate bluegill or white or silver to imitate shad