When I am picking a jig to fish in, the weeds, I want a jig with a bullet shaped head or a head with the eye of the hook coming out the front of the jig, this style of jig is less likely to hang up in the weeds or catch weeds as the jig is pulled through them. I want a fiber weed gaurd that is stiff and one that is in-line with the point of the hook, most of the jigs I purchase if not made myself all have stiff fiber weed gaurds, after all I can easily trim them out if I feel they are to stiff, and I haven't figured out how to make a soft weed gaurd more stiff. I look for heavy hooks and love the Owner wide gap hook, the design of the Owner helps keep my trailers from sliding around the bend in the hook. I don't know of any of the larger jig manufactures who us the Owner hook in their jigs, but their are a few home made jigs out their that use this hook, check out a few on the internet.
Now when picking a jig for wood fishing, or doc fishing, I look for a jig with an Arkie style head and I want the eye of the hook to come out towards the top of the jig. Arkie style heads are wider on the bottom side of the jig, this helps the jig from rolling over when on the bottom, I also like a football jig when fishing deep rock. Again I am looking for a stiff fiber weed gaurd and a heavy hook. I prefer a 5/0 hook for all my jigs, from 3/16 ounce up to 1 1/2 ounce, the 5/0 hook seems to give me better hook-ups, unfortunately most jig manufactures do not use 5/0 hooks in their smaller jigs.
When it comes to swim jigs I again look for a bullet shaped head with the eye of the jig coming out the front of the jig, now what do I mean by the front of the jig? I don't want the hook coming out the top of the head, I want it coming out the smallest point of the head and in-line with the hook itself. I want my swim jigs to have a trailer keeper on them, I prefer the keepers to be molded into the jig. I want a jig with medium heavy wire hook, and a standard gap, not one with an extra wide gap. I also prefer the fiber weed gaurd not as stiff as the ones in weed or wood jigs, the weed gaurd must be in-line with the point of the hook, this will help keep the jig from rolling when retrieved through the water. The skirts on swim jigs I prefer to have less material in them, I like 35 to 45 strands in my swim jigs.
I hope some of what was discussed will help you when deciding what jig you should choose. Later we will discuss more in-depth about choosing jig sizes, colors, and how to work jigs at different times of the year.
Jigs in the weeds. Before I get into how I catch them, let me tell you about the equipment I use for piching and flipping jigs into the weeds. I like a heavy 7' rod for weed lines and a heavy 7'6" flipping stick for inside the weeds. I also use the 7'6" flipping stick for punching weed mats. I use a Shimano Curado with 7:1 gear ratio, spooled with 30 to 50# Stren Super Braid. The combination of the heavy rod and the high speed reel help me turn the bass and get him headed towards the surface before he has a chance to bury in the weeds. If the water is real clear and the bass in-active, I always have a 3 foot flourocarbon leader tied to the braid, I use a double uni knot to connect the two lines.
I love fishing for bass in thick weeds, or catching them on inside or outside weedlines. My best way to fish these fish is with a jig, but the jig size varies depending on the situation, if I am on a weedline fishing parallel to the weeds I like a black and blue 3/8 to 1/2 ounce jig with a Berkely Chigger Craw trailer of the same color. I try to keep the jig as close to the thickest weeds as possible while looking for small weed points or transistion areas where maybe two different types of weeds come together. I start with a standard lift and drop retrieve, if that doesn't get them going I will try snapping the jig off the bottom, if still no action, I will which to a swim jig. After this trial and error period if I still have no fish its time to switch baits, from a black and blue jig to more of a sunfish color, like green pumpkin chartreuse. Usually one of these colors produces fish for me, if not, it's time for a new type of presentation. If I am not getting any bites on the weedlines at all its time to start moving into the weeds, that's where I switch to a 3/4 ounce or larger jig. The size of the jig depends on how thick the weeds are, the thicker the weeds the heavier the jig. I want the jig to make it all the way to the bottom, bottom contact is very important. I am always looking for holes in the weeds, some place to flip the jig into. If it's a solid mat of weed I usually flip a 1 to 1 1/2 ounce jig and punch it through the weeds. This type of fishing is more of a vertical presentation, I dont want to be making long cast over the weeds, the line laying across the weeds tends to keep the jig from reaching bottom. Once the jig reaches bottom I will just leave it sit for a few seconds, then pop the jig, alot of times a bass will see the jig enter the water and follow it to the bottom, where it sits until popped, most of the time you will get a reaction strike out of the bass. On days when the bass are very active, I will flip the jig into a hole and usually if theirs a bass there the jig is eaten before it hits bottom, so being a line watcher while flipping weeds is very important. If your on a school of fish this can be exciting fishing, with fish after fish on the right days. Their are many ways of taking bass from weeds, but throwing a jig is my favorite, and has produced many large bass for me over the years. I hope some of this may help you the next time your fishing jigs in the weeds. Remember, theirs no exact science to jig fishing so just get out there, tie on a jig and give it a try, who knows you may catch the biggest bass of your life.
Jigs in the wood. I really enjoy throwing jigs in the weeds, but their's nothing like pulling a big bass from heavy cover such as fallen trees or sunkin stumps. For this type of fishing I like a 7' 6" heavy flippin stick with 30 to 50 pound super braid. I also prefer a 7.1 to 1 gear ratio reel to turn the bass and get him coming my direction. The main difference I have between wood and weeds is that I will make repeated casts to the same spot in the wood, you know those spots where it looks like a bass should be. Those spots call for repeated pitches, I say pitches because I never cast when fishing wood, all presentations are either flipping or pitching. When fishing wood I always pitch a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce bass style jig, color doesen't make to much of a differenc because you are looking for a reaction strike most of the time, so I always fish a black & blue jig in the wood, it's my confidence color. Being able to flip and pitch accurately is by far the most important thing when fishing downed trees or sunkin stumps, your jig should enter the water quite as possible and right on top of where you are aiming. Let your jig free fall to the bottom keeping an eye on the line for any sudden jumps. Once the jig has made bottom contact I will jig it off the bottom a few times and then work it slowly back through the branches and make my next pitch. I always try to make a couple pitches to the same spots from different angles. Bass fishing the stumps, branches and laydowns can be a blast, just make sure your using the right equipment for the task at hand.
Check back soon as I will finish up with how I fish boat docks with a jig.
Strictly Bassin
Carl Scharenbroch
