why am I much less successful with full sized jigs?

[Darth-Baiter]

on the flip side, I am very successful with finesse jigs.  my jig is the Keitech version 2.  I do very well

 

big jigs?  opposite affect.  I am not good.  same ball head types.

 

tomorrow I hope to change that.  I tied on a big jig, big Yamamoto Flapping hog as a trailer.  it is go time.  

 

big jigs get big bass right?    I cant imagine working the bait any differently.   dragging and small hopping it.

I no think it looks good!

 

[Bass Rutten]

Big jigs can be one of those high risk high reward approaches kinda like big swimbaits, you might only get several bites a day but one might be the one you really want. Now prove to us you're committed and only take one rod 

[Pat Brown]

I don't really necessarily care much about the size of the jig so much as the size of the trailer and the weight of the jighead.

 

I find it's way easier to feel slight changes with heavier jigs and they tend to get bigger fish.  Not necessarily 'bigger jig' - just heavier - maybe the faster rate of fall gets them to react?  Hard to say.  But it's also a lot more efficient - way less waiting around for the jig to get to the bottom or into the cover.  I catch plenty of smaller fish on heavier jigs also - but it seems like the really big ones get it on the fall or right when it hits the bottom and starts to move.

 

Sometimes the trailer needs to be compact and sometimes it needs to be bulky - I just let fish tell me which they prefer - catch tons of big fish on more compact profiles.

[WRB]

Depends on the lake forage and seasonal period. Football jig doesn’t work good in cover like the Delta has, better in the Foothill lakes with 3” to 4” twin tail grub trailers. 
Delta the crawdads are nearly black or dark red.

Tom

[Catt]

Weight!

 

I throw full size jigs that only weigh 1/4 oz.

 

ROF is extremely more important than size. 

[bp_fowler]

I feel your pain.  I never had much success with heavier jigs.
 

Late last season I got on a hot streak pitching a Baby Structure Jig with a Super Chunk Jr. as a trailer.  First time I really had success with a jig.  I won’t say it’s a finesse presentation but it’s definitely more compact. 
 

Ditto with football jigs and swim jigs.  I use 1/2oz and 1/4 oz respectively.

[TnRiver46]

Confidence 

[woolleyfooley]

4 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

I don't really necessarily care much about the size of the jig so much as the size of the trailer and the weight of the jighead.

 

I find it's way easier to feel slight changes with heavier jigs and they tend to get bigger fish.  Not necessarily 'bigger jig' - just heavier - maybe the faster rate of fall gets them to react?  Hard to say.  But it's also a lot more efficient - way less waiting around for the jig to get to the bottom or into the cover.  I catch plenty of smaller fish on heavier jigs also - but it seems like the really big ones get it on the fall or right when it hits the bottom and starts to move.

 

Sometimes the trailer needs to be compact and sometimes it needs to be bulky - I just let fish tell me which they prefer - catch tons of big fish on more compact profiles.

How heavy are you talking?

[Pat Brown]

2 hours ago, woolleyfooley said:

How heavy are you talking?

 

When I'm really out looking for big fish, I rarely go lighter than 5/8 of an ounce and often go up to 3/4, 1 or even 1 and 1/2 oz!

[WRB]

Depends on where you fish, depth, cover, structure, weather etc, etc. 

For example where I fish in deep steep rocky sparse cover lakes my 7/16 oz hair jig w/ pork trailers works good down to 25’. 

Tom

[Munkin]

Most of the time I am using a 1/2oz jig if flipping. This is casting at targets like laydowns or docks. Dragging a football jig is 3/4oz with a twin tail grub. You just have to keep at it until you build up confidence. It took me a year to get confident with jigs and now they are one of my go-to baits.

 

Allen

[Columbia Craw]

Depth-water clarity-water temperature dictates rate of fall.  Get the optimum rate of fall and things will happen. Now dragging a football jig is a bit different.  

[Darth-Baiter]

Well. I’ll let you all know. My jig rod will be in the 1st chair position.  Headed out now. 

[Functional]

Personally, nearly all of my big fish have come on downsized lures so I see no negative for using compact lures. I'm no star with jigs but to get out of the compact sized jigs to put a bigger trailer on I've used a full size and thinned out the skirt and in extreme cases cut them into finesse skirt styles. I've managed to get bites on my big hook jigs that way but again I'm FAR from good with a jig. Just my little input.

[FishTank]

I asked the question at a fishing seminar years ago.... When do I throw a specific weight of a jig?

 

The answer was it depends on ROF, depth, temperature, etc. Basically what has already been mentioned above with one exception. Water clarity as it pertains to what the bottom is made of. What he was saying is that if you have a muddy or sandy bottom and big jig, a bass might avoid it as it stirs up more stuff. Just like us, they don't want to breath/suck in a mouth full of mud and sediment. So go small, be patient, and make smaller movements with the jig.

 

This why I take both a 1/4 and 1/2oz  jigs with me when I go jig fishing.  In the summer,  when it's hot and there is a lot of vegetation, I might go smaller and heavier with a 3/4oz for weeds and lily pads and a 1/8oz BFS jig for shallow water. When none of that maters, 3/8oz for everything. 

[Catt]

I will throw a 1/4 oz jig with a Rage Craw in 20' of water & a 1 oz jig a Rage Lobster in 2' of water. 

 

The only difference I see between a finesse jig & a full size jig is how the skirt is cut. 

[casts_by_fly]

I think the most obvious answer hasn't been mentioned yet- because that's what his bass want!  How many times here on this very forum is the answer 'listen to what the fish tell you'?  Well, it sounds like they have told him.

[Lottabass]

A 5 pound bass disgorged this bluegill after I landed it.  I've fished standard casting/flipping/finesse jigs for years but this year I bought some Mop jigs and 5.25 inch trailers. Compared to a standard size jig and Rage Craw in the photo is a little bigger.  I hope this will catch bigger fish consistantly (I think it will as long as I present it to bigger fish consistantly).

All the lakes I fish are dirty water lakes.

[rangerjockey]

For me I don't think it's the weight that matters so much as the profile, at least around here.

The trend seems to be moving to the more compact stuff like the Jewel pee wee. 

We have a local jig called a Dirks that guys waited in line for. I use the 1/2 oz but it only has a 16 strand skirt and I think that's the difference at times around spots and smallmouth.

A heavy jig is going to a reaction strike especially on the initial drop and in the summer I fish a 5/8 or 3/4 but honestly those same fish will probably bite a big worm .

[the reel ess]

Don't believe the hype. Small jigs get big bass. Just gotta get it in front of the big bass. I all but stopped using jigs in heavy cover because they're not as weedless as a T rig. I switched to a craw or beaver style or even a Senko. I mean, that's what they eat, right? I kept on getting big bass. 

[woolleyfooley]

7 hours ago, Lottabass said:

A 5 pound bass disgorged this bluegill after I landed it.  I've fished standard casting/flipping/finesse jigs for years but this year I bought some Mop jigs and 5.25 inch trailers. Compared to a standard size jig and Rage Craw in the photo is a little bigger.  I hope this will catch bigger fish consistantly (I think it will as long as I present it to bigger fish consistantly).

All the lakes I fish are dirty water lakes.

Is that the buckeye lures mop jig? I have a bunch of those that I completely forgot about until I saw your post.

[TnRiver46]

9 hours ago, Lottabass said:

A 5 pound bass disgorged this bluegill after I landed it.  I've fished standard casting/flipping/finesse jigs for years but this year I bought some Mop jigs and 5.25 inch trailers. Compared to a standard size jig and Rage Craw in the photo is a little bigger.  I hope this will catch bigger fish consistantly (I think it will as long as I present it to bigger fish consistantly).

All the lakes I fish are dirty water lakes.

Disgorged? I like it . Never heard that one but I definitely won’t forget it 

[Darth-Baiter]

I didn’t jig-skunk!   It was not my most productive bait at all.  But the thumps were angry!!

 

[Lottabass]

@woolleyfooley  Yes, Buckeye Lures Mop Jig.

@TnRiver46 The skin on that bluegill was completely gone so I'm assuming it must have been inside the stomach of that bass.  When I bent over to lip the bass all I saw in its mouth was the jig.  As I lifted the bass over the side of the boat out popped the bluegill!

[Bankbeater]

There are days around here when I have to experiment, so I try to mix and match.  Sometimes the bass want a small 1/8 oz jig and sometimes they want a 1/2 oz jig.  They may want a trailer with a small profile, and sometimes they'll hit with any type trailer attached.