Need some help on how to fish a jig.

[dsonthelake84]

I am just wondering what colors is good to use, the size of the jig, and how to retrieve it? I havent really used a jig that much, but I know thats the way for smallies. I fish mostly Laurel and wonder what colors are good for it. Thanks a head of time for the help.

[Moose1am]

To me the most important thing when fishing any lure is toe maintain contact and feel the lure. But it a jig or a plastic worm or a crank bait. You must be in contact with the lure at all times. That's critical when the bait is falling though through the water column and a fish inhales the bait. If you have slack in the line you won't even know that the fish has your bait. Sometimes the fish will swallow the bait or hook itself ( shape hooks really help here) but other time the fish will quickly realize that it's not a real food item and cough the bait out so fast that you never knew he took the bait. Fish in line with the wind so as to minimize the bow in your line created by the wind. If fishing deep use a heavier jig to maintain contact.

A very sensitive rod also helps a great deal. Get the best rod you can afford that has a high modulus and great feel. Be it a fast action tip rod or a slow action tip rod you need to feel the bit.

Keep your line taught the entire time or WATCH the line. You need a light thats easy to see and GOOD EYESIGHT. I wish I had more of the latter but I am old and slow these days. Younger eyes work best in this endeavor. But I hear that Lasik may help us old guys so there's still hope!
hehe

I like to fish small jigs VERTICALLY. By this I mean straight up and down under the boat using a 7ft long super sensitive rod. I use a loop knot on my fishing line and tie it about 18" above the tag end of my fishing line. I can attach a small 1/32 oz or a 1/16 oz jig to the line easily. I can do this with a Palomar knot too. Either way works. Then I attach a Bass Pro Shop Finesse lead jig to the tag end. I tie one overhand knot at the tag end to help keep the sinker from sliding off the end of the line. The finesse drop shot weights from Bass Pro Shop make adding new weights of different sizes and mass easy. You don't tie the weight onto the line you simply slip the line though the metal line holder on these special weights. Check out the BPS Master Fishing Catalog for 2008 and get you some of these weights.

Now you can let the weight down to the bottom and feel the bottom. Any fish that's hugging the bottom will have two jigs hanging over it's head. Use different size jigs and different types of jigs and colors. A tube jig filled with a small amount of cotton soaked in fish oil such as Cod Liver Oil or any of the attractant liquids on the market will do. I started out using Dr Juice as a fish attractant. That stuff helped me catch many more fish than I ever had before. I also went from fishing braided 20 lb test line with 400 Bomber Crank baits for largemouth bass, sauger, Catfish, Striper or White Bass and finally crappie. Bomber crank baits were easy to maintain contact with the entire time. You could tell immediately if some thing grabbed the hooks or if a stick or weed got fouled onto the crank bait's hooks. I learned to feel the baits at a very early age. Back then we use fiberglass rods and braided line routinely. And each bait was connected to the line with a snap swivel to make changing crank baits faster.

Did you know that you can take the back hook of a crank bait and then add a short leader with a small jig attached at one end and the crank bait to the other end of the leader. Fluorocarbon lines work well for this setup. A stiff line will keep the jig behind the crank bait. You can rig the jig weedless if you need to using a small rubber band. Put the rubber band in front of the hook loop and then attach it to the barb of the hook. This will help keep the end of the hook from fouling on things, yet let the fish bit down on the rubber band and get himself hooked.

Troll this setup behind the boat using 200 bandit series baits for water less than 6 ft and 300 series for water deeper than 10 ft. Let out about 150 to 175 ft of line and use side planers if you can. If not that's OK you can still catch fish. Getting the baits out to the side of the boat will let you use more rods though. Some states limit how many rods you can use so check the State regulations before going fishing.

Now vary the boat speed to control the depth of the baits. Check your depth finder and look for suspended fish. Often in the hot summer months the fish will suspend about 10 to 15 ft down and right above the thermocline during the middle parts of the day. They may be at the same level as a nearby shelf next to a drop off and suspend out away from the drop off by a 100 or more feet. They can easily move horizontally over to the top of the shelf to feed and then move back out over the river channel and over deep water afterward.

Trolling a crank bait right though the school and having a trailing jig can trigger some fish to bite out of instinct even if they are in a neutral mood.

This trick has been around for over 50 years. I first read about this in my Dad's Herter's Guide book when I was only 10 years old. But I have not used it more than once or twice for some reason. I normally can catch the fish by just tight lining a minnow or jig and searching the drop offs.

Finding the fish just got much easier these days with the invention of side scanning sonar for the masses. Humminbird has taken the lead in fishing finding electronics when they introduced the Humminbird Side Scanning Sonar units coupled with GPS maps. Now you can patrol a lake in grids and mark likely looking fishing spots on your GPS unit as Way points. Then return to fish these spots where you saw structure and fish. A hard bottom to soft bottom transition area is easy to see and mark with the side scanning sonar unit. Using SD memory cards you can take the cards to your computer and enter the data into your computer for later analysis.

Instead of seeing only a small circle of area under your boats old 2 D transducer you can now see a line out of both sides of the boat to 240 ft in either direction. Moving along at 4 to 5 mph you can map the entire lake bottom in a small lake in just a few hours. It's as if you emptied the lake of water and took pictures and then refilled the lake. Only the fish stayed in place in mid air and didn't sink to the bottom in the process. You get a snap shot of where the fish were. Now with the side scanning sonar you can't tell exactly how deep the fish are unless you pass right over the top of them and use the 2D transducer to find their depth. But that's no problem because with the side scanning unit you can get the fish's x and y map coordinates and motor over to the spot and use the 2d transducer to determine the exact dept that the fish are using. Now you have the XYZ map coordinates. Longitude, latitude and the depth to zero right in on the fish. You can lower your jig and be within a few inches of the fish's mouth if you do things right. LOL The poor fish don't have anyway of escaping unless they swim away fast when the detect the side scanning sonar sound. But I am not sure they can detect those 800 MHz sound waves or if they do they don't know what they are or what's coming. But they can look up and see the bottom of your boat silhouetted against the bright sunlit sky above. But you can fish right over the top of a school of crappie if the water is murky enough and you are quiet. And if the water's clear the fish will probably be suspended deeper anyway. They like to hide in the shadows where they can't be seen by their prey. Like other predators they like to ambush their prey so as to conserve precious energy. That's why they hide behind stumps in the shadows where they can't be seen by the shad out in the open sunlight water. Not until it's too late. LOL

You can also catch out a small jig on a ultra light open faced spinning reel with a ultra light rod. Using light flexible mono fishing line you can cast out a small jig a long ways. Let the jig sink on a line that's acting like a pendulum. The crappie if they are there will hit the jig on the fall. Keeping the line tight and in feeling the jig all they way to the bottom count down one thousand one, one thousand two, etc. Vary the depth as you fan cast around you. If the crappie are there they will let you know pretty quick. Sometimes they will be near the surface an other times they can be on the bottom. If there is a thermocline and it's in the hot summer months don't bother fishing below the thermocline. After the fall turnover the fish will again be able to use the lower levels of the lake. They can use this hypolimnium until next summer when the lake starts to stratify again and oxygen becomes depleted in the lake bottom waters.

You can also fish a jig with a floating jig head and rig it Carolina style.

The jig is a versatile bait and catches a lot of fish. Ask any walleye fisherman up north about how to use a jig to catch walleyes and he will tell you the same thing.

[Col Forbin]

Wow! Thanks for the clinic Moose lol. Those are some great ideas, I will have to give those a try. I do my best with the jig when it stays on the bottom, therefore, I like a little heavier jig (3/8 oz. and up). I usually stay with the football head. I like the way they stand, and they get hung less when fishing in rocks. I really like casting jigs and varying retrieves (hopping one cast, then a slow drag on the next etc...) In deeper water, especially next to dropoffs or on road beds I like to cast the jig out and drag behind the boat with the trolling motor for a few hundred feet or more - this is good way to get into a mess of smallies or Ky bass - and if not it is a good time to eat a sandwich. I use both colors of jigs (green pumpkin and blue/black- lol) - why do they even make all of those other colors?

In spring I like to flip jigs in heavy cover, especially down trees in the water. I usually fish around the outside first, and then toss one right in center. The weight of the jig and weedgaurds keep it falling without getting hung. This is line watching time. They will almost always take it on the initial fall. I usually let it fall and if it hits the bottom, I will then leave for a bit shaking or slightly hoping. Be ready, because a quick hookset is a must to get the fish out of that cover quick.

These are just a few ways I have been successful with jigs. I have only been fishing jigs on a regular basis the last couple of years, so I am still learning too. But once you get a few on a jig, it will quickly become your "go to" lure.

[dsonthelake84]

Thanks Moose and Col. Thats alot of stuff. Should come in handy. Thank you for taking the time and letting me know all the things. I usually fish for lm using worms. But jig fishing is a lot different. Real tough to tell what is a bite and what is the bottom.

One more thing does it having like a rattle on the jig make a big difference and how bout a trailer?

Thanks again for the tips. Going to Laurel tommorow and trying it out.

[Col Forbin]

"One more thing does it having like a rattle on the jig make a big difference and how bout a trailer?"

I never fish a jig without a trailer. It adds a ton of action and helps it fall down a little more evenly. I always match the trailer to the skirt (size and color). I love the paca chunk's.

As far as rattle's, I use them some of the time, especially if it is muddy. If I am not getting any bites I will add a rattle before changing color. I know some people only fish jigs with a rattle. I think I have caught just as many without as with.

[FlyLie]

I am just wondering what colors is good to use, the size of the jig, and how to retrieve it? I havent really used a jig that much, but I know thats the way for smallies. I fish mostly Laurel and wonder what colors are good for it. Thanks a head of time for the help.

I sent you a PM.
Gary

[Chubminnow]

Everyone here offers some pretty good insight...I will add that Denny Brauer (aka - Jig Meister) has a book out...You might check around to see who has it but I know you can get it through Amazon.

[bigfish65]

I fish a D&L jig with a sweet beaver trailer. I have found for Laurel the basic colors work the best. Brown, Pumpkin, Black, or sometimes a Green Pumpkin. Match the trailer with the jig. Water color is important. Dirty water I stay with black. The clearer water i normally stay with the brown's and green's. The two sizes I normally use is 3/8 and 1/4.

Let us know how you do,

[mhall]

The Brauer book is ok, but not that impressive. The main thing Ive learned about the jig- the greatest bait ever produced in my opinion- is to fish it vertical like moose said. You'll never learn the full potential of that bait trying to throw it like a texas rig, bumping it along the bottom horizontally. You'll get 90% of your bites on the drop. Dont waste time on a retrieve, just a couple hops. If the fish are more active, a trig out fishes the jig. But I prefer the jig, its a big fish bait, because its a reaction bait. That drop is when the reaction comes, so- colors dont matter as much as some argue.

Stick w/ atleast 15lb line for pitching, in my opinion pitching should be how you fish it most of the time, and depending on the wind and depth, 3/8 and 1/2 oz will cover you.

D&L jigs rule. Black and blue, delta craw.

Andy, not trying to be a smartarse but you wrote don't waste your time on a retrieve, just a couple of hops. AAAAA, NOT, I've caught tons of bass actually swimming a jig. Yes swimming it, there are times in the year where this technique is deadly. Do some research and you'll find lot's to read up on about this overlooked way to fish a jig. Where the fish are located in the water column is the key and are they feeding down or up, big difference.

[Col Forbin]

I catch the bulk of my jig fish on the retrieve. Sometimes hopping, sometimes dragging - Jigs are a good crawfish imitation (a year round bass food supply). I also catch some swimming a jig. Strike king/KVD makes a good swimming jig. When I am swimming a jig, I usually go with a trailer with a little more action than a chunk like a curly tail grub, or some of those kicking frog trailers zoom makes. I think that is one of the great things about a jig, their versatility - there are endless combinations/applications. Everytime I go fishing with a jig fisherman, I learn something new. There is not much that compares with the feeling of solid hookset on a jig, especially when you get one of those fiesty brown ones.

[joeyblueblood]

I catch the bulk of my jig fish on the retrieve. Sometimes hopping, sometimes dragging - Jigs are a good crawfish imitation (a year round bass food supply). I also catch some swimming a jig. Strike king/KVD makes a good swimming jig. When I am swimming a jig, I usually go with a trailer with a little more action than a chunk like a curly tail grub, or some of those kicking frog trailers zoom makes. I think that is one of the great things about a jig, their versatility - there are endless combinations/applications. Everytime I go fishing with a jig fisherman, I learn something new. There is not much that compares with the feeling of solid hookset on a jig, especially when you get one of those fiesty brown ones.

Col (or anyone)...describe exactly what you mean by "swimming" the jig. do you just cast and reel it back,or do you swim it off the bottom and then let it drop? I have heard about this before and I was wondering.
Forgive me but I have only in the last 2 years become serious about my fishing. I have all but quit golf as a result....LOL

[Col Forbin]

Not really as simple as cast and reel it in. I just reel, pause, reel, pause, twitch the rod a little. Every once in a while I will let it fall sometimes to the bottom especially if I am running past some cover. I was paired up in a tournament with a pro that did a lot of this last year, and I had some good luck with it as well. Try it out in the spring (april )when the typical spinnerbait bite is on, and the bass are seeing several dozen spinnerbaits a day. I've even had blow-ups on jigs thinking I was past the strike zone and burning it in.