New Video! Winter Jig Fishing!

[Glenn]

Pro Mike McClelland doesn't hold back in our latest video!

 

 

[WRB]

Always enjoy reading about jig fishing.

Where bass fish the locations don’t change much and presentation stays about the same, just stopping and shaking more when the water is cold.

For example Casitas the crawdads are big during the winter so often go with a 4” trailer. Castiac the crawdads are smaller and tend to use 2 1/2” or 3” trailers without claws.

Line is 12# FC unless fishing deeper then 25’ then go to 10#.

Tackle wasn’t discussed much in this video so don’t know what McClellen recommends, I use the same MHF rod and Daiwa reel year around and same casting jig presentation.

Tom

[Catt]

Heavy jig in cold water, who would have thought.

 

@Glenn got some connections

[LrgmouthShad]

I can't understand the effectiveness of a heavy jig in cold water. Somebody please help me understand. When I started picking heavier jigs for 1. warmer water 2. clearer water 3. heavier cover, I caught more fish on jigs this year, up to 1oz with a lot of work in 3/4oz. It's been a great jig year for me. But heavy jigs in cold water? That does not make sense to me. Why would fish want something that is falling faster and causing more disturbance when everything is moving slow?

[Glenn]

5 hours ago, WRB said:

Tackle wasn’t discussed much in this video so don’t know what McClellen recommends, I use the same MHF rod and Daiwa reel year around and same casting jig presentation.

Good catch Tom.  He told me, I forgot to include it.

 

He's much the same and uses the same setup all year: a Falcon 6174 rod, which he designed for Falcon a number of years ago, and a high-speed Johnny Morris Signature Series reel.

[WRB]

^^^👍^^^ thanks, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years 🎅🏻

[Pat Brown]

16 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I can't understand the effectiveness of a heavy jig in cold water. Somebody please help me understand. When I started picking heavier jigs for 1. warmer water 2. clearer water 3. heavier cover, I caught more fish on jigs this year, up to 1oz with a lot of work in 3/4oz. It's been a great jig year for me. But heavy jigs in cold water? That does not make sense to me. Why would fish want something that is falling faster and causing more disturbance when everything is moving slow?

Keeping it on the bottom on 'winter days' (persistent 10 mph + winds during nasty fronts) in often times deeper water.

 

It's more efficient!

[LrgmouthShad]

16 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

Keeping it on the bottom on 'winter days' (persistent 10 mph + winds during nasty fronts) in often times deeper water.

 

It's more efficient!

Okay so borne out of necessity

[Catt]

10 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

That does not make sense to me.

 

A bass's metabolism is finely tuned to its circulatory system temperature which is the same as the surrounding water temperature. In cold water their metabolism slows down, their brain slows down, so the bass slows down. 

 

This do not mean the bass quits feedling altogether. What it means is the bass will not chase food as far. 

 

With a fast rate of fall right in the bass's face it's a total reaction strike.

 

Y'all need to quit trying to button hole bass.

[LrgmouthShad]

@Catt if a faster rate of fall is so much better at getting bites, why do we use lighter jigs at all?

 

Im enjoying just hearing what y’all think and getting some different perspectives.

[Catt]

11 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

if a faster rate of fall is so much better at getting bites, why do we use lighter jigs at all?

 

I didn't hear anything in that video referring to that. 

 

I don't recall ever mentioning that.

 

Options 😉

[Pat Brown]

16 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

@Catt if a faster rate of fall is so much better at getting bites, why do we use lighter jigs at all?

 

Im enjoying just hearing what y’all think and getting some different perspectives.

 

 

I like lighter jigs when water is very dirty, when it's very very calm and I want to mimic an insect falling in the water or something, and when I'm swimming a jig in shallower water (horizontal retrieve) and when fish seem to want a slower rate of fall (which is usually dirty water).

 

I don't subscribe to the belief that a heavy jig feels less natural in a basses mouth.

 

Had WAY too many 3/4 oz jigs stop at 4 feet falling in 12 and just swim slowly out of the cover like it's another day at the log.

 

But in general I'm learning to swing when they bite.  @Cattis on the money with that one.  Hesitating is just giving them ample opportunity to flair their gills and push it right back out.  The big smart ones are more likely to do this of course.

 

In the winter time, I'm usually mimicking a crawdad with my jig presentations and heavier jigs do that much more naturally.

[LrgmouthShad]

2 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

I didn't hear anything in that video referring to that. 

 

I don't recall ever mentioning that.

 

Options 😉

Okay. Are you apt to start with a lighter jig or a heavier jig in the winter? What is an indication that you should use one or the other? 
 

I still feel that a lighter jig in general works better when the water is cold/dirty, but I would like to hear this out because it’s interesting. You’re also a hammer with a jig and t-rig so there’s that

[Catt]

5 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

I don't subscribe to the belief that a heavy jig feels less natural in a basses mouth.

 

A jig imitates a crawfish correct?

 

Yes I believes they do

 

A crawfish has a hard shell does it not?

 

Yes they in fact have a hard shell

 

Why would a bass spit what it preceives to be a crawfish because it feels somthing hard?

 

 When the bass "crushes" the jig to kill it; it feels the hardness of a shell, the softness of the skirt, & the firmness of the trailer just like a crawfish. 

 

 As for the weight, how much do ya think a 4-6" crawfish weighs?

 

@LrgmouthShad just like any other time of the year, you throw it & let the bass decide.

[casts_by_fly]

12 hours ago, Glenn said:

Good catch Tom.  He told me, I forgot to include it.

 

He's much the same and uses the same setup all year: a Falcon 6174 rod, which he designed for Falcon a number of years ago, and a high-speed Johnny Morris Signature Series reel.

 

That's called the Heavy Cover Jig rod for anyone looking it up.  Its a great rod for a lot of things.  Lists as fast action but its not as fast as you might think.  Great rod for 15-17 lb line and bottom contact baits.  Its rated 1/2-1 oz which is an odd rating but I think its describing the sweet spot of the range moreso that the total range.  It will fish up and down from there.  Interestingly, I've found its a great plopper rod for the 110 size.  The length lets you really hammer out a cast and it has the backbone to set the hook at the range.

 

thanks

rick

[softwateronly]

I use my heaviest jigs in the heat of summer and the coldest open water.  In the summer, I do well hopping/stroking and busting through the heaviest cover.  Often times, my bait gets weightless or there's the distinctive thump.  In the winter, almost all of my bites are dragging and shaking, where the bass plucks it off the bottom.  The heavier weight just makes it easier for me to feel every single thing since most bites are inhales without swimming off and spongey is my best description of a bite.  Basically, the heavier jig in cold water is best for me to move slow enough on the bottom and to detect the bite.  I'm sure rof can come into play into the winter as well, I'm just not experienced catching them on initial falls this time of year.  

 

scott

[Catt]

6 minutes ago, softwateronly said:

I'm sure rof can come into play into the winter as well

 

Rate of fall comes into play year round.

 

ROF not only changes seasonally but daily & even hourly.

 

Wacky Rigged Senkos are extremely popular but when its not getting bit we do what. We turn it into a Neko Rig by adding a weight.

Why?

ROF 😉 

[softwateronly]

Throwing little spoons, both flutter and jigging, almost exclusively for the last few weeks has reinforced that truth even if I forget to translate it to other baits.  Every cast is a mini experiment, tightline the initial drop? let it plummet to the bottom like a shiny rock on slack?  reel rip off the bottom w/ rod tip high or low when I kill it? bow to it on the kill? mid column swim? 

I have theories why what works, but I think I do best when I just feel it out in the moment.

 

scott