Jig head Fishing

Whilst visiting a local tackle shop, I overheard the proprietor engaged in a discussion about his fishing session the previous day. He claimed to have out fished his partner 5 fish to 1 and he achieved this by using a jig head rigged with a finesse worm. Obviously the hairs on my neck stood to attention when I heard this discussion as I am forever searching for the holy grail of bass fishing lures. Having fished a jig head only once before and quite unsuccessfully I may add, I decided that this technique was worth a revisit. An old friend and bass connoisseur once told me that when trying out new things; ensure that you give the new lures or techniques enough "water time". We bass fisherman do have the knack of declaring "it doesn't work" far too quickly and possibly miss out on some awesome fishing action as a result.

I purchased a pack of el cheapo ¼ ounce size 2/0 jig heads and tied one on to my rod that same night. My jig head tackle is a medium heavy 7ft rod rigged with 12lb flouro so as to enjoy an enhanced feel of the bottom and structure. I convinced myself to throw the jig head for a whole day at my next outing and put the 5:1 catch rate to test. It was winter and fishing was generally slow, so the time was perfect for testing this type of lure.

On arrival at my first spot I searched my "finesse" tackle box and found a few 7" watermelon red trick worms and proceeded to rig one up. Rigging proved a bit challenging for my two left hands as I couldn't seem to get the worm to position in a straight line as when burying the hook. Start by inserting the hook in the front end of the worm and thread about ½ cm along the shank. Push the hook point through and measure the length of the hook bend. Rotate the worm 180 degrees so that the flat part is facing the hook shank. Insert the hook back into the worm and bury the hook point into the back of the worm to make it weedless.

The spot that I was targeting was a steep rocky bank with a point on each end. Submerged brush piles and trees were scattered on the drop off in about 35ft. One of the things I noticed with the first cast that the lure gets to the bottom very quickly and was surprised at how sensitive the rig was, feeling all the bumps through the flouro. Soon I felt the tell tale "flick" and set the hook on a nice keeper. I managed to catch over 15 keepers that day just by using the jig head and now have one rod permanently rigged.

One thing you will notice from the pictures above is that I use a snap swivel. I find that after a bit of experience using the rig, the jig head imparts a better action with the swivel.

Since that first day, I have managed to catch bass in 50ft of water and under some difficult frontal wintry conditions. It has also helped me bag limits in pressured conditions. Below are some photos of Cameron honing his skills with the technique this past week end.

Please feel free to send a personal message to me at Bassing.co.za Forum should you like some more information on this fantastic Jig head fishing technique - give it a try and good luck.

Some of the pictures came from www.fishbase.com

Vaalboy
Bassing.co.za Pro Staff Member

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