Jiggin' It
By: Steven Narup

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!

Email me any time with questions regarding anything about the wonderful sport of bass fishing: Sdnbassman_TeamExtreme@hotmail.com