Jig Question(s)

[Msl819]

I am asking for some collective wisdom and advice. This year I am determined to learn the jig better. Historically I have avoided the jig because most of the water I fish is muddy/mucky bottom or full of slimmy/snotty vegetation. 
 

Dragging bottom has proven to be frustrating but too many people talk about how much a jig produces for them. 
 

All that said - how would you fish this? What types and sizes of jigs would you use?  
 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[MickD]

You can count down and swim jigs as well as dragging/hopping etc from the bottom.

 

If using a finesse approach braid will make a big difference in being able to detect subtle bites.  

 

What jigs?  Depends on the fish as well as the cover and water, different for LMB and SMB.  Sounds like you are into LMB based on the weeds/water comment, so get some darker jigs (Siebert in right margin has great jigs) and trailers and try swimming them if bottom is too messy.  

[roadwarrior]

6 minutes ago, MickD said:

You can count down and swim jigs as well as dragging/hopping etc from the bottom.

 

If using a finesse approach braid will make a big difference in being able to detect subtle bites.  

 

What jigs?  Depends on the fish as well as the cover and water, different for LMB and SMB.  Sounds like you are into LMB based on the weeds/water comment, so get some darker jigs (Siebert in right margin has great jigs) and trailers and try swimming them if bottom is too messy.  

 A swim jig is a great suggestion.

[Msl819]

10 minutes ago, MickD said:

You can count down and swim jigs as well as dragging/hopping etc from the bottom.

 

If using a finesse approach braid will make a big difference in being able to detect subtle bites.  

 

What jigs?  Depends on the fish as well as the cover and water, different for LMB and SMB.  Sounds like you are into LMB based on the weeds/water comment, so get some darker jigs (Siebert in right margin has great jigs) and trailers and try swimming them if bottom is too messy.  

I am exclusively LMB water down I Lousiana.

[scaleface]

15 minutes ago, Msl819 said:

Historically I have avoided the jig because most of the water I fish is muddy/mucky bottom or full of slummy/snotty vegetation. 
 

I fished places like that . If you absolutely have to fish a jig  might try a jig and grub .   I try to keep   lures off the bottom and out of that stuff .  

[Msl819]

3 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

 A swim jig is a great suggestion.

Would you be true swimming the swim jig or would you bury it in the grass and rip it out? No doubt the swim jig comes through all the different vegetation better.

[roadwarrior]

True swim jig...Keep it off the bottom.

[EWREX]

like the others have said, i would throw a swim jig if you are dead set on using a "jig"

[Catt]

20 minutes ago, Msl819 said:

I am exclusively LMB water down I Lousiana.

 

Watch Grag Hackney videos, in many of them his fishes in south Louisiana.

[Msl819]

1 minute ago, Catt said:

 

Watch Grag Hackney videos, in many of them his fishes in south Louisiana.

And he loves a jig!!! 

I am mostly wanting to learn to fish a jig well enough that I can fish it well when it is a good option

[WRB]

1 hour ago, Msl819 said:

I am asking for some collective wisdom and advice. This year I am determined to learn the jig better. Historically I have avoided the jig because most of the water I fish is muddy/mucky bottom or full of slimmy/snotty vegetation. 
 

Dragging bottom has proven to be frustrating but too many people talk about how much a jig produces for them. 
 

All that said - how would you fish this? What types and sizes of jigs would you use?  
 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

26 page jig questions thread at the top of this thread.

Tom

[Catt]

4 minutes ago, WRB said:

26 page jig questions thread at the top of this thread.

Tom

 

Great thread that doesn't address his specific needs.

[MickD]

Another possibility when the bottom is really messy is to use drop shot.  The sinker gets messed up but the lure is up away from that mess.  

[Finessegenics]

If you truly want to fish bottom, I’d go with a light jig which won’t bury itself into the muck like a heavier one. How light? That’s up to you to find out. Trial and error ??. My guess would be something with an 1/8 oz or 1/4 oz head may work. Or that might still be too heavy. Even up here in Canada I deal with that bottom muck sometimes but jigs are not a big part of my arsenal in those areas. It’s like there’s 2-3 inches of sediment before the actual bottom. 
 

Instead of a dragging retrieve, perhaps a hop and go may accumulate less muck and not bury itself as bad. 
 

Good luck!

[Hook2Jaw]

Flip and pitch that jig, too.  Hard targets in the muck, like stumps and lay downs are irregulaties and fish love them.

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, Msl819 said:

I am asking for some collective wisdom and advice. This year I am determined to learn the jig better. Historically I have avoided the jig because most of the water I fish is muddy/mucky bottom or full of slimmy/snotty vegetation. 
 

Dragging bottom has proven to be frustrating but too many people talk about how much a jig produces for them. 
 

All that said - how would you fish this? What types and sizes of jigs would you use?  
 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

I fish a place just like that for green bass.

What has proven very effective for me is a light 'punch rig'.

It's essentially a Texas rigged plastic with a skirt.

Lead works better than tungsten here as it's able to allow the bait to sort of glide to the bottom rather than crashing through the goop on the bottom.

I use 1/8, 3/16 or 1/4 oz a lot for this

Trailer selection (shape/profile) can help as well.

A-Jay

 

[WRB]

I believe this topic has been discussed several times and the same suggestions are repeated.

Use  a grass jig with a nose recessed hook eye to reduce grass collecting on the line at the jig head. Bullet head skirted weights with a skirt is another option. Light weight jigs that sink slower and don’t bury into muck is an option.

At the end of the day it’s up to the angler to control the depth and keep it out the muck. 

If your areas has cypress trees target those they are bass magnets. 

You can “swim” any jig including a grass jig.

Siebert Outdoors our site sponsor has the Shot Caller jig with a recessed nose hook eye that should work for you.

Tom

[MickD]

3 hours ago, WRB said:

iebert Outdoors our site sponsor has the Shot Caller jig with a recessed nose hook eye that should work for you.

Great suggestion, tie direct, don't use a snap, and the collection of crap at the jig should be minimized.  

[zpelletier]

Never thrown a jig before and I too am determined to figure it out this year! Good luck ??

[Bankc]

Most all of the lakes I fish have muddy bottoms.  I fish jigs quite often too.  

 

I don't mess with jigs in deep water.  Once the water is past 10 feet, jigs are useless for me.  Muddy bottoms usually mean stained water.  And deep, stained water is bad enough.  But once you start kicking up even more mud by dragging the bottom, it's game over.  Maybe if you know exactly where the fish are and can drop it straight on their nose...

 

90% of my jig fishing is pitching into the shallows.  I'm usually looking for timber or any other kind of cover.  In the shallows, it doesn't matter as much if you kick up some mud.  Besides, they'll often bite it on the initial fall before it even hits the bottom, especially if you're pitching.  Just make sure you make a soft entry.

[12poundbass]

7 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I fish a place just like that for green bass

You wouldn’t be talking about Lake Menderchuck would you? BTW all I have to do now is type ‘mend’ and auto fill brings up Menderchuck. ?

 

 

 

OP, I stayed away from jigs for years because of the muck bottoms I fish. A few years back I started pitching to cover and started to love jig fishing! This lead me to start trying swim jigs and I’ve had great success! Go with swim jigs. Like @A-Jay mentioned a light bullet weight and a Rage bait has been a staple in my boat as well if I want to touch bottom.

[Basser2021]

11 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

 A swim jig is a great suggestion.

A swim jig works great in the ponds around me that have muddy bottoms and grass flats

[Catt]

12 hours ago, Msl819 said:

I am exclusively LMB water down I Lousiana.

 

Where in Louisiana?

 

 

[Msl819]

51 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Where in Louisiana?

 

 

Lincoln Parish

[WRB]

Catt is by far your best resource regarding jigs in grass and bass in at Toledo bend, Texas  and Louisiana.

Tom