What weights do you use for timber/laydowns?

[Hollopoint]

I am curious what weights for jigs and trigs, and what kind of plastics you guys pitch in laydowns,timber, stump fields, etc. Also what hooks/jig head style work best for it. Gimme some hints! 

[FishinBuck07]

If I am flipping jigs they are usually 3/8 oz.  When flipping Trigs in them I use 3/16 oz weights the most, either a beaver style plastic (SK rodent, RI sweet beaver), or a craw style bait (Jackall Archelon, Zoom UV speed craw).  Hooks (EWG), jig head style probably an Arkie style head!  Hope that helps you a little.  And by no means is this how everyone else does it, just my way of doing it!

[Hollopoint]

11 minutes ago, FishinBuck07 said:

If I am flipping jigs they are usually 3/8 oz.  When flipping Trigs in them I use 3/16 oz weights the most, either a beaver style plastic (SK rodent, RI sweet beaver), or a craw style bait (Jackall Archelon, Zoom UV speed craw).  Hooks (EWG), jig head style probably an Arkie style head!  Hope that helps you a little.  And by no means is this how everyone else does it, just my way of doing it!

Thank you for your input. I've tried a few ways of pitching where I am at. Mainly 1/4 oz trigs with a 3.5 inch tube or a 4 inch lizard. I've been using a 3/8 or 1/4 football head jig wise. Mostly I just get hung up though, haha. I am curious if guys use alot of heavier weights for this, like 1/2 or 3/4, or stick to lighter stuff since it's not like throwing stuff into thick grass/milfoil.

[BigAngus752]

For T-rigs I choose weights based on wind speed and time of year.  I prefer (have greater success) with worms on T-rigs than any other plastic.  Smaller worms are more likely to get a size 2/0 or 3/0 offset worm hook, but I prefer an EWG so if the worm can handle one I'm likely to use an EWG.  Spring will be a weightless ribbon tail jiggled and wiggled into the tightest brush I can find.  As the water warms the worms get bigger and I start adding weight.  Spring = weightless Ultravibe, early summer is a General or Trick Worm with a 1/4 or 3/16 weight.  By the time the water is mid-80's I'll be throwing a Berkley MaxScent Kingtail with a 3/8 or 1/2 weight.  But as I said earlier, the weight goes up with the wind speed.  Also, late summer/warm water gets me throwing my tungsten.  The fish are angry in the spring/early summer but the tungsten helps me feel the bites once the water is 80+.  

[Catt]

Depends on the rate of fall I'm wanting to achieve!

 

Texas Rigs I'll use 1/64-1/2 oz, Jig-n-Craw will be 1/4-3/4 oz.

[Hollopoint]

18 minutes ago, BigAngus752 said:

For T-rigs I choose weights based on wind speed and time of year.  I prefer (have greater success) with worms on T-rigs than any other plastic.  Smaller worms are more likely to get a size 2/0 or 3/0 offset worm hook, but I prefer an EWG so if the worm can handle one I'm likely to use an EWG.  Spring will be a weightless ribbon tail jiggled and wiggled into the tightest brush I can find.  As the water warms the worms get bigger and I start adding weight.  Spring = weightless Ultravibe, early summer is a General or Trick Worm with a 1/4 or 3/16 weight.  By the time the water is mid-80's I'll be throwing a Berkley MaxScent Kingtail with a 3/8 or 1/2 weight.  But as I said earlier, the weight goes up with the wind speed.  Also, late summer/warm water gets me throwing my tungsten.  The fish are angry in the spring/early summer but the tungsten helps me feel the bites once the water is 80+.  

Interesting. I will have to try weightless around timber. I've always thrown weightless around more rock/sparse weed cover. On my home lake, it is a man made reservoirs full of submerged old red and white pine, and some cedar. I constantly lit up suspended fish on the graph, but always had a hard time fishing it. I tried heavier weights like 1/2-3/4 but they've never seemed interested, even in lighter weights. I'll have to try throwing a worm on this year and see what happens. 

 

17 minutes ago, Catt said:

Depends on the rate of fall I'm wanting to achieve!

 

Texas Rigs I'll use 1/64-1/2 oz, Jig-n-Craw will be 1/4-3/4 oz.

Do you adjust your bait size/profile as well?  Something like going from a tube to a more beaver/brush hawg type bait?

[scaleface]

 I have a hard time pitching Texas rigs with anything less than 1/4. A 5 /16 is what I usually use . I use a lot of 1/2 ounce jigs . If I want a faster or slower fall I usually switch lures instead of weight . 

[scbassin]

Rate of fall & depth.

[Catt]

8 hours ago, Hollopoint said:

Do you adjust your bait size/profile as well?  Something like going from a tube to a more beaver/brush hawg type bait?

 

Not really

 

It's about causing a reaction stike, sometimes they want it slow & sometimes they want it fast. 

 

Most anglers prefer heavier weights in deeper water because they're too lazy to wait for it to hit bottom.

 

[FishinBuck07]

9 hours ago, Hollopoint said:

Thank you for your input. I've tried a few ways of pitching where I am at. Mainly 1/4 oz trigs with a 3.5 inch tube or a 4 inch lizard. I've been using a 3/8 or 1/4 football head jig wise. Mostly I just get hung up though, haha. I am curious if guys use alot of heavier weights for this, like 1/2 or 3/4, or stick to lighter stuff since it's not like throwing stuff into thick grass/milfoil.

Football head jigs are not the best for woody areas, those heads are made more to roll over rock and hard bottom more.  The only time I go to the super heavy trig is when it is thick grass, try to use the lightest weight whenever possible as I feel it lets it stay in the strike zone longer!

[TnRiver46]

Near my house, it all depends on current. Some days a 3/16 oz bullet weight gets swept away, some days it doesn’t. @Catt posted an interesting video of a kid using 1 oz jigs in shallow stump fields. Flip to the stump, hit it, and let the jig fall straight down. If no bass, try the next stump 

[Fishes in trees]

My first choice of a pitching bait is generally a stick worm, something with a little tougher plastic than a senko, like a dinger or a stick-o or a big bite baits trick stick. Second choice would be a magnum trick worm or magnum Fin-eke worm.  If I'm throwing anything else I'm just experimenting OR someone has given me an idea of what to throw.  First choice of line would be 15 lb Abrazx, 17 and 20 is generally available.  First choice of weights would be 3/16 tungsten, if it is really windy 5/16 or 3/8.  First choice of hooks would be a 3/0 or 4/0 regular size round bend or O'shaughnessy offset hook.   I'll go 5/0 on the magnum trick worms, 6" stick-os, stuff like that.   Unlikely that I'd go to a wide gap unless I'm throwing a real thick plastic.

[A-Jay]

14 hours ago, Hollopoint said:

I am curious what weights for jigs and trigs, and what kind of plastics you guys pitch in laydowns,timber, stump fields, etc. Also what hooks/jig head style work best for it. Gimme some hints! 

This works in just about everything . . . 

  

 

A-Jay

[river-rat]

14 hours ago, Catt said:

Depends on the rate of fall I'm wanting to achieve!

 

Texas Rigs I'll use 1/64-1/2 oz, Jig-n-Craw will be 1/4-3/4 oz.

 

Pretty much the same for me.

[Hollopoint]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

This works in just about everything . . . 

  

 

A-Jay

This almost looks like a punch rig I use. 

 

Lots of good interesting info here fellas, I like seeing the variations in setups, it gives me a lot to think about/different setups to try this spring/summer. Are you guys fishing these on heavier powered rods to pull em out of the brush/sticks? I know last year I had some trouble with fish wrapping me up in the trees but just figured it was the nature of the game, which I am sure it is to a point. We don't get a lot of big bass up here, 5-6 pounds at the most. But there is notoriously big northern pike in my home lake, 35+ inches. 

I see a few people like going with more of a worm type bait over a creature style, is that due to the bait slipping through branches and what not better? 

Edited January 16, 2020 by Hollopoint
Corrected spelling

[deadadrift89]

   Trig mostly a 1/4oz bullet weight pegged in front with a bobber stop along with Gamakatsu 4/0 ewg hook texpose in a 4" craw.

   Jig with "arkie type head" usually 3/8oz with craw trailer. 

[scbassin]

Well said Catt.

[jbrew73]

On 1/15/2020 at 9:48 PM, Hollopoint said:

Thank you for your input. I've tried a few ways of pitching where I am at. Mainly 1/4 oz trigs with a 3.5 inch tube or a 4 inch lizard. I've been using a 3/8 or 1/4 football head jig wise. Mostly I just get hung up though, haha. I am curious if guys use alot of heavier weights for this, like 1/2 or 3/4, or stick to lighter stuff since it's not like throwing stuff into thick grass/milfoil.

There is some learned behavior needed to not get hung up as much.  I can't even begin to explain it but it’s just one of those things that you learn through trial and error.  

 

 I find that braid hangs up worse in wood than mono/flouro.  It seems to cut or dig into the wood more.

[scaleface]

Bill Dance, on his shows ,says to always use the lightest weight you can get away with . Larry Nixon says he tends to use heavier weights because he said it gets more bites on a faster fall . Go figure . I   fall in the Larry Nixon camp .