20lb for football jigs?

[PTasker15]

Hey y'all. I know this is based on opinion, but I want to get some of yall's opinions. I have a 7'3 Heavy (3/8-1 1/2oz) that I plan to use this winter paired with 20lb fluoro. I live in East Texas, so I do expect double digits. I obviously planned to use this for pitching, casting jigs and texas rigs when applicable, heavier style lures, etc. Next outing, my two power techniques will be carolina rig (1oz) and Football jig (3/4oz). I know that football jigs can have some lighter wire hooks, so wondering if anybody has used heavy gear on them without straightening a hook or pulling a hole in a fish's mouth. Do some of you think I should jump my football jig down to 15lb test and throw my carolina on 20 main/15 leader? Just curious to see others experience and opinions. Would rather not lose the fish of a lifetime by straightening a hook out. TIA

[Big Swimbait]

If it's a quality jig, you won't have any problems. 20 lb is my minimum on East Texas lakes. I will use 40 lb braid if I can get away with it.

[PTasker15]

8 minutes ago, Big Swimbait said:

If it's a quality jig, you won't have any problems. 20 lb is my minimum on East Texas lakes. I will use 40 lb braid if I can get away with it.

What do you consider quality? I use Strike King Tour Grade and G Money. About $6 and $4 respectively.

[Boomstick]

I would normally throw footballs on 15lb since generally you're dragging them along the bottom and not through cover but 20lb will be fine. Most football jigs have stout hooks and you're not going to bend them out. If not, you might want to invest in some better quality jigs.

 

 

[FishTank]

I used 20lb Invisx all last year for football ball jigs. Worked great in open water but could have been better around trees and stumps. It also did fine around grass and weeds. I have since switched to 16lb Sunline BMS.

[Catt]

Toledo Bend & Sam Rayburn, Strike King Jigs, Berkley Big Game 15#, Medium Heavy X-Fast rod.

[Mike L]

Just use a quality line…

Tatsu, Shooter/Sniper, InvizX in that order

paired with a quality jig and it won’t matter as much what action rod you use. 
 

Personally, I use Shooter or Sniper depending on cover with a XF rod. 

 

 

Mike

[PTasker15]

54 minutes ago, Catt said:

Toledo Bend & Sam Rayburn, Strike King Jigs, Berkley Big Game 15#, Medium Heavy X-Fast rod.

Well Toledo is where I'm heading, so Im learning to use the #15 MH/F for my Football jigs or whatever applicable and my #20H/F for carolina, or whatever applicable. 

[Catt]

24 minutes ago, PTasker15 said:

Well Toledo is where I'm heading,

 

Toledo Bend Bass Report

The water temperatures leveled out in the upper 60's this past week and should be cooling down to the low 60's with the cold rain we are receiving today. The lake did turnover again last weekend but that should all be behind us now allowing the fish to start setting up right.

We are beginning our seasonal move towards the south end of the lake as my experience is that the colder the water, the farther south I fish. We found plenty of fish this week in drains, points, and ledges but the morning bite was off.  Most days we struggled to get groups to fire up until after noon. Yesterday was no different as we caught 3-5 fish out of 3 different groups in the morning but after 2pm we found a group that bit every cast. One group we found early must of had 25 bass between 4-7lbs in it but we only got a few bites out of them. We caught fish on a Carolina rigged fluke, an Alabama rig, a jigging spoon, and a dropshot.  The bigger fish fell for the Carolina rig and the dropshot and spoon caught most of our numbers. We ended the day with well over 50 bass. I'm expecting over the next month for most days to be pretty similar.  Starting in mid November the afternoons are usually better than the mornings. It can be slow to start, but our days will finish strong.  30-50 fish should be a typical day over the next month with a few of those special 75-100 fish days mixed in. If you've ever wondered when the best time to fish Toledo Bend is, it is right now. The fall/early winter bite is as good as it gets. Call or message to get in on the action.  It's a great time to learn to use your electronics to find fish, build confidence in offshore fishing, and to just flat out have fun catching fish.

[Bluebasser86]

I use 15/17 for football jigs. Not using them in heavy cover so even a 10lb fish is easy to handle on line that size. I landed my PB flathead (68lbs), on 15lb Tatsu, it'll handle a DD bass with ease. 

[Darth-Baiter]

i am right at 15lb to 17 for jigs like that.  

[Big Swimbait]

17 hours ago, PTasker15 said:

What do you consider quality? I use Strike King Tour Grade and G Money. About $6 and $4 respectively.

Those are fine. I would look at Siebert Outdoors for what I consider the best jigs for the money.

[PTasker15]

On 11/16/2023 at 10:07 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

I use 15/17 for football jigs. Not using them in heavy cover so even a 10lb fish is easy to handle on line that size. I landed my PB flathead (68lbs), on 15lb Tatsu, it'll handle a DD bass with ease. 

68lbs? I bet you thought you had the world record largemouth for a few seconds there. That's impresive.

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, PTasker15 said:

68lbs? I bet you thought you had the world record largemouth for a few seconds there. That's impresive.

Nope, I said it was a flathead before I even set the hook. There is no mistaking the bite of a big flathead on a jig. I actually caught a 21lb flathead on a Ned rig the next day 😅

[WRB]

I use 12 Tatsu or Shooter FC for casting jigs but…would go to 16 lb Shooter for TB do to the cover. 
A must with FC line is Tangle Free and/or KVD line conditioner for trouble free casting. The SanDiego ham knot is easy to tie using the jigs weight.

22 lb :.015D Sunline Defier Armilo would my 1st choice for heavier cover 100+% knot strength and very good abrasion resistance.

Tom