Jigs in heavy brushpiles

[bassmajor]

I fish a lake loaded with HEAVY, THICK brushpiles. I'm talking piles of old xmas trees and the like. And the bigguns hang out in them it seems. Jigs have been working great but I get snagged up alot. I know a somewhat vertical presentation is ideal in this situation but sometimes I am stuck on shore casting out to these piles and losing jigs on the way back in. Any suggestions on changing my technique or a jig that would be better suited for this? I usually use an arky style jig in 1/2-3/8 oz. with a medium heavy rod and heavy braid.

[Big Tom]

If you fish jigs a bunch, you are going to go through a lot of them.  I haven't found an incredibly weedless jig yet.  

Where you are fishing from shore, it makes keeping them impossible.  I really don't have any advice on how to not lose so many other than experimenting with different brands.  I am not familiar with the Arkie jigs so maybe you can find others at a similar price point with a thicker weed guard.    

[DINK WHISPERER]

If you work them very slow and let off as soon as you feel an obstruction(that's not a fish) they can be fished through a lot.

How are you losing them on heavy braid?

[roadwarrior]

Nope.

From the bank you are going to lose lures/baits. However,

you can use a variety of soft plastics rigged weightless to

imitate a jig and reduce hang-ups and losses: Fat Ika, tubes

Hula Grubs, GYCB Kreature or other brand's creature baits.

This is an example:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1180909581

8-)

[skillet]

 Have the same problem . Started fishing T-rigs more because of this. Have tried to get good answer from lots of folks. Most kind of imply it's my fault and maybe it is :-/. I know jig and trailers take better fish but unless I can have the confidence to throw them into places and won't ruin everything by getting hung-up, what's the use? I'm not talking about the hook hanging either but the head of the jig...

skillet

[Jig Man]

A couple of things I do for brush pile fishing is:

Down size the hook to a 2/0. It will come through brush a lot easier than bigger hooks and still give you good hooksets.

Use braid with a (measured leader). When you are pulling it up a limb it will feel like a hack saw on a dowel rod. When you feel is go smooth then you are on the leader. You can expect that after (X) feet the jig will be against the limb and you can usually jiggle it over that limb and repeat the process until you get a fish or clear the pile.

Those two techniques have saved me a bunch of hangups over the years produced some really good bass and walleye as I too fish a lot of big brush piles and don't ever move the boat over them to get a bait back.

[TheHammer84]

I use tubes and creatures in those areas.  A lot less hangups, just check to make sure the hook isn't exposed.

[Big Tom]

A couple of things I do for brush pile fishing is:

Down size the hook to a 2/0. It will come through brush a lot easier than bigger hooks and still give you good hooksets.

Use braid with a (measured leader). When you are pulling it up a limb it will feel like a hack saw on a dowel rod. When you feel is go smooth then you are on the leader. You can expect that after (X) feet the jig will be against the limb and you can usually jiggle it over that limb and repeat the process until you get a fish or clear the pile.

Those two techniques have saved me a bunch of hangups over the years produced some really good bass and walleye as I too fish a lot of big brush piles and don't ever move the boat over them to get a bait back.

The leader idea is awesome.  Thanks for sharing that.

[Shimmer]

I have to second what Dink said. It took me alot of lost jigs until I started to me a little more delicate. Before I would raise my rod tip and try and break through the cover. Now I give little hops and when I feel contact I lower my tip then drag it over nice and slow.

I've been throwing into some seriously nast stuff a couple times a week now for 2-3 weeks and haven't lost a jig yet. When I do feel the hang up, I bow and arrow move around then just grab my line and pull in whatever I was snagged on. <3 braid

[Pantera61]

How deep are you fishing?

[Jeff C.]

what type of knot to put mono on Braid ?

[wagn]

I love to fish jigs in thick brush and trees. I find i get hung up alot less with a jig then with a regular t-rigged craw or similiar plastic.

However, no matter how careful you are your still going to get hung up. The only thing I can say is make sure your pulling the jig up slow over limbs and sticks. Most of the time I can slide a jig out of a tight spot if I take it nice and easy.

But in the end losing jigs is just the cost of doing business with the fish

[Jig Man]

what type of knot to put mono on Braid ?

I use the Alberto's knot.

[Jig Man]

bassmajor, another technique you might employ is swimming the jigs over the tops of the brush piles.   If there are any actively feeding fish they will be around the edges and on top of the piles.  It is down in the middle that the old lazy mossy backs will be wanting something right in their dinner buckets.

If you stay with one size jig and trailer and learn its fall rate, you can do a count down and slow roll the jig over the brush till you find the proper depth.