Does jighead color matter for smallmouth, as in do you try to match the soft plastic or is unpainted/silver just as effective?

[MIbassyaker]

I'm having a hard time thinking of anything a smallmouth cares less about than the color of a jighead.

[TnRiver46]

53 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

I'm having a hard time thinking of anything a smallmouth cares less about than the color of a jighead.

I know! I know! They care less about what we think 

[Sphynx]

2 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

I'm having a hard time thinking of anything a smallmouth cares less about than the color of a jighead.

I don't really think it's a matter of preference as much as a matter of noticing, if I swim an easy shiner on a plain metal or white head through a school of similarly sized shad, it is much more likely that my bait will be just another part of the school to a bass, put a red or chartreuse or whatever colored head on it and you single your bait out, I would freely admit that could end up being a two edged thing, but there are definitely times where I feel it increases my chances of getting noticed out of the thousands of other options the bass has available to it.

[cyclops2]

When a school of bass arrive.  They either key on 1 and only 1 thing.   And only that 1 thing.  Seen that 1 time as about 50 ?  were nose into the bottom muck eating steadily. I tossed and BUMPED SOME with crank Rapalas. They payed no attention.  I idled the boat over them in 6' of water. They payed no attention to anything except eating as fast as possible.

 

  Or they go looking for something to eat in a area. Anything tossed in will catch instantly.

[Sphynx]

I dunno, I still think there is wiggle room, if they are pushing baitfish in a pocket, they don't go after it like a whale straining plankton out of the arctic, they pick a given baitfish, then another etc, which one do they choose first? That's where a small difference comes in to my way of thinking, maybe they think it's wounded, or helpless, or just plain different and worth the attention, no clue, but I've had enough experiences with it to know that for some reason, it seems to matter at times

[cyclops2]

Time of season has a big influence on how  they attack.  Mine are getting fat & not racing after anything in the open.   Almost time to use 4# test Ande Mono  And find some 4 # green braided line.  My 50# braid is not allowing many hookups.  They are doing a test of my lures. Run up to it and head butt it.  No  change ?  They swim away.

[Junk Fisherman]

On 7/19/2021 at 3:40 PM, Jig Man said:

I do a lot of smallmouth fishing with Ned and shaky heads.  I paint all of my jig heads.  However, the color of the head has nothing to do with the color of the bait that I am using.  
My smallmouth head colors are strictly for me so that I can get the size that I want to use.  For example, my Ned heads go up in weight by 1/16 oz increments and I color them brown, green, red, black, yellow and white.  So if I want a 1/16 oz head I grab a brown one.

 I use 4 different hook sizes so all I would have to do is grab a brown head with the correct size hook.

That’s a great idea.  I’m gonna start doing this. 

[Jig Man]

On 7/19/2021 at 7:21 PM, Ohioguy25 said:

That’s a good system. What size Ned head would you say you use most frequently, and how do you fish them? Do you use the original presentation of light weight (1/10>) and letting it fall slowly or the Z Man mass marketed way of dead sticking and jigging off the bottom?

The 1/16 head is the one I use the most on my spinning setups.  I have to use heavier for my bait caster Ned setup.  I fish them several different ways depending on the fish depth and wind.  Today they were in 4-8 fow so mostly is was let it fall, if no bite, lift and let it glide back to the bottom.  

[Tatsu Dave]

My state has outlawed lead jigs and sinkers, price tungsten ☹️ and its pretty much always painted black. I fished lead head jigs for over 30 years, never worried about color till I discovered that an eye was something the fish did notice at times. So always an eye on every jig.... bare lead or painted a color put eyes on them. 

[Ohioguy25]

29 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

The 1/16 head is the one I use the most on my spinning setups.  I have to use heavier for my bait caster Ned setup.  I fish them several different ways depending on the fish depth and wind.  Today they were in 4-8 fow so mostly is was let it fall, if no bite, lift and let it glide back to the bottom.  

d**n 1/16 seems so light, don’t you want it to sink quicker than that or do they hit it on the fall?

[Bluebasser86]

8 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

d**n 1/16 seems so light, don’t you want it to sink quicker than that or do they hit it on the fall?

1/16oz is about the only size Ned head I ever use. I use the same size in a shakyhead and sometimes a bullet weight for my T-rigs also. A slow fall is more naturally than a fast fall and will get more bites at times. My Ned rigs rarely touch bottom either, so the lighter head makes it easier to keep them off the bottom. 

[Jig Man]

9 hours ago, Ohioguy25 said:

d**n 1/16 seems so light, don’t you want it to sink quicker than that or do they hit it on the fall?

Many times they take it on the fall even if they don’t I want a slow sink.  Most of my Ned fishing is less than 20 feet and the 1/16 works best for me.  I also have found that 6# fluorocarbon line beats everything else that has been in my boat for numbers of bites.  I also vary hook sizes.  If it is open water I will use a 1/0 hook.  If it is rocky and has a bunch of narly wood like Table Rock had yesterday a #2 hook lasts longer.  I think we went through between 2 to 2 1/2 dozen heads for 34 bass yesterday.

[TnRiver46]

29 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

Many times they take it on the fall even if they don’t I want a slow sink.  Most of my Ned fishing is less than 20 feet and the 1/16 works best for me.  I also have found that 6# fluorocarbon line beats everything else that has been in my boat for numbers of bites.  I also vary hook sizes.  If it is open water I will use a 1/0 hook.  If it is rocky and has a bunch of narly wood like Table Rock had yesterday a #2 hook lasts longer.  I think we went through between 2 to 2 1/2 dozen heads for 34 bass yesterday.

If I lose 24 hooks, I gotta try fishing a different way. I just cant handle that. 
 

And if it was 24 TRDs I would have to take out a loan 

[cyclops2]

Does anybody have less hookups when they are just suspended ?  Are the fish just resting or sleeping ?  Very rarely do I get a active suspender.

[snake95]

I like combining a jig head with eyes with small swim baits that have eyes.  That really confuses the bass.  (Joking, but it does look weird).

[cyclops2]

Does anybody have less hookups when they are just suspended ?  Are the fish just resting or sleeping ?  Very rarely do I get a active suspender.

 

The lures with eyes catch just as many bass as the ones without eyes. If they are feeding. 

[J Francho]

The jigs I use for smallies are usually unpainted or black.

[Bdnoble84]

I dont really beleive matters a ton. Theres always that one off though. Most of the time i just use whatever i grab. Sometimes i will specifically use a contrasting color such as orange or yellow on purpose to change things up. Where i get picky about color is if im using a bare jig with a minnow for walleye and crappie.

 

as for breaking off jigs. I make all my smalll jigs with a lil nasty on 8-15lb braid and an 8lb leader. The hook is sticky sharp and if i snag it i can bend it out. They bend back easily and retain a point. Not worried bout bending out a hook on a fish as im using a ml rod and lighter line. Keep my drag somewhat loose.

[Jig Man]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

If I lose 24 hooks, I gotta try fishing a different way. I just cant handle that. 
 

And if it was 24 TRDs I would have to take out a loan 

I make my own.  The cheap ones cost me $2/100.  The expensive ones are $18/100.  I get some pretty good deals buying 1000 hooks at a time and I have a lifetime supply of free lead.  As for TRDs my daughter bought me 44 packs of assorted colors.

[TnRiver46]

29 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

I make my own.  The cheap ones cost me $2/100.  The expensive ones are $18/100.  I get some pretty good deals buying 1000 hooks at a time and I have a lifetime supply of free lead.  As for TRDs my daughter bought me 44 packs of assorted colors.

Haha! Can’t beat that price! Well at least you don’t have much in them. I just can’t stand getting stuck that often, constant re rig and re tie, and leaving all that stuff the water. The TRDs my buddies leave on my boat eat holes through my dashboard, there’s some kind of bad juice in them. The ned is often touted as “50 fish per bait” type lure but that only seems to hold true in round bowl lakes and ponds with fewer boulders and logs  in the Midwest and northern states . In reservoirs and rivers people just break off tons of jigheads with them 

[Jig Man]

I don’t particularly like breaking off that much and I don’t unless I am at Table Rock.  It is rocky, ledgy, and full of wood.  

[TnRiver46]

15 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

I don’t particularly like breaking off that much and I don’t unless I am at Table Rock.  It is rocky, ledgy, and full of wood.  

Yes I imagine it to be very similar to our highland reservoirs like Cherokee and Douglas, sure looks similar on TV 

[Jigfishn10]

3 hours ago, Jig Man said:

I make my own.  The cheap ones cost me $2/100.  The expensive ones are $18/100.  I get some pretty good deals buying 1000 hooks at a time and I have a lifetime supply of free lead.  As for TRDs my daughter bought me 44 packs of assorted colors.

Those numbers make it sensible to make your own for sure.

This year I'm on pace to losing about 40 bucktails and was wondering if I should just buy unpainted heads then I can powder paint and tie my own bucktails to save a little there?

I'm leaning in this direction to do it this way for the upcoming winter months to get ready for next season, but I wonder if I should invest in the hooks, lead and mold? 

Anyway, 34 bass landed is nothing to sneeze at. Congrats on your day Jig Man!

 

 

[Jig Man]

1 hour ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Those numbers make it sensible to make your own for sure.

This year I'm on pace to losing about 40 bucktails and was wondering if I should just buy unpainted heads then I can powder paint and tie my own bucktails to save a little there?

I'm leaning in this direction to do it this way for the upcoming winter months to get ready for next season, but I wonder if I should invest in the hooks, lead and mold? 

Anyway, 34 bass landed is nothing to sneeze at. Congrats on your day Jig Man!

 

 

You might get in touch with Seibert Outdoors, Cadman or smalljaw and see if they have what you want.

 

[Sphynx]

6 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Haha! Can’t beat that price! Well at least you don’t have much in them. I just can’t stand getting stuck that often, constant re rig and re tie, and leaving all that stuff the water. The TRDs my buddies leave on my boat eat holes through my dashboard, there’s some kind of bad juice in them. The ned is often touted as “50 fish per bait” type lure but that only seems to hold true in round bowl lakes and ponds with fewer boulders and logs  in the Midwest and northern states . In reservoirs and rivers people just break off tons of jigheads with them 

This is me too, unless it's a tournament and I think losing that many heads is going to cut a check big enough to cover the expense and still make me feel like it was worry my time, if I'm just out fishing for fun? Nope, not interested at all in it.