I've always struggled using jigs and, for that matter, any vertical presentation due to the fact that I found it a slow, tedious and boring way to fish. It's just more fun to run and gun with a spinnerbait ot crankbait. I did, however, develop an appreciation for slowing down, pitching and flipping jigs and worms as I got older and I use them a lot more than I used to. Jigs really do consistently produce quality fish.
Well said..I’m right there with you. Anything, I’ve got to “drag” on the bottom just sucks the life out of me. It’s always a last resort. But, with that said, I didn’t start feeling even remotely confident until I went WAY down in size with these jigs. I started with a Bitsy bug (I think it was), with a really small trailer (Tiny Paca, I believe), because initially I was so frustrated that I just wanted to see if I could catch a bass of ANY size with it. That made a huge difference in developing confidence with a bait. I think guys are using jig/trailers that are massive, which is fine if you’re going for quality over quantity. But, for a newbie, it makes you question if you’re using the bait right, or have the right colors. That jig/trailer setup (that I still use to this day) was 2 2/12” at most. But, once I committed to the bait, and started off small, I found that like you, I not only developed a new appreciation for it, but the quality of fish went up.
I love jig fishing and I catch 90% of my bass on jig and others on Texas rig and I think I do so good because the lakes I fish are fairly small and everyone is just like you described run and gun and slinging crankbaits all day. Most people I’ve talked to say if they don’t catch anything slinging then they going home. It use to bother me when people jump in front of me but after some experience I literally invite them to go on in front of me if they pull up because 99% of them start slinging and run a 100-200 yrd back in 5-10 minutes doesn’t effect me at all. But yes it’s a slow process but very productive!!!…
@rickyblackburn9533 I hear ya. Fishing for pure enjoyment is a lot different than trying to make a buck catching fish. I have a dozen bodies of water 30 minutes from home, including Lake Michigan. I can go out, fish for a couple hours, for bass, pike, walleyes, panfish whatever, and if the action is slow, it's too hot, too cold, or the wind is aggravating me, I just go home, mow the lawn and try it again in a day or two.
Been watching your old tournaments on channels that have some of that stuff. Super cool to see you hammering em old school style with lipless cranks and jigs! You got me fishing a jig with confidence and it's caught me many hogs. Great stuff as always dude! 🙏🏼
When i was fifteen years old i bought about twenty pounds of Arkie Jigs with living rubber skirts and over sixty jars of Uncle Josh Pork. I got it all for $35.00 at a yard sale. I didnt have the extra money to buy lots of baits but i had a ton of jigs so i spent two whole summers fishing nothing but jigs. By the time i was eighteen years old i was a pretty darn good jig fisherman.
Jig fishing used to be sooooo simple. For years, I carried quarter, 5/8 and one ounce, black jigs, and two sizes of brown pork frogs (#11 & #10). That's it. Never felt a need to expand my selection. UNTIL... Might've been 15 years after I started throwing the jig & pig. Mid-90s or thereabouts. I went a little nuts adding color combos, trailer shapes, etc. Can't really say I caught more, or caught fewer with the big variety. Eventually, I decided to cut the selection down. Not quite there yet, but I'm down to three sizes of jig, mostly all black or some kind of green pumpkin/black brown mix. And 3 or 4 colors of plastic craws, plus some big chunks style plastics (Kietech Flex Chunk) in black and green pumpkin.
I've caught some of my biggest bass on jigs but my confidence in them sucks. I read a trophy bass book by the late Bill Murphy and he said over all the best size is half ounce. I bought a football jig in that size and used a watermelon rage craw trailer. I used my super slow hand retrieve and whacked a 6 pounder. I also like the strike king bitsy flip in watermelon.
The only way to learn how to fish a jig is to take two or three jig rods and a box of jigs and leave everything else at home. Dont bring crankbaits, spkinner baits or soft plastics but leave those baits at home. And make it a point to fish them at night. Everyone says you have to be a serious line watcher to fish a jig. But fish them at night where all you really have to go by is nothing but the feel of the bait on the bottom. And then add the line watching aspect of things later on.
Put it in ur hand and don’t put it down , it’s the only way to get the confidence with it , like some have with a Texas rig , don’t drag it , hop it , you will hop it and then see the line coming straight to the boat
For what it’s worth, down here in FL, a lot of the lakes have incredibly dirty water…..les than 6” visibility. And, I swear by the rattles. Kinda depends on how dirty the water is, as well. But, absolutely those rattles work.
I didn’t start feeling even remotely confident until I went WAY down in size with these jigs. I started with a Bitsy bug (I believe), and a really small trailer (Tiny Paca, I think it was), because initially I was so frustrated that I just wanted to see if I could catch a bass of ANY size with it. And, just committed to it, till I DID catch a fish. That made a huge difference in developing confidence with a bait. I think guys are using jig/trailers that are massive, which is fine if you’re going for quality over quantity. But, for a newbie, it can make you question if you’re using the bait right, at the right place, or have the right colors. That jig/trailer setup (that I still use to this day) was 2 1/2” at most. *But, once I committed to the bait mentally, and went down to a smaller size, that’s when it all started to click.*
Seems like everytime I’ve tried to throw a jig in central Florida, it gets completely covered with whatever is on the bottom. I’m sure I’m doing something wrong.
I used to comment on hear how I hated jig fishing and for the last 2.5 months that’s the only thing I’ve been throwing basically and man it’s my confidence bait now. Practice, practice and patience. What a game changer
