One of my
favorite baits to fish and one that more tournament anglers depend on to catch
that big bass is a jig with a plastic or pork trailer. The jig it’s self is a
pretty simple tool, a chunk of lead with a stout sharp hook with or without some
sort of weed guard and some with and others without silicone skirts. Now on the
other hand the styles of jigs are almost countless. It seems with this bait more
than any other everyone has their own style of head and size of hook they
prefer. For the most part there are four different classifications of jig heads
that are made. One is what is considered a grass jig. This style of jig
generally has a bullet shape head to allow it to slide threw vegetation without
getting hung up and either a light wire hook for casting and a stout heavy wire
hook when flipping in heavy vegetation, such as milfoil and coontail. Then you
have a wood jig that has an Arkie style head with a stout heavy wire hook. This
has a flatter type head, which allows the bait to slide over and threw wood
without getting hung up whereas a bullet nose will tend to wedge into the forks
of the branches and where logs cross over each other. The rock or football jig
has an oblong look like a football. This head design is made to hug the bottom,
and transmits all the subtle changes in the bottom. The final jig is the
smallest of the jigs and generally doesn’t have a weed guard. This would be the
mushroom head or ball head jig which has a smaller light wire hook. The majority
of different head designs come from guys combining a weed type head with a wood
style head. In fact the jig I use is a perfect example of this. The Jangle jig
by Leena Lures is a triangular shaped head. Which has enough point to slide
threw vegetation but wide enough not to hang up in woody cover. Size of the jig
to use depends on cover your fishing, depth, and some times how hard the wind or
current is. If you are fishing a weedline and are casting a jig you want one
that will fall slow but also keep contact with the bottom. So if the wind is
blowing 30mph you may have to switch from a 1/4oz up to a 3/8 or 1/2oz jig to
feel bottom. Here you also need a light wire hook because you’re making a long
cast and that lighter wire hook will penetrate easier than a heavy duty flippin’
hook. With all skirted jigs I trim the skirt just below the bend of the hook,
this allows the skirt to flare out more when it hits bottom. Also take the fiber
weed guard and trim out half the bristles this will reduce the jig from slide
out of the fish’s mouth on the hook set and will not affect its weedlessness. I
fish a casting jig on a Shimano 7’medium heavy V-rod and Curado 6.2:1
combination with 14lb to 17lb green color line. Fishing a jig on a weedline I
keep the boat about a half a cast length off the weedline. This allows me to
cast the jig a short distance into the weeds. Most of the fish are going to
positioned on the edge or just inside. Allow the bait to settle to the bottom on
slack yet taunt line always watching the line for any indication of a strike.
Once it has settled on the bottom I will shake the jig in place with the rod tip
a few seconds and then pull the jig up and let it fall back to the bottom. In
doing so I’m only moving the bait forward about 12 – 18 inches. I repeat this
process until the jig is out of the weeds. This is also were you would throw the
mushroom head jig 1/16-1/4oz with a 6-7in worm on it a.k.a. jig worm. This I
usually throw on a 6-1/2 foot medium heavy fast action spinning rod teamed up
with Shimano Symtre spinning reel spooled with 8-10lb test line also green in
color. When fishing around wood or pitching coontail and milfoil I beef up my
equipment starting with the line. Going from 15lb up to 20-25lb mono and braided
lines and will switch to a 7-1/2 ft. flippin' rod and a Shimano Castaic reel. I
choose this reel because of its unique thumb bar system for flippin' and pitchin’
methods. Generally speaking wood fishing is a shallow water endeavor. I still
trim the skirt of jig but the weed guard I leave whole but cut it down slightly
length wise. This will help stiff it some so that the hook will not get caught
up in the wood, and with a short distance of line out it doesn’t impede with
penetration on the hook set. When fishing wood cover everyone has an opinion on
what part of the cover to pitch too first. Myself I start at the bank and work
all the way around back to the bank on the other side. Now if you find a pattern
that the fish are on a certain part of the structure then target that first and
move on. Using a football jig or rock jig can tell you more about the bottom of
the lake than your electronics. The key is using a heavy jig that will hug the
bottom. I fish this on a 7-1/2ft. flippin' rod with a Curado 6.2:1 reel with a
braid line. I prefer the braided lines because you’re casting this bait along
ways, it has a heavy hire hook and the bait is heavy 5/8 – 11/2oz. This jig can
have or may not have a weed guard and can be skirted or fished with a skirted
type bait, a skirted twin tail grub is a very popular choice. Most anglers that
fish this bait throw it where they would fish a Carolina rig and is fished
almost in the same manner. Make a long cast and let the jig settle to the
bottom. With the rod tip pointed to the water slowly pull the rod tip back
towards you. Only use the reel to take up the slack line. After using this jig
you will soon be able to tell the differences in mud, clay, and sand those all
important transition lines. There are many head styles and hook styles on the
market today hopefully this will point you in the right direction. Check out
different styles and stick with on that works for you, because confidence is the
number one key to success.
Tight lines,
Brian Brown
classicbass.com Field Staff
