Jig Fishing Help

[publican57]

I have really been working with Jigs more this year and am feeling like at times I am getting the hang of them.

The problem is I am getting bites but not sticking a lot of the fish; I may miss 3 of 4. I have notice if the presentation is more vertical, I am have better luck with hook ups. More horizontal presentations less luck. What I have read about jig fishing, hook-ups can the difficult at times.

What are some things I may be able to do to improve my hook-up rate?

[wishniwasfishn]

I have really been working with Jigs more this year and am feeling like at times I am getting the hang of them.

The problem is I am getting bites but not sticking a lot of the fish; I may miss 3 of 4. I have notice if the presentation is more vertical, I am have better luck with hook ups. More horizontal presentations less luck. What I have read about jig fishing, hook-ups can the difficult at times.

What are some things I may be able to do to improve my hook-up rate?

It may be that when your line is more vertical, you are setting the hook on a tight line, but when it is more horizontal, you are trying to set the hook with slack in your line, I did that also, and I also tried reeling down before I set the hook, like you do with a worm. Now I always try to keep the line tight, use braid, and when I feel a tap, I set the hook without reeling down, and my hook up ratio has greatly improved. I still lose some, not the best jig fisherman, but my hook ups have greatly increased doing this. Hope this helps some, I know some good jig guys on here can probaly give you more help, but thats what helped me.

[Todd2]

It's hard to say without being there, could be you are waiting to long to swing? Try a more sensitive line, if you are using mono try fluorocarbon. Watch the line for any "ticks", if so reel down fast and swing. Also try trimming up your weed guard, those things are usually over kill, so try trimming them down to where when pushed down toward the hook, they barely clear the hook. JMO...

[Big T @ E.C.]

Try this, take your pleirs, and bend the hook slightly, to one side or the other, not very much, just a little, that will make the hook point not line up with the shank, and the head. If the fish has it in his mouth, it should catch in the top or bottom of his mouth. (only try it on a couple, as you might not like it, that way you'd only lose 2 jigs!!)
i do this on my worm hooks and it has helped out a bunch... Tr

[publican57]

Thank you for those responses thus far. I did trim the weed guard and am using braid on one of the reels and flourocarbon on the other. I think most likely some of the problem is need for tightening the line. I have the same issue sometimes with plastic worms.

I also like the idea of trying to offset the hook a bit. I will try that.

[publican57]

One other issue I am dealing with is that I am fishing out of a Kayak most of the time. I don't have near as much leverage as I would if I were standing in a boat. That probably makes it a bit more difficult for hookup.

[slowride]

Kayak, that could be a problem when setting the hook! You need the leverage set it hard, i've broken 2 rods setting the hook before. Also braid is awsome, however its hard to line watch with most colors. Make sure you give the fish time to take it in, then set it hard! Good luck

[dabassking]

One other issue I am dealing with is that I am fishing out of a Kayak most of the time. I don't have near as much leverage as I would if I were standing in a boat. That probably makes it a bit more difficult for hookup.

If you're fishing from a kayak, I'm assuming that you're fishing smaller bodies of water like streams or rivers. Is that correct? If so, could it be that the smaller fish in those smaller bodies of water just can't get your jig into their mouth all the way? If you're throwing a big football jig at some half pound smallmouth, I can see where size would be a problem sometimes. Maybe try a smaller jig like a Bitsy Bug. I hope that helps. Maybe it doesn't and all of my assumptions are completely off base and I'm just making myself look stupid. If so, sorry for wasting your time. Good Luck

[kc]

My 2 cents worth. I find that with jigs bass do not hold them like other soft plastic lures. If you don't pop them quickly on the pickup you will miss them. Since you said you aren't sticking them that might be the issue rather than sticking them and then losing them which may be more of too light of a rod, weed guard, hook, etc. What I found when I started jig fishing was two key things - 1) you have to learn to keep a tight line and feel everything with the jig especially the strikes and 2) you have to cross their eyes immediately on the pickup. When you feel a strike you have to develop a hair trigger that pops them before you even think about it. I have kind of drifted from jig fishing in recent times and I have found my hair trigger is a little rusty and I have been missing strikes because I don't set quick enough (not to mention my graying hair, dulling senses, and loss of muscle tone but that is another story!).

Another factor that I found was the rod has to be super-sensitive and stiff. I remember a night trip back in the '80s where my fishing buddy had just bought a new GLoomis MBR684 and he was wearing the bass out that night and I kept missing them. I wasn't feeling the strikes well on my Shakespeare fiberglass rod and at one point he picked up his spinnerbait rod and handed me his jig rod to try and I put my first one in the boat on the second cast. You can bet your life I had an MBR684 with me on my next night trip and have never looked back. My dad in recent years has been using a medium spinning rod for jigs and tends to stick and lose many of them because of the rod being on the light side. His shoulders bother him so he has trouble fishing heavier tackle for very long so that is a trade off he makes. Hope some of this brain dump helps...

kc

[Shimano4Life]

Just another two cents.....

Use a jig with a light wire hook. The light wire makes it easier for it to penetrate the fish's jaw. Like someone said earlier, the Bitsy Bug has a light wire hook.

[publican57]

Thanks to all for the advice.