Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

ok. just got back from a visit to Texas to see my aging kinfolk. there is no way i could live there now... at least all year. it was nice to see open water, and i got a dink on a Tripple Trout in the Guadalupe River. bass number one, 2010.

so the last time i tried this, i made a mistake. i gave a large number of applications for the bait i had picked, thus neatly negating much interest in posting a response for most of those who viewed the thread...

the word for the day is "jig"

please list all tactics for fishing a jig that come to mind, but read prior posts to ensure no duplication of techniques.

my most common and productive method of fishing a jig is a long cast, followed by a countdown to the desired depth. i then swim the jig with a slow continuous series of hops. if it hits any solid cover, i let it soak in the spot for a moment, then shake it a bit, then resume the swim. so it is a sort of spinnerbait slow roll, followed by a more normal "jig" type presentation. pretty simple, but it seems like many do not employ this tactic.

i feel that there may be some way that a jig is more natural than other baits, perhaps due to the lack of mechanical action... so it seems to me. i therefore use it as a substitute for other baits at every oppertunity. it does not hurt that a jig seems to get a bigger bite...

let's hear some jig tricks!

Shaun

best jig iv ever seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dbL4NYr ... re=related

there is no way i am going to argue with that...

OMG - that's funny!

I'm a bank beater at heart and I love pitching a flipping or grass jig into close cover like bush and grass. I let it fall, shake it and move on to the next nook or cranny. I think what does it for me is the challenge of putting the bait where "no bait has gone before", and it always stops my heart when a fish slams the jig.

i will second the jig bite being a heart stopper...people talk about how cool it is to get topwater bit, and you cant say it's not, but that "tick" and a big slack line, you know you got something down there, and the split second before the set is a real nice place to be!

what do we have to say on the pork vs. plastic issue?

Shaun

@ Irish Jig!!

Yes the video was great, but I would guess it doesn't answer your question

I'm very much a shoreline oriented angler, I can certainly fish open water, but most of the time its short cast and reletively short (time wise) presentations.

I love me a good pitch, and for me, it's about 50/50 between fish hitting it on the fall, and fish hitting it about 10 seconds into the retrieve.

I cast to targets. Most of the time, it's; cast, let it fall, let it sit for about 3 - 5 seconds, and then the retrieve starts, which is either going to be a hopping retrieve, swimming retrieve or a slow drag.

Hopping is pretty much how everyone fishes a jig. Swimming is when the fish are more aggressive and willing to take a rapidly moving bait. Dragging is simply because I don't have the patience to deadstick, it's my slowest gear and a presentation for the slow bite or just cold water in general.

Out and out swimming is something I use for shallow water (less than 5 ft) and during times of high feeding activity).

My all-time favorite way to fish a jig is to pitch it to a vertical rock wall and let it bump it's way on down. It's gotta be the easiest way to fish a jig I know of. It just falls right on their heads, and half the time when you pick up the slack, the fish is already heading towards the abyss and they can damn near pull it out of your hands.

Heres a great artical by "Cooch" and I personaly love the claw wave however I suck at it. Jig fishing is by far my worst tech. Just never gave it much time I reather fish a worm becuase I feel confident with it. I plan on using the jig more this year. so watching this thread for all the info.

http://www.westernbass.com/ncalifornia/ ... ml?id=1021

Before tule dippers came along and introduced flipping jigs into tight cover, casting jigs was the norm. Casting a jig isn't much different than casting a plastic worm, T-rigged. Football head jigs evolved from casting ball head jigs back in the 50's. Casting a jig and hopping , dragging or swimming it back isn't anything new.
One of the best swimming jigs ever made is the Scrounger head; any depth. Another good swimmer is the Matty; standard football jig with a small swivel and #1 Colorado blade used for a trailer. The Matty has been replaced with the underspins, Scroungers are making a come back, both have caught a lot of bass over the past 40 years. Well known lures that a lot of anglers never try; blades (twin spins).
Tom

I don't want to say just how old is "Old school," but I can tell you this: when he graduated from high school, his diploma was written on papyrus.



PS: And how do I know? He was a year behind me.

gk:

www.kramergonefishing.com

Good grief, Tom! A Matty??? Haven't heard about them for decades, but I made up a few for using at Havasu. Still sitting on my bench.

We're officially old. Kramer too.

Terry

I've never learned to swim a jig. I've messed around with swimming an arkie style head around docks and standing timber, but I've never developed a feel for it. Give me an old Mogambo grub T-rigged with a little 1/4oz bullet weight and I can usually do some major damage swimming that getup.

I didn't have time to read Cooch's article referenced as it was raining and needed to get back to the old folks home.
I was surprised that Cooch is a newby to fishing jigs, started in '83, no wonder he doesn't know about hair jigs and surprised he fishes pork trailers, although he needs to discover Robin;s Super Pork. Agree with his choices of colors and general presentation techniques. Good article.
GK; Iovino tells me you started bass fishing about the same time he did in '71, we had bass boats with trolling motors, fish finders and reels that could cast monofilament line by then.
Tom

yer kidding. I had a steel baitcaster and no anti-reverse too. And a jumpsuit made of buffalo hide

Andi wrote:. Give me an old Mogambo grub T-rigged with a little 1/4oz bullet weight and I can usually do some major damage swimming that getup.

I used to love those grubs, I have not seen or thrown one in probably close to 10 years though. They were huge as far as grubs go. One of my favorite pond baits. Do they still make those?

George and Tom,
You guys have to quit posting. You're so old your dust is gumming up my keyboad!

not a trick, just the way I use a jig. This has been working for me recently and forever even during a non-existing bite at Lake Castaic as they are filling it up right now. Long cast away from the boat. Let it sit for a COUPLE of minutes letting the area "relax" after the jig has settled on the bottom. Having the rod at 9:30 or 10:00 and barely turning the reel handle to move the jig an inch or two without pulling or hopping it off the bottom.....a micro "drag" I'd say. DO NOT USE THE ROD! If you do and you think you are moving it an inch with the rod....you're pulling it a foot or two....really! (try it in a pool and you will see). Anyway, I will let it sit 30 seconds or so between these slow pulls with the reel. I will do 3 pulls then reel in and make another cast. Now this is a way I use a jig in clear, open water pressured lakes. If you have the patience for this I guarantee a new way you'll use a jig in open water.

Secret horizontal jig presentation shared only with In-Fisherman readership in published artilce back in '95. If interested PM your email address for a copy.
Tom

GKramer wrote:yer kidding. I had a steel baitcaster and no anti-reverse too. And a jumpsuit made of buffalo hide

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/outdoo ... 88276.html
100 year old angler; GK check out the jump suit!
Tom

Gerryjig, that is a good one. thank you for sharing. like i have said many times, (a most unusual contention for anyone under 40) most folks fish way too fast!

i would like to take the oppertunity to state, for the record, that old dudes catch a ton of big fish. and have for years. i am always stoked to hear anything they have to say! and am greatful for the history lesson. Bill Murphy was/is my hero.

i really want to say thanks for everyone who has taken the time to respond. let's keep this up!

Shaun

No, sadly Kalin's doesn't make the Mogambo anymore. When they started getting scarce I bought up every bag I could find, and they're quite unpopular with most anglers so everytime I find unwanted ones laying around I confiscate them pronto! I heard about someone out west hand pouring a similar gargantuan grub but I've never been able to pinpoint who. Maybe someone here knows?

Andi wrote:No, sadly Kalin's doesn't make the Mogambo anymore. When they started getting scarce I bought up every bag I could find, and they're quite unpopular with most anglers so everytime I find unwanted ones laying around I confiscate them pronto! I heard about someone out west hand pouring a similar gargantuan grub but I've never been able to pinpoint who. Maybe someone here knows?

Cory Sanden, the owner and producer of MC Swimbaits makes a big grub and has some great ideas and tricks for verticle and horizontal applications. He will be at Fred Hall coming up in March. p.s. he will pour custom colors too.

so this is really all the jig tactics we have at our command?