Skirted Jigs for Smallies

[Jermination]

1 hour ago, Manly Studson said:

That’s because fall is football season. Even the bass know.

indeed. love being able to scream "it's football time on cherokee!!!"

[Spankey]

I’m afraid of big baits. There are a lot of good smaller sized jigs out there. I really only fish the Strike Kings with smaller trailers. Mostly Berkley PowerBait types. 
 

Over the winter I did pick up a few of the Ike micro Missile jigs to try this season.

 

I did use the LiveTarget jig craw for the first time this past season. Caught a few fish. Had a few really big hits. I perceive this fish to be much bigger than the one I’d gotten. Possibly Muskies ? I plan to stick with this setup also this season. 

[Bdnoble84]

8 hours ago, Spankey said:

I’m afraid of big baits. There are a lot of good smaller sized jigs out there. I really only fish the Strike Kings with smaller trailers. Mostly Berkley PowerBait types. 
 

Over the winter I did pick up a few of the Ike micro Missile jigs to try this season.

 

I did use the LiveTarget jig craw for the first time this past season. Caught a few fish. Had a few really big hits. I perceive this fish to be much bigger than the one I’d gotten. Possibly Muskies ? I plan to stick with this setup also this season. 

Why are you afraid of big baits? Big baits typically equal bigger bites. Even in small water. I typically start with something big and fish it agressively, then if i dont get bit, i can size down.

[Manly Studson]

11 hours ago, Spankey said:

Over the winter I did pick up a few of the Ike micro Missile jigs to try this season.

Those tiny jigs are great. They’re hard to pair with a trailer, but they have produced for me (I cut a TRD Craw in half as a trailer; the SK Bitsy Craw might work if cut in half). Caught my largest bass last year in October with the micro jig.

[Spankey]

12 hours ago, Bdnoble84 said:

Why are you afraid of big baits? Big baits typically equal bigger bites. Even in small water. I typically start with something big and fish it agressively, then if i dont get bit, i can size down.

I think it is associated with the fact that I never really fished all that heavy over the years. My bass fishing has always been spinning gear for the most part. Medium and medium lite. I’ve finessed fished long before the term finesse was being used. River Smallies fishing my idea of a jig has been hair jigs and grub fishing. 
 

Mother Nature has taken its toll on the river over the last handful of years. I’ve since made two lakes my home waters. Since I’ve stepped up some of my gear and lure sizes. 
 

Has taken me 40 years to get comfortable with using a baitcaster even though I’ve used one for years. 

[J Francho]

You should see a 3# smallie smoke a 6" trout.

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

You should see a 3# smallie smoke a 6" trout.

Its a sight to behold! I've done it many times with a circle hook. You can buy trout that size for $5/dozen right next to a monster smallmouth lake in upper east TN..........

[J Francho]

They sell live trout as bait?!?  There's be mobs with pitchforks and shovels up here if they did that!  I was talking more about a 6" swimbait, like a Hudd.

[TnRiver46]

46 minutes ago, J Francho said:

They sell live trout as bait?!?  There's be mobs with pitchforks and shovels up here if they did that!  I was talking more about a 6" swimbait, like a Hudd.

Absolutely. Or you can buy big ones and eat them. 

[Bdnoble84]

6 hours ago, Spankey said:

I think it is associated with the fact that I never really fished all that heavy over the years. My bass fishing has always been spinning gear for the most part. Medium and medium lite. I’ve finessed fished long before the term finesse was being used. River Smallies fishing my idea of a jig has been hair jigs and grub fishing. 
 

Mother Nature has taken its toll on the river over the last handful of years. I’ve since made two lakes my home waters. Since I’ve stepped up some of my gear and lure sizes. 
 

Has taken me 40 years to get comfortable with using a baitcaster even though I’ve used one for years. 

That makes since. That’s how I started fishing. I learned from my grandpa that rarely ever threw anything other than a blue and white 2” crappie tube. I got hooked on BASS in my 20s and that’s when I started trying more power fishing and baitcasters, all that stuff. I love fishing that way. Not that I can’t slow down, just its a lot more fun to burn a spinner bait across a riffle repeatedly, or hop a 3/8 oz jig and trailer through rocks and ruble on braided line and a mph baitcaster.