Jigs without a trailer?

[papajoe222]

Does anyone here ever throw a skirted bass jig without some type of trailer?

  My kid never uses a trailer and when I rib him about it, his  reply is; "You always throw hair jigs without a trailer, why should I use a trailer on a skirted jig?" Grant you, I catch five times more bass on a hair jig than he does on his jigs, but I catch five times more bass on just about any presentation than he does. That got me to seriously consider the possibility that he actually had a sound argument. 

Yesterday I fished with only skirted jigs and hair jigs in an attempt to confirm my position.  Just as I thought, I didn't catch anything with the skirted jig without a trailer...........didn't catch anything on the hair jig either, but my experiment proves that you should always put a trailer on your bass jigs.  

[OkobojiEagle]

Both jig heads are "dressed"... one with natural hair/fur/feathers, the other with synthetic strands.  Both may catch more bass with further dressings or trailers... neither will catch many bass totally void of dressings or trailers.

 

oe

[Davvy C]

Hair jigs don’t need a trailer because their action comes from the soft moving deer hair which would normally imitate some sort of baitfish. Silicone just adds bulk and doesn’t have as good of an action on its own as real hair. That is why a soft plastic is used with silicone.  

[WRB]

Why do you think a hair jig isn't a skirted jig? Hair is the skirt material and no different then silicone or living rubber. You could add feathered jigs like marabou to the list.

Tom

[fin]

1 hour ago, papajoe222 said:

...my experiment proves that you should always put a trailer on your bass jigs.

The only thing you proved is you didn't catch a fish. You sure didn't prove I can't catch a fish without a trailer on a silicone skirted jig, and I think you'd have a hard time proving any trailer is always better than nothing. I'd agree most trailers are better than nothing, but not always.

[Jleebesaw]

I have caught many bass and pike on bass jigs without trailers. I used to fish jigs a lot, with and without trailers. Trailers add to the profile for sure. They also provide added movement. Sometimes less is more though. Just like downsizing worm sizes, sometimes when the bite is slow, smaller profiles can get a bite when a bigger one wont.  

   My experiance with fishing in general is that there are very few "always" or "nevers". 

[fin]

4 minutes ago, Jleebesaw said:

Sometimes less is more though.

I think the success of the ned rig has proven this pretty clearly to most people.

 

5 minutes ago, Jleebesaw said:

My experience with fishing in general is that there are very few "always" or "nevers". 

I'll always agree with that. It's one of the greatest things about fishing. Just when you think you know something for a fact... boom.

[papajoe222]

4 hours ago, WRB said:

Why do you think a hair jig isn't a skirted jig? Hair is the skirt material and no different then silicone or living rubber. You could add feathered jigs like marabou to the list.

Tom

My use of the term skirted was to distinguish a silicone or rubber skirt from the hair skirt.

Yes, fin. I know my 'experiment' didn't prove anything. I was joking.

During the summer, I work a hair jig faster than I do in the spring or fall and will often times add a small, straight tail worm.