A Jig Mystery

[FishnMtlHd]

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

Have you tried fishing a shaky head with a straight tail worm???  Or a hula grub on a football head with an EWG?  Perhaps a swing head with a beaver bait!???

 

These are absolutely fantastic ways to gain confidence throwing jigs.

Pat, thanks for the suggestions and yes, I've caught plenty on lead and tungsten screw lock and shank baitkeeper shaky heads with trick and other worms as well as baby brush hogs, the latter being a somewhat unique shakey head bait I think. Beaver baits on swing heads negative but I have pit bosses, sweet beavers, and z-craws. Football or rugby head EWG'S yes but not nearly as much as the shakey heads. Thing is, it's not ALL jigs I (we) don't or get bites with, it's only the silicone or "living rubber" skirted jigs (some trimmed, some not) with the multi-strand plastic weedguards (also trimmed as needed) and nearly all head shapes, weights, hook sizes, colors, and many different trailers. Finesse jigs as well. One thing I've wanted to try is pork trailers, just never did. 

[12poundbass]

I was in the same boat as you for many many years. I had zero success which led to zero confidence in jigs so they never got wet.

 

A couple years back I was talking to a member on here about the same issues you’re experiencing. He asked for my mailing address, a few days later I received a box of jigs. Feeling obligated, I started using them, started catching bass, and my confidence grew. Now jigs are one of my confidence presentations, whether it be, pitching, dragging, or swimming. 

 

I have no clue what changed, but it did. The only thing I can come up with is I put forth more of an effort (not saying you’re not), or giving them a fresh start after not using them for a few years wiped all the bad feelings I had towards them away and I started over with a clean slate.

 

My suggestion, don’t take them with you for the rest of the season, or longer, and try again in the future. 

[PhishLI]

13 hours ago, Functional said:

My home lake has a fairly silty bottom which I believe contributes to it but its a hard lure for me to entice fish with. I always have 1 or 2 tied on but what I've found is downsizing to a 1/4oz bitsy bug profile and some type of rage bait has increased my catches.

Same thought here.

22 hours ago, FishnMtlHd said:

Here's what's weird, the mystery: both of us have tried every type, size, and color of jig (skirted with weedguard) with various trailers together and with other friends and neither of us can catch anything with them.

Have you tried really downsizing yet? All types of trailers too? The Bitsy Bug jigs on the left all have some type of worm-like trailer. The one on the bottom left is a 1/6oz BB with a Big TRD Ned worm (4") just for perspective. Every fish in the lake will try to eat a jig worm if they're in the area and you work slowly or soak them a bit. Try something like this and see if your fortunes change. It's a funny thing in retrospect, but I've had several baits that have really kicked my azz over time, and once I broke the ice the floodgates opened. Doesn't mean they work all the time every time, but they become viable options afterward, and I begin to understand when and where to use them. BTW, I caught a fish on my very first cast of that 1/16oz BB/NED jig, and my home lake isn't really a great jig lake.

 

BTW, @Team9nine is one of the more levelheaded posters here. You're taking him wrong. Some of us, including myself, can be a little salty or jerky occasionally, but he's not in that category.

 

[RRocket]

I believe I understand what the OP is saying.

 

I started off my fishing life throwing jigs. But for walleye. That's all we used, ever. Would the walleye bite on something else? Sure. But jigs outperformed everything by a large margin. No rhyme or reason.

 

When I switched to bass fishing, a jig was an obvious starting point for me. One of my main goto now is a Jika Rig, a type of jig. It would be correct to say I am extremely comfortable with jigs.

 

And yet, they just don't produce here. I go to a local spot that produces smallies on tube jigs. I've tied in a skirted jig in identical color...and nothing. You literally re-tie with a tube jig...and you get fish. No rhyme or reason. 

 

And I'm finding much the same with largemouth here. I LOVE the look of the Bitsy jig! That thing should put stacks of fish in the boat! And it just doesn't. It gets thoroughly outfished by other rigs. 

 

I have absolutely no doubt skirted jigs catch fish in large numbers...and consistently.

 

But just not here.

 

I really do think there are some techniques that produce much, much better depending on region, body of water, etc

[VolFan]

23 hours ago, FishnMtlHd said:

Zero confidence in them.

From reading all the replies, This is your issue. No way to fix that than to build confidence in them. If you don’t want to/need to fish them to catch fish, then don’t! 

[fin]

5 hours ago, VolFan said:

If you don’t want to/need to fish them to catch fish, then don’t! 

 

That’s the way I see it. I’ve caught fish on jigs, but my experience is very similar to OP’s. In my lake, I have to really search to find fish most of the year, and searching with jigs, I lose a lot more than with worms, and that aggravates me. Jigs are a lot more expensive than worms, so it makes sense to me to fish with worms or craw trailers or other soft plastics t-rigged or with weighted hooks.

 

I don’t hate jigs, I like fishing them. I know they catch fish. I know if I fished nothing but jigs I would eventually catch more fish on jigs. I have tons of trailers and a fair amount of jigs that I’d like to fish, but experience has shown me over and over that other methods are more productive for me.

 

[Mobasser]

Many years ago, there was a guy named Bo Dowden who won the Classic fishing jigs and pork trailers. I wanted to learn this, so I bought jigs, pork frogs etc.                                  I probably made 500 cast. No matter what I did I couldn't catch bass on a jig.          One day bank fishing I tied on a jig/ pig combo out of desperation. I cast to the side of a large blowdown and caught a bass- a small one.                                                     I've used them ever since, and seem to do best in the early season on jigs. But, guys catch fish on jigs year around. I would say keep at it. Bring jigs on every trip, and throw them along with your other stuff. One day, a bass will strike one. 

 

[Weedless]

My experience, theres levels of silty bottom. The more silt, the less attractive/effective a jig is. Throwing a jig on hard bottom and/or targets vs large areas is better. A jig can practically disappear in the silt pending silt thickness. 

[Pat Brown]

While this is often the case, this isn't always the case.

 

Crayfish often burrow down into the silty bottom and bass are often attracted to little critters kicking up dust on the bottom.

 

I feel like you just gotta learn how to fish a silty bottom which involves a lot more hopping and a lot more pauses and much less dragging.

 

That being said, id probably opt for a dropshot or Carolina rig on super silty stuff in general.

 

The key with jigs is identifying the hard cover and structure even if it's small areas like an old log that's halfway sunk into the silt or a small mossy boulder cluster or a little sandy shell bed or a place where current washes a channel into the bank.

 

Jigs are better for fishing targets than just covering water.

[papajoe222]

I most likely fish the same lakes you do and honestly, I've caught 6lb. largemouth and 4lb. smallmouth on jigs. In fact I rarely throw any soft plastic with the exception of a drop shot.  If you're catching them on soft plastics, I'll bet that the jigs that you're throwing are heavier than the weights you use. We've talked about this here many times; Rate of Fall makes a big difference when jig fishing.  Twin Lakes, WI are both shallower lakes and I never throw a jig over 3/8oz. and when I throw one of those, the trailer is a full size RageTail or Paca Craw to slow it down.  The other thing you may not have tried is dragging a jig slowly on the bottom. That tactic produced a 6lb. 7oz. largemouth from Powers on the 4th of July week-end.

[Deephaven]

There are only two givens in bass fishing for me.  They are I will ALWAYS have a frog on the deck of the boat and ALWAYS have a jig.  I'll fish a frog when they are stupid to fish, because I love frogs....but if it isn't a frog I can fish a jig basically anywhere.  

 

As for why they don't work for you....well you aren't throwing them in the right places.  If you were, you'd catch fish.  That is always step 1.  If you are sure that is okay, then you are working it wrong...which is WAY harder to do than step 1.  Deadsticked, swam quickly, hopped, jerked, dropped, doesn't really matter....they catch fish.  I'd expect you aren't in the right place and the one thing that a jig isn't great at is covering a lot of water fast.  You can fish them fast and swim them sure, but that would not be the first presentation I'd try using them on.

[1984isNOW]

On 7/25/2023 at 9:12 AM, Team9nine said:

 

? Just kidding, of course. It’s all in your head. Jigs are one of the most universal baits ever. Not sure I’ve ever come across a body of water where I couldn’t garner a bite or two on some variation of them, and they really shine on others. There can be some seasonality to it, but no reason for not being able to catch a fish for years on one. I wouldn’t fish anything else until I caught a bass on one and broke that mental block. 

 

 

Jk man, I think your posts are okay ?

 

There's some good feedback so far, I'm new to jigs. Never caught fish on'em so I stopped throwing them and never caught fish on'em.

 

Caught a few chunks this year on'em, but so far only 1 body of water round here has done it. Others too much muck or weeds, my take isbthey catch less fish in general but larger fish on average.

 

I plan to try to drag some at night this year if i can find more water with a bottom comp like the one that worked, firmer and less veggies.

 

My goal now is to catch less fish

 

Seriously

 

I want to catch bigger fish from now on. I'll take one 5 poinder over ten 2-3 pounders nowadays. So that's where my heads at throwin jigs and 10 inch worms, lots of skunks but grateful for my best year for numbers of 3+pound fish. Lotta top water in the mix, but I'm hitting my target I'd say,

 

Set your mind to your target bro, and get it how you get it

 

[Columbia Craw]

When the fish are feeding down and there is cover, a jig is at it’s best.  

[ironbjorn]

Try a Bitsy Bug with a Baby Rage Craw. That's what I cut my teeth on.

[MGF]

Maybe it just depends on your style of fishing. I grew up fishing N. Illinois and some in southern Wisconsin and a jig became a staple for me when I was a child. I still fish them a lot but most of my fishing these days is in the Tippecanoe river and for much of the season I opt for something more snag resistant...because I hate losing them. The jig still catches virtually all of my spring time "big" fish.

 

I really couldn't say why some of us catch on them and others don't.

[Catt]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:20 AM, Catt said:

keep in mind there will be days when the bass simply do not want a jig.

 

There are bodies of water where the bass doesn't want a jig.

 

But y'all can keep trying to force feed em what the don’t want. 

[GRiver]

With all the jig talk, and what @Catt just said, has anybody caught anything on a skirted jig on the St Johns River? 
 

[Weedless]

22 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

bass are often attracted to little critters kicking up dust on the bottom.

Well tell that to the bass I spent  2 seasons with a jig fishing a lake with silty bottoms and they only bit it a dozen times.

[mfnew]

1 hour ago, GRiver said:

With all the jig talk, and what @Catt just said, has anybody caught anything on a skirted jig on the St Johns River? 
 

Yes on swim jigs when we had eel grass

[GRiver]

I remember too when we had eel grass, what color and did ya use a trailer?

[Will Ketchum]

It's probably your technique. I say this because when fishing with my brother with jigs, he invariably out fishes me. I guess I'm a cheapskate hating to lose a jig by getting stuck on the bottom, so I'm probably retrieving too fast. Watching him, he lets it sink to the bottom and sit, and then lifts the rod while turning the crank a few turns and waits again. He really doesn't get hung up that much.

[WRB]

On 7/24/2023 at 9:16 PM, FishnMtlHd said:

My buddy and I have been fishing Northern IL and Southern WI lakes for the last 5 years targeting LM and SM bass. Boat and occasionally shore fishing. We use spinning and baitcasters and catch them regularly on weighted and weightless t-rigged plastics (mostly craws and worms), drop-shots, jerkbaits, crankbaits, wacky rigs, and most recently I caught a nice one on a mojo rigged lizard, 1st time trying it so that was a blast. Here's what's weird, the mystery: both of us have tried every type, size, and color of jig (skirted with weedguard) with various trailers together and with other friends ans neither of us can catch anything with them. We never got bites, maybe some taps here and there but nada. For years we kept trying with no success and now neither of us fish them at all as we don't see the point. Zero confidence in them. So, anyone have the same or similar experience? Insight as to why this may be? 

What jigs and trailers have you tried?? Pleased be specific; brand, weight and trailer info.

I ask to eliminate what you use and focus on what is a high % where you bass fish.

Tom

[Bankbeater]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:13 AM, Mobasser said:

I caught fish on jigs early this season. Since early June Ive switched to plastic worms, because the jig wasn't working. Plastic worms have always been better for me in hot weather.

Same here.  Back in March and April, I was catching bass on swim jigs, then in May I was catching bass on bottom contact jigs.  Ever since the start of June, I can't buy a bite with a jig. 

[PaulVE64]

I'm taking the OP at his word and the question is why skirts and weedguards reduce his jig bites to zero. Gotta admit that's hard to understand but here's my quess.

1. I hate fiber weedguards and I know they reduce my hookups and strikes. Is it possible to reduce hits to zero? I doubt it.

2. I stopped using alot of silicone skirts in favour of feather/flash/fur a few years ago so I'm probably not helpful but if the water is pressured maybe they've stop hitting skirted jigs in the past few seasons but in 5 yrs it's hot again ? 

Just my guess.

 

[FishnMtlHd]

5 hours ago, WRB said:

What jigs and trailers have you tried?? Pleased be specific; brand, weight and trailer info.

I ask to eliminate what you use and focus on what is a high % where you bass fish.

Tom

 

 

SK Hack Attack, Nichols, Terminator, Berkley, 6th Sense, and many more. Keitech finesse/tungsten, bitsy bugs. Grass wizard comes to mind. Those just brush the surface, hard to remember most as last I bought any was over a year ago, Spring '22 and prior to that no clue.

Weights 1/4 oz to 3/4 and all in between. 

Like I mentioned, all (or most) types - football, grass, casting, flip, swim, etc. I did my research before buying many of them, on this site, Bassmaster, MLF, friends, other. I very likely bought some you or others here recommended. Trailers were zcraw, UV speed craw, SK rage craw and grub, pit boss, SK and Keitech swimbaits, chunks, grubs, Missile Baits beaver bait, sweet beaver I think. Buddy used many, some same, most different such as Vile Craw and Bug and Googan stuff, rage craw copy. The last trailer I tried and the one I thought for sure I'd crush em' on was the Yamamoto Zako. Nope, no crush. Lol.