I've bass fished only (for the most part) for about twenty years but I've picked up another past time this fall....Crappie fishing. My last few times out I've bass fished in the mornings and crappie fished in the afternoon. Those things are tasty. I'm mostly fishing for suspended crappie on standing timber and having a lot of luck. So my question is what is the smallest jig you'll bass fish with...thinking I can find that middle of the road size that would work for both when casting to cover. Thanks...
Smallest bass jig I use is a 1/4 oz bitsy flip.
1.5oz Jigzilla
1/4 oz jig for skippin docks
1/8 and 3/16 oz custom made with a chunk trailer.
1/16oz hair jig or a 1/8oz silicone skirted jig with small chunk trailer.
1/8 or 3/16 on spinning gear.
1/8th is what I had in mind when I posted.. I'm going to grab some 1/8th hair jigs and experiment. Thanks
1/32
1/32nd as well. A 1/200th is the smallest I own though, and did catch a little smallie on it a few weeks ago.
Smallest silicone/rubber jig is 1/16-oz Kahara with micro trailer. Smallest hair/bucktail jig I routinely throw is 1/24-oz., but I've also caught plenty on 1/32nd oz. black "crappie" jigs and the same size jig head with 1.5" tubes and other very small plastics in bass colors.
-T9
It sounds like lighter jigs are more popular with bass folks than I thought. Interesting to see responses from 1/200th to 1.5 oz. I stopped by the tackle shop and picked up a few 1/8 and some more 1/16 which is what I was vertically fishing with. Thanks again....
1/16 oz MONO Tungsten Spin Jig by Keitech. I haven't gone smaller because I haven't tried to yet.
An 1/8 oz ball head jig with a 4 inch twister tail was my main bait for smallmouth for years.
I'll fish those little marabou jigs you can buy, I've caught a lot of bass with the 1/32oz but I don't target them with that, I'll go to 1/8oz+ for bass.
Check out a float and fly rig
In really cold water bass will hit crappie jigs on 1/32 and 1/16oz jigheads. I have had days fishing for crappies with slider grubs in Jan-Feb and caught more bass than crappies on them. If you want a bait for crappie and bass get some 3" gulp minnows and fish them on jigheads 1/32-1/8oz
On 10/23/2014 at 6:04 AM, tomustang said:1/32
Caught one of my largest east coast bass on a 1/32oz. jig tipped with a 1" zoom grub while crappie fishing.
The smallest I'll use while actually targeting bass is usually 1/8, but I'll use 1/16 when conditions are right for it. I'll also float and fly a 1/32 hair jig for smallies if fishing relatively shallow.
I regularly use a 3/32oz jighead when targeting smallmouth with small, finesse plastics. My biggest smallmouth of the year fell for that setup in fact.
i catch as many small bass crappie fishing as bluegill,on a float and two flies beneath generally or just regular grubs on several occasions ive had nice crappie smash a 1/4 oz colorado blade spinner bait. Back when i was like 7 or 8 i met a guy while fishing who was just a casual fisherman but he fished almost as often as me (one of the many summers spent consumed) and he always swore by a beetle spin by that time i was into casting gear and refused anything but a rattle trap but after a while i couldn't resist because of the production we were just fishing a pond bank fishing but i will never forget my amazement of the consistency and i remember plenty of decent fish on them too if you havent seen one its as small as a crappie jig with split tail and a small blade not really an item i would see and think to purchase no matter the species cheap though be worth a shot
I haven't targeted crappie or bluegill this year. 3-6 lb fish love this little Keitech jig.
The jig lasted a day, but I caught several of them this size. I love super finesse fishing!
The Term Match the Hatch which is the Golden Rule for Fly fisherman can be super effective for bass so I carry little grubs, leeches, craws, dragon fly imitations, small crappie sized minnow soft baits and bass assassin tiny shads, and a 3" hellgramite is a killer all year round. I have to weed through some dinks, but most importantly, getting strikes helps keep my head in the game on a cold December day as I hate getting my first strike 5 hours into the day only to miss the fish because I am daydreaming.
I use jig head weight to determine fall rate and depth, or for when using the float and fly on Windy days when you need a finesse approach but just can't feel the strikes in December on a 4" worm.
I am surprised more people do not use the float and fly for fishing over submerged grass with a slip float as you can use a bobber stop, cast it a mile and depending on type of float-Waggler-Bubble-Cigar style, you can control how fast the wind takes your bait, and you are showing fish that see flukes and swim jigs, traps and every other technique a new look that get's numbers and big fish..I still prefer the waggler since fish will not feel any resistance, but the bubble flips over on pressure so you know to set right away and avoid your soft bait going to deep in the throat. Plus, you can see and know where your bait is at all times with precision on the toughest of days, and often times the direction they pull the float and how fast will tell you that other fish are in the same area and you can start figuring out a pattern. Fishing a 4" trick worm is effective once you find fish that are active on a tough day, float and fly is almost like trolling to find em as you cover more water than any other technique with a bait that any fish will eat out of opportunity since it will eventually smack a fish in the nose.
Or you can do what some saltwater guys do for finding Redfish on tough days, after you catch the first one, tag it with a baloon so you can see where it swims, as they always go back to the school and then you can pick them off. I have never witnessed first hand but have heard credible fisherman tell me how to do this and it just seems like cheating to me, but saltwater is a different ball game.
1/16 oz. jigs with litle Keitech spiders are deadly, right now.
A little Chaumont Bay smallie:
Bass jig with a weedguard is 1/8. Great for shallow water in winter and spring.
Crappie jigs its more about size of hook and the weight determines the depth. Bass will regularly hit a crappie jig and small plastic.
1/4 ounce football or pitchin jig.
This years the smallest is a 3/16 oz swim jig.
Both Kietech and Jackell make miniature tungsten jigs in 1/32 oz increments that are good for both bass and crappie. These jigs have a single strand weed guard and premium hooks strong enough to handle bass.
Spro also makes a Phat Fly imitation hair jig in 1/16 oz and 1/8 oz size that is good for both crappie and bass, see Bill Seimantels video.
Smallest jig I use is Turners Micro jigs in 1/64 and 1/32 oz size for crappie and occasionally a bass eats them.
Tom
On 10/23/2014 at 4:33 AM, OroBass said:Smallest bass jig I use is a 1/4 oz bitsy flip.
Yelp