Jigs come in all sorts of shapes, colors, sizes, and
even skirt materials. There are a bunch of different ways to fish them
as well. However, to be able to catch them when the fishing is tough,
you
have to be
very versatile. In this article, I will go through different ways
of fishing jigs
and I will begin to get you acquainted with this wonderful lure called
a jig, in this little guide called “Jiggin’ It”.
Let me first give you a little bit
of “background” about jigs. Jigs come made with many different kinds
of materials. Just to name a few hair, tinsel and silicone. However,
in this guide we will
mostly be talking about silicone jigs. Silicone jigs are much easier
too fish. Being that when they get wet, they become waterproof making
them easier
to
slide through thick vegetation. To help aid the jig going through the
thick milfoil
some people use scent.
Jigs come in many different shapes and size, they
even come with different shaped heads for different types of applications.
They
come made with a flipping, swimming, and even a stand-up type head.
They also come
in an array of different weight heads.
Jigs even come in countless
colors and even different shades. It is best that when you first
start out fishing
a jig
you should stick to basic colors. Some of the basic jig colors
would include brown and orange, moss green and even black and blue.
When
selecting a jig
by its size you want to use as less weight as possible. Using
less weight will give
the jig a more realistic action and presentation. You also need
less weight because bass will normally hit the jig when it is on
the fall,
and using
less weight
will help the jig fall slower. While we are talking about fall
rate lets talk a little about jig trailers. Plastic trailers work
great for cooler
water,
when the fish are more active. Jigs with pork are a deadly combination
when the water
temperature drops below 60. When you pick a trailer, you should
keep
in mind to match the trailer color to the color of the jigs skirt.
Now lets get into
how to fish a jig. There are many different ways to fish them.
One of the more popular ways to fish them is to do a hop and swim
type retrieve.
When
you do
this, you should make a long cast and then let the jig rest
on the
bottom for a few seconds, and then slowly lift your rod tip and
let the jig
fall back
to the bottom. Then after a few hops you swim the jig a few
feet, then begin to
hop the jig again. This hop and swim method has produced greatly
for many people all throughout the country.
Another way to fish
a jig is
to just hop
the jig
on the bottom or even drag it. However, one of the deadliest
ways to fish a jig is to swim it close to the bottom or above a
weed line.
A
seven-foot
heavy
action
rod will give the jig enough action to entice big bass, be
sure to pick a rod with a soft tip and enough backbone to horse the
big
boys
out of
the
thick
stuff.
The last technique I am going to cover is flipping
and pitching. To do this you
should flip the jig into weed pockets or into shoreline
cover. When you do this, a good choice is a seven and a half foot heavy
action rod and
thirty-five
pound
monofilament. The heavy action rod will be stout enough
to
pull a
five pound bass out the roughest spots you can flip your
jig into.
This is
just a little
guide on how to fish a jig. If you experiment with different
ways to fish them and you find out which technique the bass
wants, you
will have
a killer
day
out on
the water!
Other Article By Steve
