What made you want to try Jig/Pig/trailer 2025

Who here fishes Jig and Trailer/Pig almost exclusively and what about this bait got you "hooked" on using it?

Is it really THAT productive in certain conditions?

Anyone use a Jig/Trailer/Pig as a Go To bait?

I want to start trying Jigs this season and am trying get my mindset right.

Are Jigs REALLY all that everyone claims they are?

Ive been told "If your not fishing Jigs,your missing the boat..."

Is it really THAT serious,or are other techniques more productive?

I know every bait has a time and place... Where do Jigs Shine?

You really should add jigs to your inventory.  Ive seen jigs win tournaments by 2x the weight of the second place person.  On certain days they cannot be beat but then on other days they dont really work in my opinion.

jigs are my go to bait, and like Carrington said you are missing out on fish if you are not throwing them.

I know every bait has a time and place... Where do Jigs Shine?

Versatility is why I love jigs so much. Fish them shallow, deep, swimming, pitching, flipping, topwater, etc....There are two baits that anglers get very frustrated with (jigs and cranks), and a lot of this has to do with lack of patience. Fishing a jig for the most part is a slow and steady technique, which anglers don't always like. My advice would be to just stick with it until you gain the confidence necessary to call it a "go to" bait.

This is a typical day for me:

1. Powerfish with buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, etc. Sometimes the fish are really hot and a quick run down a productive shoreline will let me know

2. If action isn't crazy after #1, switch to jig.

3. If no fish after #2, expect zombie apocalypse to commence within 24 hours  ;D

Ok, i admit it isn't always guaranteed i'll catch something on a jig, but if i have plenty of time and i fish slow it's pretty hard to get skunked.

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Ok, i admit it isn't always guaranteed i'll catch something on a jig, but if i have plenty of time and i fish slow it's pretty hard to get skunked.

Very true. Most anglers cant deal with the slow pace of jig fishing, and in return they lose out on potential fish. Patience is the most important aspect of jig fishing.

A jig is a very important tool for me. I wouldn't call it my go-to bait but I always have one on the deck of the boat. It's the first thing I fish with when I get to the lake. The reason I do this is because a jig can be fished many different ways and in many different situations. I'll drag it, hop it, swim it, shake it, rip it, or just let it fall and sit. It can cause a reaction strike or catch a feeding fish. It can tell me what kind of mood the bass are in and what depth they are holding at.

But the best thing about a jig is that it is a big fish bait. I know that if I pitch one of my jigs into a school of little fish and there's one or two big fish mixed in, I'm going to catch one of those big ones.

Now, if you would have asked this question three years ago my answer would have been very different. I didn't like jigs at all. I had no confidence in them and wouldn't even consider fishing with them....ever. What changed was when I arrived at the same situation you are at right now. My question was "Why are so many tournaments won on a jig and why am I not fishing one?" So I got on here and started reading and asking questions and I got a small collection of jigs and took them out on the water. I fished them every day for at least three months before I started to gain confidence in them. I put each jig into a fish tank to learn how they looked to the fish. It's what has to be done if you want to be consistent with them. You can do it but, like every other new technique, you need to be committed to it.

"What made you want to try Jig/Pig/trailer"

I got tired of getting my butt kicked.

A jig is not my go-to bait, but I always have one tied on and ready to fish. I enjoy fishing a bottom bait more than moving baits and sometimes think I probably would catch more fish if I would stay with a spinnerbait or a crank more. I can't help it though, I just love feeling the bite and layin into it!!

I've posted this here before, but I'll post it again. I believe when starting out jig fishing, you should use a finesse-type jig. I personally believe you will get bit more on them which will help you learn how to fish a jig. It worked for me and I still fish that style of jig more than a big full-skirted jig.

What really got me "hooked" on jig fishing was catching over 50 small bass in about a 3 hour period using a 1/4oz Strike King Bitsy Bug/half lizard trailer off of 2 big laydowns.

A jig is tool, at certain times it's a go to bait, and I always have one tied on. They catch fish...........period. If you can't catch a bass on a jig, it's not the jigs fault.

I have caught fish on crankbaits, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, chatterbaits, swimbaits and live baits, but 90% of my fishing is with a plastic worm or a jig & pig. And my top 5 PB bass were all caught on a jig. I Like em!

Ronnie

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A jig is a very important tool for me. I wouldn't call it my go-to bait but I always have one on the deck of the boat. It's the first thing I fish with when I get to the lake. The reason I do this is because a jig can be fished many different ways and in many different situations. I'll drag it, hop it, swim it, shake it, rip it, or just let it fall and sit. It can cause a reaction strike or catch a feeding fish. It can tell me what kind of mood the bass are in and what depth they are holding at.

But the best thing about a jig is that it is a big fish bait. I know that if I pitch one of my jigs into a school of little fish and there's one or two big fish mixed in, I'm going to catch one of those big ones.

Now, if you would have asked this question three years ago my answer would have been very different. I didn't like jigs at all. I had no confidence in them and wouldn't even consider fishing with them....ever. What changed was when I arrived at the same situation you are at right now. My question was "Why are so many tournaments won on a jig and why am I not fishing one?" So I got on here and started reading and asking questions and I got a small collection of jigs and took them out on the water. I fished them every day for at least three months before I started to gain confidence in them. I put each jig into a fish tank to learn how they looked to the fish. It's what has to be done if you want to be consistent with them. You can do it but, like every other new technique, you need to be committed to it.

I felt the same way until last year.  I originally felt like a jig was for fishing heavy cover with heavy gear and weights (7'6''H-XH flipping stick with 3/4-1 1/2oz weights).  I had no confidence in them and had only caught one small bass on a jig.  I also made the mistake of buying a jig kit from BPS when I first started fishing, it was just full of things I won't use, heavy weights, terrible hooks and skirts, and they were pretty much all black jigs, no real color choice. 

I finally made myself use them this year and was surprised by how easy they were able to be fished when I mathced the type of jig to my fishing style.  Before I had changed how I fished to fish a jig, but when I downsized the profile and weight, it felt more comfortable for me to fish.  I usully fish everything under 1/2oz and on 12lb line so trying to fish a 3/4oz jig just didn't fit me.  I started fishing 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8oz jigs with small craw trailers and had almost ymmediate success.  I now fish a jig almost every outing. 

Don't know about your Arizona conditions, but I would venture to say that rocks cover a whole lot of your lake bottoms, and I'd also guess that your waters are quite clear. Probably small worms would predominate the bait selection for a slow on the bottom deal, and the small worm may outfish the jig in these conditions. Also your water temps may always be above 50, and unfortunately the jig really shines in water temps below this.

That being said, I would still use a finesse jig in the clear waters during the prespawn as a go to bait. Subtle colors with a small watermelon or green pumpkin trailer maight surprise you with their effectiveness.

Here in the Ozarks we have both cooler waters with much limestone/gravel/sand and some stained waters which are the ingredients that crawdads thrive which make jig fishing a near religion in these parts fished in both lakes and streams pretty much year round, but esp. the cooler months. I just can't get bit in winter by big smallies unless I throw a small hair jig inched along the bottom.

At a Bassmaster University a long time ago, good ole Denny Brauer was the speaker and he mentioned the flip and pitch method and that you could use a jig with it.

I gave using a jib a half-hearted try and went back to my Senkos and plastics until a tournament on the Rappahannock River in Virginia.

I was paired with a guy who not only could cast either right or left handed, but he kicked my fanny with that black and blue jig.

I threw my plastic worms and he threw the jig and pig in the same places and those dumb bass ate up the jig and pig.

So, being an observant and smart guy, I decided to throw the jig and pig and buy Denny's book and DVD on pitching and flipping plus other DVDs and videos on jig fishing.

I have learned that if you want fast pincher's you use a Rage Craw trailers; if you want slow pincher's you use Zoom trailers.

Once again, just my two cents. 

Joe S. got me hooked on them.

Jigs do catch bigger bass,but they require more patience to fish as well as say a spinnerbait or crankbait.

I've followed this advice from Joe very seriously and this is exactly how I started out.

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Representation,

First let's start with what a jig represents underwater, I believe the most

Popular use of it is to imitate a Crayfish but they also can imitate baitfish as well.

Jigs come in many different shapes, sizes and colors etc. The most popular crayfish imitators seem to be the good old skirted jig usually tipped with some sort of plastic or pork trailer.

Speaking of sizes, shapes, colors, I'm only going to really get into the skirted jig with a plastic or pork trailer as this is the bait I primarily use, and use it as a crayfish imitator only.

Sizes,

There is a very large size range available,

I mainly use 3 sizes of Jigs in my arsenal or depending on manufacturer the closest weight to these sizes 3/8 oz , ½ oz and ¾ oz.

I will mainly use a 3/8oz when fishing really shallow. The presentation has more time to be subtle because of the lighter weight than just crashing on the bottom in the shallow water.

1/2 oz. Jig

  This is my go to, if there was only one jig weight aloud in my box, this would be it. I guess you could say the happy medium. I fish this 99 percent of the time from a regular bank down to 15 ft and anything in between.

The only time I go to a 3/4 oz. Is if I need to get through some thick weeds, the wind is really blowing or I am fishing dep but want to fish it faster than normal.

Colors,

I don't get crazy on colors when it comes to jigs. I have 3 colors that I have a ton of confidence in and those are Browns, Greens, and Black. It seems the jig has excepted rules on what colors for what conditions were faced with, green or brown, natural colors for clearer water and black or darker colors for murkier water or night time. I do follow that to a point but not because of the rule but because I have confidence in throwing those baits in those conditions. Ive caught fish in clear water with a black jig and fish in murky water and at night with a green jig so what's that tell us. Color is confidence in my book.

Trailers/Chunks

These come in many shapes and sizes, Most of them are made to represent the pincher end of the crayfish which are either threaded or simply hooked on to the jig.

I go rather simple in this area as far as selection.

I mainly use 3 colors in 2 sizes, Green, Brown and Black in 2 or 3 sizes I always match the color of the trailer with the jig, (just a confidence thing)

I will normally start off fishing with a 2 trailer in tournaments, I feel the smaller size may get me more bites in order to get my limit then I may upgrade trailer size to go after larger fish, but there is no rule here either, as I have caught fish over 6lbs. on 2 trailers and fish less than 12 on 3 trailers.

As far as the many styles and brands of trailers, my selection is simple I use my own, I feel they give me the best chances of catching fish and here is why: When a bass hits a jig they will normally engulf the whole lure, Jig and trailer. It only takes a split second for that fish to reject the bait if it notices anything artificial about it. When I make my trailers I add a lot of crayfish oil to the plastic prior to cooking then once poured they go through a 2 stage salting process. Once you get a fish to bite them they are hard pressed to let it go because there is so much taste for them. Because there is so much craw oil in the plastic it makes the baits very soft which helps release the oils and salt when the bait is bitten. (Shameless Plug I know, but the truth as well)

The Bite!

I have been fishing a jig predominantly for the last few years and have probably experienced every type of bite possible, but then again maybe not, sometimes you don't feel anything at all, then sometimes they almost rip the rod out of your hand, and then you have everything in between, you must always be ready to set the hook.

  It is a must to be a line watcher when fishing a jig because you may not always be in direct contact with the lure, and the little twitch in the line that you didn't see could have been a 10 fish or the fish of a lifetime.

One thing I really like to do is know the depth of the water I'm casting to, I feel this is very important, a ½ oz jig on 15lb mono sinks at about  1ft per second. So I know if I'm casting it into 12ft of water and the line stops sinking when I count to 6, something sucked it in, reel in any slack and set the hook.

This is where I believe salts and scents are very handy, normally when I'm fishing a jig I'm fishing some type of structure, rocks, wood, grass, etc. with the equipment on the market you can pretty much feel everything the lure bumps into, when first getting into jig fishing I might have questioned myself was that a fish or a rock, don't know for sure.  But now using my own baits and good equipment as well as a lot of time fishing the jig,  I have the confidence in them to know that when I feel that little bump, I can pause and wait a second or two to see if there is any activity or lack there of on the end of the line before ramming the hook into a nice bass, or a stump.

Equipment:

For fishing these type and size of jigs, I use a 7' Heavy action bait casting rod, I feel this is very important and will not use a Jig on anything lighter, for a few reasons, 1.) These jigs normally have stout hooks that require a decent amount of force to get good penetration. I don't want to take the chance of losing a big fish because my rod didn't have enough power to drive the hook home, 2.) You have the weed guard to deal with as well when setting the hook. 3.) A lot of times the bass will really clamp down on a jig to crush it making it harder to move the jig on the set to get a good hook set, I noticed this especially with small mouth bass.  As for the brand of rod that is personal preference but I think you should get the best you can afford in this area or the added sensitivity.

For a reel, I prefer High speed reels 6.1:1 or 6.3:1 and a decent amount of line retrieval per handle turn. I like this because I can pick up any slack really fast as well as keep up with the fish if it is charging towards me. This is another brand preference issue, I prefer smaller profile reels so I can palm the reel and rest the line going into the reel on my pointer finger for extra sensitivity.

Line

I mainly use 15 lb test mono line for most jig fishing, I don't really go any lighter than that, I will go heavier for certain situations depending on a few factors, structure or cover that I'm fishing, or even the size of the fish I have a chance at catching will dictate the size.  In really clear water I will use fluorocarbon line for reduced visibility. And if I need to go above 20 lb mono for any reason I will switch to a braid for line diameter purposes. You can use any of the three all the time, these are just my preferences and how I utilize each for certain situations.

This is not intended to be a know all of Jig fishing document, these are the ways and equipment I personally like to use and have confidence in for the situations I face,(Notice the title) there are so many variables in fishing that could call for a different tactic from the lure type and  size, to the tackle and line, it would be impossible to list them all.

Some techniques I use...

When I make a cast I let the bait sink, you must always watch your line, a lot of times they will hit it on the initial fall and your line will either twitch, stop before it should, or start going sideways, when this happens reel up the slack and set the hook.   If the bait makes it to the bottom I will wait about 3 or 4 seconds and then drag it about 6-8 inches (Right now he's just cruising on the bottom), then pause, after 3-4 seconds drag again, and repeat this.  Once I feel any obstruction, I pause then shake without dragging, I feel this simulates the crayfish trying to burrow under whatever obstacle it just bumped into.  Then I give it 2 quick very short snaps, this would simulate the crayfish fleeing from a predator, then let it hit bottom and repeat the whole process.  A lot of times right after the pause when you go to drag again it will feel heavy, set the hook. Hook sets are free, If you haven't fished a jig a lot , it takes time before you can get a really good handle on determining fish bites from obstructions.   Practice makes perfect and when in doubt set the hook.

That's for mostly open water hump style fishing and beating a bank. In cover I like to throw it in the nastiest stuff possible and shake it around then repeat casting to it (pretty much pick it to pieces.)

Don't ever think there is such a thing as to shallow, I use to cast to about a foot off shore till a guy on the back of my boat beat me bad, the fish were in that spot right on the bank, now I cast to were I'm pretty much hitting the shoreline.

Jigs have accounted for a very large percentage of my bass for the last two years. Before that, I really didn't have the desire to try them. I wish I had sooner, though. What really convinced me to work on them seriously, was all the input from the folks here. The word jig came up so much, I just had to see what the deal was for myself. I never fish now without a jig combo on board. They are so versatile, and they catch fish. Period!

I never used a jig until about 2 years ago and ever since I will always have a jig tied on one of my rods. Last year I caught over half of my bass on jigs and caught 5 bass better than my previous personal best. Now it is my go to bait and I will fish it every outing. You should def try using jigs as i will bet once you get used to using them you will start to catch bigger fish on them.

this post! im gonna try it first thing this year! i mostly fish at a small pond that is pretty shallow that is practically alllll grass. the fish are all small. ive only caught two large fish and i have had about 100+ trips there as it is right next to my house. even then, they were only about 3-4.5 pounds. most of them are 6-12 inches. also the water is very very dirty. what color, size, and style do you guys suggest i use?

Bo Dowden's Classic win.

I too started throwing them about two years ago. I quickly found out I needed smaller jigs in a lot of the waters I fish because of the amount of snot algae I have to deal with. Most of the time they got fouled almost instantly. I did catch fish on them though, that's why I didn't give up on them.

I just got a bunch of 1/16 oz Strike King Bitsy jigs. This year I'm going waaaaay outside of the box and throwing these with 2" Paca Chunks for a trailer using my ultra light rig. I can't wait to start throwing this, I just have a feeling it's going to be a winner.

Good luck bildgerat, I hope it is a winner for you. I fish a few old res's that give me the same snot algae problem you have. I may take a page from your book if you don't mind and try it out.

Man, I did a dumb thing with that statement to bigerat and didn't answer the question! My sincere apologies!

EDIT: There are many reasons why and you've just read a lot of them, but put this into perspective: The jig is one of the oldest lures known to man and to this day, catches huge fish with no explanation why.The Zara Spook has been around for almost 90 years. Both lures aren't very glamorous, but they catch big fish.

Bigger bites.

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What about this bait got you "hooked" on using it?

Is it really THAT productive in certain conditions?

Jigs seem to coax bites from big fish during hard times when no other lure would do so.

I made myself try them because I read and heard about them so much, I figured all these people can't be wrong.  Tied one on after catching a giant on a spinnerbait one morning because the temp warmed and the sun got higher.  Started with absolutely zero faith or confidence until I hooked a dink in some wood that got off.  About 15 minutes after that, a little further down the bank I pitched to some more wood and hooked into the biggest bass of my life.  And like the genius I was I tried to flip this fish into the boat........snapped a g loomis mossy back and 50lb braid.  The absolute worst part was loosing that fish and thinking it might die having that jig caught in it's mouth.  I've loved the jig ever since and have done pretty well with it. 

If I want big fish I pitch a jig, if I want numbers I throw a Fluke or a Senko Wacky style.

I have caught some really nice fish on a variety of baits but a Jig with a Brush Hog trailer is my all time confidence bait. I pitch it in thick cover or next to standing timber in deeper water. I have had the most success in 8' to 20' of water in staging areas. If I want to fish shallow I will use something different but if you are not using a jig and trailer you are missing out on some nice green fat girls.

I always heard that the average fish caught on a jig and pig is generally bigger than what is caught on other baits.  This is why I learned to fish jigs.  I have not been disappointed.

During the early 70s on Toledo Bend the Hydrilla started really getting thick and numerous anglers (me included) were basically fishing the matted grass with weightless Texas Rigs & Johnson Weed less spoons, there wasn't many other baits that would work in this thick stuff. At the time I belonged to the Hemphill Bass Club out of the Harbor Light Marina and one of our members started wining back to back tournaments, not just ours but every ones. He was killing us with 15 fish stringers averaging 3 1/2 to 4 lbs. a fish. No one could figure out how he was doing it, we had all seen him on the main lake flats fishing the grass flats like us or so we thought. Finally at a club meeting he revealed what he was doing. Being a diver he had went out to the grass flats & dove under to see what was there, what he found was tunnels, caverns, & caves under the surface matted grass. In of these areas he could see crawfish clinging to the grass stems, they were also filled with schools of bass, mostly large bass. The next question was what bait could get to the bass, the answer was provided by Lonnie Stanley with a ¾ oz. Jig! Who is this angler that jigged his was too many a tournament win as well to the top of B.A.S.S.? Texas Bass Fishing Legend Tommy Martin!

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During the early 70s on Toledo Bend the Hydrilla started really getting thick and numerous anglers (me included) were basically fishing the matted grass with weightless Texas Rigs & Johnson Weed less spoons, there wasn't many other baits that would work in this thick stuff. At the time I belonged to the Hemphill Bass Club out of the Harbor Light Marina and one of our members started wining back to back tournaments, not just ours but every ones. He was killing us with 15 fish stringers averaging 3 1/2 to 4 lbs. a fish. No one could figure out how he was doing it, we had all seen him on the main lake flats fishing the grass flats like us or so we thought. Finally at a club meeting he revealed what he was doing. Being a diver he had went out to the grass flats & dove under to see what was there, what he found was tunnels, caverns, & caves under the surface matted grass. In of these areas he could see crawfish clinging to the grass stems, they were also filled with schools of bass, mostly large bass. The next question was what bait could get to the bass, the answer was provided by Lonnie Stanley with a ¾ oz. Jig! Who is this angler that jigged his was too many a tournament win as well to the top of B.A.S.S.? Texas Bass Fishing Legend Tommy Martin!

Now where have I heard this before? Cool story, Catt!

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During the early 70s on Toledo Bend the Hydrilla started really getting thick and numerous anglers (me included) were basically fishing the matted grass with weightless Texas Rigs & Johnson Weed less spoons, there wasn't many other baits that would work in this thick stuff. At the time I belonged to the Hemphill Bass Club out of the Harbor Light Marina and one of our members started wining back to back tournaments, not just ours but every ones. He was killing us with 15 fish stringers averaging 3 1/2 to 4 lbs. a fish. No one could figure out how he was doing it, we had all seen him on the main lake flats fishing the grass flats like us or so we thought. Finally at a club meeting he revealed what he was doing. Being a diver he had went out to the grass flats & dove under to see what was there, what he found was tunnels, caverns, & caves under the surface matted grass. In of these areas he could see crawfish clinging to the grass stems, they were also filled with schools of bass, mostly large bass. The next question was what bait could get to the bass, the answer was provided by Lonnie Stanley with a ¾ oz. Jig! Who is this angler that jigged his was too many a tournament win as well to the top of B.A.S.S.? Texas Bass Fishing Legend Tommy Martin!

Awesome!

I first starting using jigs because i heard of big fish being caught on them.  After fishing jigs successfully, I fell in love with the constant contact feeling, it's ability to transmit information regarding structure location and type, and more than anything else "The Tap".  To me, the tap of a jig is very similar to a texas rigged worm, which I also love to fish.  Maybe it's the anticipation of the tap that gets me, I dont know.  What I do know is that I love the jig, and there is always one tied onto one of my rods no matter where I am fishing.

i had never heard of a jig when my friend tied one on for me in highschool. i was a crankbait/inline spinner guy. double tail hula grub on arkie jighead. jigs have been my go-to bait since that day.

I started several years ago, the main reason I waited in the first place was just because I didn't know how to do a pitch cast.  I just rigged up a 1/4 oz. jig on a rod and kept it out on my back deck for a few weeks and took a few minutes here and there to start pitching it at targets in the yard.  It didn't take long to get decent at it and now I almost never go fishing without one on the deck, even if it isn't your main pattern on a given day you can almost always pick off a few bonus fish when you see a good laydown or something that "needs to be flipped" 

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