Missile Baits Monster Jig

[Pat Brown]

@Catt I'm gonna try this 3/4 oz Siebert brush jig with a thinned out skirt and a zoom chunk.

 

 

My plan is to do a lift drop cadence that mirrors what's been getting the biggest bites on the lipless!  😉

[NorthernBasser]

1 hour ago, OmegaDPW said:

Me too. I have had a bag of Mann's Grape Jelly Worms that I've never used because they're like a foot long and I never expected to fish for a bass that big. I may need to re-think that topic one day. 

You'd be surprised how small of bass will eat a 10-12" worm. Last summer I caught a 10" bass on a 10" worm. 

1 hour ago, OmegaDPW said:

Me too. I have had a bag of Mann's Grape Jelly Worms that I've never used because they're like a foot long and I never expected to fish for a bass that big. I may need to re-think that topic one day. 

You'd be surprised how small of bass will eat a 10-12" worm. Last summer I caught a 10" bass on a 10" worm. 

[rgasr63]

1 hour ago, OmegaDPW said:

Me too. I have had a bag of Mann's Grape Jelly Worms that I've never used because they're like a foot long and I never expected to fish for a bass that big. I may need to re-think that topic one day. 

Don't think that worm is just for the bigs. I once thought so too. I caught a 1.5 on that kind of  worm and a 6 in the same day. You live in the south I do too. I catch all sizes of bass on a 8 and 10 inch worms on any given day. 

[fin]

On 2/16/2024 at 5:47 PM, RipzLipz said:

Who makes oversized craw trailers, say 5" or greater?

 

The one in the video is made by Ledgerock. TW has them on clearance, not much left though. I can't believe that price is right - 5 of the 6" for $3 😳

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Ledgerock_Lures_D-Claw_/descpage-LDRDC.html

 

EDIT: I feel I should point out that I searched for their website (Ledgerock) but got a security warning from my browser extension, so I wouldn’t recommend visiting their site directly. It may be okay, but it's on a list of sketchy sites. It does some kind of redirect.

[The Baron]

Hey, what's in the hockey bag?

My jig.

You mean "jigs".

Nope.

🤪

[casts_by_fly]

5 hours ago, rgasr63 said:

Someone told me a long while back a saying, Big bait =big fish. Small bait=all fish. 

small fish hit baits much bigger than they are also. Their eyes are bigger than their brains.  We once had to rescue a smallmouth that was floating on the surface. It had eaten a crappie but it was stuck and couldn’t get it down. The smallie was maybe 14” and had gotten the crappie up to its dorsal fin but couldn’t get over the hump. The crappie was 12” long.

 

and then there’s stuff like this:

 

 

3 hours ago, OmegaDPW said:

Me too. I have had a bag of Mann's Grape Jelly Worms that I've never used because they're like a foot long and I never expected to fish for a bass that big. I may need to re-think that topic one day. 

just throw them. Skinny, flexible lures are easy for even smaller bass to get in.

[rgasr63]

3 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

@Catt I'm gonna try this 3/4 oz Siebert brush jig with a thinned out skirt and a zoom chunk.

 

 

My plan is to do a lift drop cadence that mirrors what's been getting the biggest bites on the lipless!  😉

Looks good.  Good luck 🤞

[RipzLipz]

@fin Thanks for the info. Their website no longer exists & last post on Facebook was 2 years ago. I’m guessing like many small lure makers, they’ve gone out of business once the COVID surge ended.

 

ETA: Ordered some of the 5" & 6" D-craws to try out. A lake I fish gets a lot of jig bites. Will see if some of the larger bass go for an oversized offering.
 

I guess Ledgerock used to make a 7.5" version of the D-craw.

[casts_by_fly]

I got my monster jig today.  I'm glad I got one, but I'm glad I got only one. It will be a situational lure for sure, not something I keep tied on all of the time.  I'll try to drop in some pictures later, but its as big in person as it seems on the net.  From line tie to end of skirt its a solid 5" long and from the barb of the hook to the back of the skirt (hanging vertically) its a touch over 2".That's the size of a decent bluegill as a starting point.  As Tom said, the hook is huge.  The gap is 1 1/2" which is the same as the LENGTH of a 1/0 EWG.  The hook wire gauge is 1/8" thick.  Its truly a saltwater hook made from freshwater hook material.  Its sharp and you could probably fish it right out of the pack, but I'm going to touch it up a bit.  Driving home that heavy of a wire I want it to be razor sharp.

 

I picked up the white/grey shimmery color.  There are a couple places here where we have big shad and I wanted this as a cross between a big swim jig and a soft swimbait.  I threw on a 5" zoom swimmer (I don't think these are made anymore) in light hitch.  All in, it measures 6" from line tie to paddle tail.  That's not big at all.  When the skirt isn't flared out laying down on a table, its basically the same size as a 6" magdraft.  To me, that won't put off anything over 12" from hitting it.  Getting the hook in their mouth might be a different story.  I think it will take a 15" fish to actually get the hook in its mouth.  Only testing will tell on this one, but I suspect there will be fish that hit it, grab it, etc and don't get the hook.  The weedguard is light and just barely comes to the top of the hook when compressed so no worries about that, just the overall size of the hook.

 

This is going to take a stout rod to throw it.  I'm going to put it on my amistad (1/2-1 1/2, 7'3", heavy) and it will handle it but if you have a smaller swimbait rod (1-4 oz) then that's probably a better choice.

[KP Duty]

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

I got my monster jig today.  I'm glad I got one, but I'm glad I got only one. It will be a situational lure for sure, not something I keep tied on all of the time.  I'll try to drop in some pictures later, but its as big in person as it seems on the net.  From line tie to end of skirt its a solid 5" long and from the barb of the hook to the back of the skirt (hanging vertically) its a touch over 2".That's the size of a decent bluegill as a starting point.  As Tom said, the hook is huge.  The gap is 1 1/2" which is the same as the LENGTH of a 1/0 EWG.  The hook wire gauge is 1/8" thick.  Its truly a saltwater hook made from freshwater hook material.  Its sharp and you could probably fish it right out of the pack, but I'm going to touch it up a bit.  Driving home that heavy of a wire I want it to be razor sharp.

 

I picked up the white/grey shimmery color.  There are a couple places here where we have big shad and I wanted this as a cross between a big swim jig and a soft swimbait.  I threw on a 5" zoom swimmer (I don't think these are made anymore) in light hitch.  All in, it measures 6" from line tie to paddle tail.  That's not big at all.  When the skirt isn't flared out laying down on a table, its basically the same size as a 6" magdraft.  To me, that won't put off anything over 12" from hitting it.  Getting the hook in their mouth might be a different story.  I think it will take a 15" fish to actually get the hook in its mouth.  Only testing will tell on this one, but I suspect there will be fish that hit it, grab it, etc and don't get the hook.  The weedguard is light and just barely comes to the top of the hook when compressed so no worries about that, just the overall size of the hook.

 

This is going to take a stout rod to throw it.  I'm going to put it on my amistad (1/2-1 1/2, 7'3", heavy) and it will handle it but if you have a smaller swimbait rod (1-4 oz) then that's probably a better choice.

Due to me not using braid, hook gauge is important.  A thick hook is a deal breaker.  Maybe when I finally fish in Mexico I'll need a heavier gauge hook, but at this point, the only time I've bent a hook was by trying to free a snag.

[Dogface]

On 2/17/2024 at 2:31 AM, rgasr63 said:

Someone told me a long while back a saying, Big bait =big fish. Small bait=all fish. 

 

I would disagree in one aspect. Big baits also catch small fish and small baits catch all fish. 

 

When the fishing gets tough I go to the extreme. I throw very big baits or very small baits. Sometimes I never throw an average-sized bait and just use very large or very small baits.  

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, KP Duty said:

Due to me not using braid, hook gauge is important.  A thick hook is a deal breaker.  Maybe when I finally fish in Mexico I'll need a heavier gauge hook, but at this point, the only time I've bent a hook was by trying to free a snag.

 

This is my other consideration.  It might go on my frog rod instead which has 50# braid instead of the amistad which is 20# big game.  Both should work, but we'll see how it goes.

[Catt]

Bigger Baits = Bigger Bass?

 

 

[NorthernBasser]

2 minutes ago, Catt said:

Bigger Baits = Bigger Bass?

 

 

 

Excellent. Now I have a use for my Flambeau Bazuka rod tube that I haven't used in probably 25 years! 

 

[JediAmoeba]

I just ordered 10 of these jigs and I can't wait to throw my 7" craws on these puppies! This is gonna be rad!

 

#heroorzero 

[casts_by_fly]

Here’s the monster with a 5” yum swimmer next to a 6” Magdraft. Not much difference. A 4.8 or 5.8 Keitech will be similar and I plan to try that also since I have some downstairs. 

[NorthernBasser]

If a 12" bass managed to get the hook it it's mouth, if you set the hook hard enough, that thing is coming through the top of it's head. 

[JN94]

That weed guard ain't gonna do much guarding. They screwed up by not putting a larger one in

[WRB]

That hook could handle giant black sea bass or grouper, big Musky and stripe bass, too big for Largemouth probably go though their brain.

Tom

 

[FishTank]

18 hours ago, Catt said:

Bigger Baits = Bigger Bass?

 

 

I would wacky rig that thing and go to town. 😃

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, JNorman said:

That weed guard ain't gonna do much guarding. They screwed up by not putting a larger one in

 

I agree they could have done a little better.  Another 1/4" would have made a difference.  A little stiffer would have helped also.  Its just barely clipping the hook point when you compress it.  But because the fibers are so long they are easily compressed (more like a light swim jig than a brush jig).  We'll see in actual practice how much it works.  I wouldn't be throwing this into heavy brush, that's for sure.  We don't really have that here so not a consideration for me, but if that's you're thing maybe think twice.  For milfoil and pondweed that we have here I think it will be okay.  For pads?  not sure yet.  Wooden docks worry me a little too.

[claya]

On 2/23/2024 at 10:00 AM, WRB said:

That hook could handle giant black sea bass or grouper, big Musky and stripe bass, too big for Largemouth probably go though their brain.

Tom

 

I agree. Love the idea of an oversized swim jig but this hook is too big.

[webertime]

I'd love to get some to jig lakers up here.

[Dogface]

1 hour ago, webertime said:

I'd love to get some to jig lakers up here.

 

I like that idea!!

[Munkin]

I have one lake where there is no such thing as too big of a jig. The jig I use is a 3/4oz with a musky starflash skirt and a Zoom Hornytoad as the trailer. This thing is like 6" long and the size of a baseball in the water. Doesn't caught a lot of fish but all the ones I have caught were 4-6lbs.

 

Allen