Jigs: How To Fish Them?

[TouchTooMuch]

So I have heard that jigs are basic, and a great weapon to have. But I am clueless on them, what should I use for a skirt and such? and how do you use them? Anything and everything would be great help!

[grimlin]

By Joe S.

Representation,

First let’s start with what a jig represents underwater, I believe the most

Popular use of it is to imitate a Crayfish but they also can imitate baitfish as well.

Jigs come in many different shapes, sizes and colors etc. The most popular crayfish imitators seem to be the good old skirted jig usually tipped with some sort of plastic or pork trailer.

Speaking of sizes, shapes, colors, I’m only going to really get into the skirted jig with a plastic or pork trailer as this is the bait I primarily use, and use it as a crayfish imitator only.

Sizes,

There is a very large size range available,

I mainly use 3 sizes of Jigs in my arsenal or depending on manufacturer the closest weight to these sizes 3/8 oz , ½ oz and ¾ oz.

I will mainly use a 3/8oz when fishing really shallow. The presentation has more time to be subtle because of the lighter weight than just crashing on the bottom in the shallow water.

1/2 oz. Jig

This is my go to, if there was only one jig weight aloud in my box, this would be it. I guess you could say the happy medium. I fish this 99 percent of the time from a regular bank down to 15 ft and anything in between.

The only time I go to a 3/4 oz. Is if I need to get through some thick weeds, the wind is really blowing or I am fishing dep but want to fish it faster than normal.

Colors,

I don’t get crazy on colors when it comes to jigs. I have 3 colors that I have a ton of confidence in and those are Browns, Greens, and Black. It seems the jig has excepted rules on what colors for what conditions were faced with, green or brown, natural colors for clearer water and black or darker colors for murkier water or night time. I do follow that to a point but not because of the rule but because I have confidence in throwing those baits in those conditions. I‘ve caught fish in clear water with a black jig and fish in murky water and at night with a green jig so what’s that tell us. Color is confidence in my book.

Trailers/Chunks

These come in many shapes and sizes, Most of them are made to represent the pincher end of the crayfish which are either threaded or simply hooked on to the jig.

I go rather simple in this area as far as selection.

I mainly use 3 colors in 2 sizes, Green, Brown and Black in 2” or 3” sizes I always match the color of the trailer with the jig, (just a confidence thing)

I will normally start off fishing with a 2” trailer in tournaments, I feel the smaller size may get me more bites in order to get my limit then I may upgrade trailer size to go after larger fish, but there is no rule here either, as I have caught fish over 6lbs. on 2” trailers and fish less than 12” on 3” trailers.

As far as the many styles and brands of trailers, my selection is simple I use my own, I feel they give me the best chances of catching fish and here is why: When a bass hits a jig they will normally engulf the whole lure, Jig and trailer. It only takes a split second for that fish to reject the bait if it notices anything artificial about it. When I make my trailers I add a lot of crayfish oil to the plastic prior to cooking then once poured they go through a 2 stage salting process. Once you get a fish to bite them they are hard pressed to let it go because there is so much taste for them. Because there is so much craw oil in the plastic it makes the baits very soft which helps release the oils and salt when the bait is bitten. (Shameless Plug I know, but the truth as well)

The Bite!

I have been fishing a jig predominantly for the last few years and have probably experienced every type of bite possible, but then again maybe not, sometimes you don’t feel anything at all, then sometimes they almost rip the rod out of your hand, and then you have everything in between, you must always be ready to set the hook.

It is a must to be a line watcher when fishing a jig because you may not always be in direct contact with the lure, and the little twitch in the line that you didn’t see could have been a 10” fish or the fish of a lifetime.

One thing I really like to do is know the depth of the water I’m casting to, I feel this is very important, a ½ oz jig on 15lb mono sinks at about 1ft per second. So I know if I’m casting it into 12ft of water and the line stops sinking when I count to 6, something sucked it in, reel in any slack and set the hook.

This is where I believe salts and scents are very handy, normally when I’m fishing a jig I’m fishing some type of structure, rocks, wood, grass, etc. with the equipment on the market you can pretty much feel everything the lure bumps into, when first getting into jig fishing I might have questioned myself was that a fish or a rock, don’t know for sure. But now using my own baits and good equipment as well as a lot of time fishing the jig, I have the confidence in them to know that when I feel that little bump, I can pause and wait a second or two to see if there is any activity or lack there of on the end of the line before ramming the hook into a nice bass, or a stump.

Equipment:

For fishing these type and size of jigs, I use a 7’ Heavy action bait casting rod, I feel this is very important and will not use a Jig on anything lighter, for a few reasons, 1.) These jigs normally have stout hooks that require a decent amount of force to get good penetration. I don’t want to take the chance of losing a big fish because my rod didn’t have enough power to drive the hook home, 2.) You have the weed guard to deal with as well when setting the hook. 3.) A lot of times the bass will really clamp down on a jig to crush it making it harder to move the jig on the set to get a good hook set, I noticed this especially with small mouth bass. As for the brand of rod that is personal preference but I think you should get the best you can afford in this area or the added sensitivity.

For a reel, I prefer High speed reels 6.1:1 or 6.3:1 and a decent amount of line retrieval per handle turn. I like this because I can pick up any slack really fast as well as keep up with the fish if it is charging towards me. This is another brand preference issue, I prefer smaller profile reels so I can palm the reel and rest the line going into the reel on my pointer finger for extra sensitivity.

Line

I mainly use 15 lb test mono line for most jig fishing, I don’t really go any lighter than that, I will go heavier for certain situations depending on a few factors, structure or cover that I’m fishing, or even the size of the fish I have a chance at catching will dictate the size. In really clear water I will use fluorocarbon line for reduced visibility. And if I need to go above 20 lb mono for any reason I will switch to a braid for line diameter purposes. You can use any of the three all the time, these are just my preferences and how I utilize each for certain situations.

This is not intended to be a know all of Jig fishing document, these are the ways and equipment I personally like to use and have confidence in for the situations I face,(Notice the title) there are so many variables in fishing that could call for a different tactic from the lure type and size, to the tackle and line, it would be impossible to list them all.

Some techniques I use...

When I make a cast I let the bait sink, you must always watch your line, a lot of times they will hit it on the initial fall and your line will either twitch, stop before it should, or start going sideways, when this happens reel up the slack and set the hook. If the bait makes it to the bottom I will wait about 3 or 4 seconds and then drag it about 6-8 inches (Right now he’s just cruising on the bottom), then pause, after 3-4 seconds drag again, and repeat this. Once I feel any obstruction, I pause then shake without dragging, I feel this simulates the crayfish trying to burrow under whatever obstacle it just bumped into. Then I give it 2 quick very short snaps, this would simulate the crayfish fleeing from a predator, then let it hit bottom and repeat the whole process. A lot of times right after the pause when you go to drag again it will feel heavy, set the hook. Hook sets are free, If you haven’t fished a jig a lot , it takes time before you can get a really good handle on determining fish bites from obstructions. Practice makes perfect and when in doubt set the hook.

That's for mostly open water hump style fishing and beating a bank. In cover I like to throw it in the nastiest stuff possible and shake it around then repeat casting to it (pretty much pick it to pieces.)

Don't ever think there is such a thing as to shallow, I use to cast to about a foot off shore till a guy on the back of my boat beat me bad, the fish were in that spot right on the bank, now I cast to were I'm pretty much hitting the shoreline.

[OHIO]

Have you read any of the articles at the top of the page?

They helped me a lot.

[Shad_Master]

I would suggest, read grimlin's post - read the articles - then go fishing and leave everything at home except your jigs. It's easy to get frustrated and switch back to what comes natural for you. It just takes practice to understand what the bite feels like and as has been said it is not the same every time. Once you get the hang of it, it's like riding a bicycle.

[fishinkeebs]

I would definately read the articles. The jig is a very versatile lure and can put some big bass in the boat.

[Catt]

Everyone has their own personal repertoire of confusion when it comes to jigs; K.I.S.S.

Click here Denny Brauer