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This year I am going to work alot on Jig fishing. I know this catches fish but just not my confident lure. I am asking for any and all tips. From line to rod. I have a med heavy 7 ft rod and currently use 15 lb mono. I have a hard time determining bites and rocks. This makes for a wimpy hook set and mostly missed fishes. Help if you can. Thanks
take a jig, put a badass living image skirt on it. match the craw color with the water. then get a realistic craw lure to put on as a trailer. start throwin it, and depending on where your fishing you may need to downsize
There are so many jigs, rods, line, etc. that I will let others comment on them. All good jig men have one thing in common. You have to constantly visualize in your mind what the jig is doing. That will help you to feel the subtle change that takes place when a bass bites a jig. If you are fishing the jig on the bottom, imagine in you mind the short, small hops that a craw makes. Make your jig do the same thing and concentrate.
Jig bites are seldom vicious and most bites are very subtle. If you take away nothing else from this thread, let it be visualizing the movement of the jig as you fish it. And don't be afaid to set the hook---all good jig men have set the hook on ghost fish.
Good Fishing!
LOZman said it best: you MUST visualize what your jig is doing and always pay attention. Many strikes are very sutble. Many times when you fish a jig in the traditional manner the fish will inhale or suck the jig in making strikes feel "mushy". Sometimes you may feel a tick or your line may move to the side. One smaller river system I fish, many times the fish will hit and swim straight to the boat with me not feeling a thing. In a case like that, the visualization comes into play because you know you should be feeling your lure but all it is is slack line. Flipping or pitching jigs to visible cover in shallow wate,r many times you will feel or see the strike. As far as equiptment goes, your 7'0" mh should do fine as long as it's a sensitve rod. I have 4 rods that I primarily use for jig fishing ranging from 7'0"-7'6", all of which are mh fast action. #15 mono or flouro is normally what I use also. Sometimes #14 and sometimes #17, or even heavier for flipping. Sorry for being long winded, but jig fishing is my absolute favorite. I throw a jig 50% of the time. It's a confindence thing and I love droppping hurt bombs on the hookset! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/pimp2.gif
Also, if you close your eyes your sense of feel is automatically increased much like that of a blind person.Visualize the fish is right behind your bait and you just need to tease him into eating it......
Don't be afraid to modify your jig. Most store bought jigs have waaay to much weedguard. Trim it down, reducing the bristles.If you fish a plastic, you skin hook it and that is enough. But so many jigs have so much weedguard it prevents the hook from doing its job. And check out our sponsors lineups- the varieties and quality of what they offer is incredible! If the hook needs opening, don't be afraid to open the gap a little. If you have confidence with soft platics like a worm, creature bait or tube, fish the jig like you would those baits till you get your confidence up (you will get bites).Have fun, and good luck! http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif
Thanks guys yall are the greatest http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif
All of the above is great advice. Another tip is always know the weight of your line. When you cast, flip or pitch your jig out. Let it sit for a few seconds and then weigh it. Pick it up with your rod tip and get to know how much it weighs without a fish,piece of grass or anything on the jig besides your trailer. Line watching is very critical but knowing the weight of your line can really set you apart from line watching. Especially if you are on the front of the boat. You can't always watch your line with everything else going on around you. (Trolling motor,fish finders etc.) When you start to pick it up you will know right off if something is different. May feel squishy, may be heavier, you may feel nothing at all (fish swimming towards you). There are so many variables. If it is any of the above don't be afraid to set the hook. Many times fish will inhale it on the fall. You may only feel a tick. A tick to me is the best feeling when jig fishing. You know right then a good fish has just inhaled your bait. You shouldn't have any slack in your line when you feel the tick. Don't feel for the fish just whack him. Braided line can also enhance your feel if you fish extremely clear water tie a leader on to your braided line. Wind will always change the weight so if you are fishing points or ledges you may have to up size your jig to keep in contact with it and the bottom. You can read many articles on Jig fishing the best way is going out and gaining confidence in them. Good luck!
USE FLOURO less strech will help the sensetivity. Gauranteed
A jig is all I fish and I could write ya a book on how to,were to and when to fish one...BUT there's one thing ALL my jigs have in common and that's a wire guard(not brush) and a straight shanked hook. Back when I used the brush guards I always had it in my mind that when fish grabbed the jig they would feel that brush guard more than anything and spit it,don't know if they do or not but I have all the confidence in the world with the wire and won't go back to brush. I used to use Stan Sloans booza bug and still do sometimes, but have since switched over to a procaster from Cumberland Pro...Brian uses a heavier hook and offers a lot more color than sloans,but ya can't go wrong with either.
I fish Jewel FB Jigs much of the time. How many strands of the weedguard should be trimmed? Just curious if there is a "magic" number to increase hookups without losing weedlessness. Thanks in advance.
Dave
Until recently I had a severe issue with confidence when jig fishing. This month I decided I was going to learn to be a good jig fisherman if it killed me. Thankfully my learning curve and luck with color and size selection has resulted in this January being the best I have ever had........and all I want to do now is fish jigs. I just ordered a couple of hundred dollars worth to add to what I already had. Oh, by the way, the fish I am catching now could make a snack on what I use to catch previous winters. If you catch a few deep running, brush hugging hawgs you will be amazed at how quickly your confidence will grow. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif
I use a med heavy and heavy rod to throw jigs, depending on the weight of the jig. I throw strictly Dirty Jigs. They have a stout hook on them, and the paint on the head doesn't chip nearly as bad as most jigs out there. When fishing a jig, I treat it a lot like throwing a texas rig. You can drag it, hop it, shake it, etc. Play with the presentation on various retrieves to see what they want. I fish flouro exclusively when fishing a jig. It helps with hook sets and allows you to feel the bite better.
If you're fishing rocks, throw a football head or a round head jig. It helps reduce the amount of times you get your jig stuck between rocks.
As far as telling you how to distinguish between a bite and rocks/trees/brush, the best way I can explain it is wait until you feel something different. When you cast the jig, let it sink to the bottom on a semi-slacked line. Start out dragging the jig until you find the structure/cover you're fishing. Once you feel it, pay attention to your line jumping or wait until you feel something you haven't felt before when dragging it over the rocks or shells. It's easier to learn the different than it is to explain it.
I always trim the skirt to where it hangs just past the hook because it allows your trailer to have better action on the fall since it won't get caught up in your skirt nearly as much.
Throw the jig in some of the nastiest stuff you can find. That's where the fish like to get. I've always gone by the saying, "If you're not losing at least 3 jigs a day, you're not fishing it right."
Hope this helps
lot to go into here... start with basic colors (green pumkin) use flouro of some kind and set the hook any time you think something is off...you will be amazed sometimes what starts out as a rock ends up pullin back
3 jigs a day? Haha I'm lucky if I get by with that! That's why I make my own. Around 200 a year. Although the last few years I've done much better at "feeling" the jig through cover and structure. But sometimes you just lose some, and I'm fine with that because that usually means you're fishing the right stuff! You gotta put it where they live!
Like alot of others have said, jig bites wont be the big vicious bites most of the time. Most of the time when you get bit on a jig, it will be more of a spoungy feeling, or weightless and alot of times watching the line for the fish to swim off to one side.
I dont know how many times i never felt a bite or anything, just noticed the line slowly moving off to one side.
One thing i did to better understand jig fishing was to go to a small electric only lake 20 minutes from my house. I took only a box of jigs and trailers, fished until i found that niche for the jig. it my seem like fishing in a barrel but at least you will get the feel for the jig.
LOL I lost 13 in one day, but I also won the tourney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just got finished with 250 to start the year, that includes the shakey heads. LOL if you like me you need a fork lift to put the jig box in the boat.
<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by jefro »</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">This year I am going to work alot on Jig fishing. I know this catches fish but just not my confident lure. I am asking for any and all tips. From line to rod. I have a med heavy 7 ft rod and currently use 15 lb mono. I have a hard time determining bites and rocks. This makes for a wimpy hook set and mostly missed fishes. Help if you can. Thanks</td></tr></table> Not my confidence thing either. Guess that's why I just made a call to have 9 dozen made. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif Seriously though if you give them a chance & stay with them you will get very confident. I had no confidence at all until I read an article & it happened to mention my local lake & it just so happened was in the very moonphase the magazine mentioned. I tried it that night & caught 8 keeper Smallmouth( 18" & above) thanks to the article. Now I never go without one tied on & have all the confidence in the world. Will absolutley work anywhere if you give them the chance & bound & determined to learn them.
I'm not a "pro" by any means but I've been a jig-nut for over 10 years now!! A lot of people have asked me about my jig techniques and my first advice to gain confidence is to "simpify" it at first. Take a jig head and use a GY or Chompers style Hula Grub (3, 4 or 5 inch), this will get you "in tune" with the feel of jig fishing and you don't have to be overwhelmed with colors...Watermelon, Greenpumpkin, and black/blue is a great begining point. I did this years ago and went from there. I went out with 3 Jigs and forced myself to "learn" and it provides tremendous amounts of confidence. From there you will open up the jig world!! Equipment is pretty simple, 6'10"-7'6" medheavy to heavy rods with reels that take up a lot of line, I use Shimano Citicas, Curados, etc.
All the above advice is great, just keep it simple and go out and have some fun. To me I think the jig is the most versitle lure there is! Hope this helps!!
Great topic! I also am going to try and get more versatile with jig fishing. I started with swim jigs last year and did well so football jigs are next on the list! Great information and tips here guys http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif
I ordered a bunch of jigs from California Reservoir Lures...great company and really great lures! Any other brands besides Jewel and Cumberland you guys prefer?
As far as line/rod/reel/ etc....just use what you are comfortable with.
Remember this...hooksets are free. And when you set the hook...set it like you intend to rip their head off. You're pulling a rather large head and brushguard through their mouth...it can be a lot of resistance.
Once you get past wimpy hooksets, and you still lose fish. Go to a different jig brand. Many different companies use many different hooks. A lot of the hooks just don't belong on a jig. They have poor hookup ratios.
I've been a longtime fan of All Terrain and Gambler Ninja jigs. But I know, if I hook one...he's not coming off. Period.
The biggest issue I've ever seen with people using jigs, especially heavier jigs, is the hookset. You cannot set the hook too hard! If you don't believe this...have someone hold your line 30-40 feet away and set the hook...you will get a good idea of how little energy makes it to the end of your line.