Conflicted between t-rig vs. jig

[RHuff]

A lot of winning bass are being caught right now on my home lake during my weekly club tournaments that are holding in thick lilly pad fields anywhere from the inside edge up near the back out to the outside edges towards the main lake in 8-12ft water. I have been catching limits to weigh in every week but I am struggling to find the bigger bass needed to make the jump from 3rd or 4th into 1st. If I decide to flip jigs it seems like the texas rigs win it and if i flip a texas rig it seems jigs win. Help me out here - how do you determine which one to throw and when? I usually try to flip a jig first and if its just too thick to get a jig through without getting hung I will go fully weedless with the t-rig. How do you guys go about deciding which one to throw and when? 

[GReb]

Have you discovered a pattern where the bigger fish are holding?  Are they on the edges in isolated cover? Where pads and wood structures meet? Deep in the thick stuff?  From my experience fishing pads the lures don’t matter much once you pinpoint the location. 

[scaleface]

Sounds like  you are doing pretty good to me .  Keep weighing in those limits .  How do I choose between a Texas rig and a jig? Easy , I just choose Texas rig . ?

[smalljaw67]

Trail and error is the best way. In a tournament I'd go with a T-rigged worm and get a limit fast then use a jig to get some kicker fish. When I'm just out fishing I almost always have a jig tied on but it isn't always a larger flipping jig, sometimes I use small finesse jigs in the 1/8oz to 1/4oz range. I use the weather along with water conditions to determine what I'm going to use, tough conditions I'm going to use a finesse jig or a T-rigged worm and go from there.

[Catt]

I have both tied on 24/7/365 ?

 

I throw both letting the fish tell me which one the want!

 

If I'm catching on one I will throw the other before moving!

[Mobasser]

11 minutes ago, Catt said:

I have both tied on 24/7/365 ?

 

I throw both letting the fish tell me which one the want!

 

If I'm catching on one I will throw the other before moving!

Catt, you've got it down. The two best lures in bass fishing. The fish will let you know

[Team9nine]

Here's a somewhat different take. Just my experience, but to win one of these things, it's usually best if you're throwing the "right" bait, right from the beginning, and all the way through the event. Since you say one of these baits usually wins, and your track record at guessing isn't great, just pick one of the two and commit to fishing it all day, every event. When the bait you pick becomes the "right" one for that week, you should be competing for the win, then simply don't worry about the other weeks. You'll still catch your share of fish from the sounds of it.

[CroakHunter]

I too have both tied on at all times. Sometimes as many as 6 rods have a jig or t-rig on them. I usually pick one and fish it until I lose confidence in it. That could be 15 minutes could be 4 weeks. I believe it is more about location and rate of fall rather than the exact bait most of the time. Very few instances for me where i am putting a jig in the same places as a t-rig and one is getting bit a lot more than the other if rate of fall and color and size and action are similar. 

[Mjmj]

Maybe try something like this.  Hopefully A Jay will chime in, he has some pretty cool rugs like this

[clh121787]

The winners were probably just around the right fish and either presentation would have won.  I like fishing a jig when I can get away with it. The thicker the grass/cover for convenience I'll switch to a t rig. 

[RHuff]

2 hours ago, Mjmj said:

Maybe try something like this.  Hopefully A Jay will chime in, he has some pretty cool rugs like this

 

 

 

Just rigged this thing on earlier. I felt well if I can’t decide among the two why not combine them together. 

[r83srock]

1 hour ago, clh121787 said:

The winners were probably just around the right fish and either presentation would have won.  I like fishing a jig when I can get away with it. The thicker the grass/cover for convenience I'll switch to a t rig. 

A lot of good advice here. I too fish both interchangeably. I use a t-rig a lot to dial in the bite. I could go from a swim bait, to a buzz frog, to a worm, to a flipping creature, in short order, until I get some idea of what’s happening. If I’m catching them on a flip bait or worm, I’ll very likely give the jig a shot. If I get a single good bite on a jig, I will stick with it, until I’m confident that’s not the deal. If it’s a super tough bite, a jig is what I lean towards.

[Dens228]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

I have both tied on 24/7/365 ?

 

I throw both letting the fish tell me which one the want!

 

If I'm catching on one I will throw the other before moving!

Same here.  I tend to use the t-rig when I'm having issues getting a jig through the area I'm hitting otherwise it's a jig.....I catch my biggest bass on a jig though.  By far.