Fishing tip of the week

Fishing Tip of the Week

Wednesday, 22 May 2024 06:54

It’s Time for a Jig
by Mike Gerry

When the bass has transitioned from the spring bite to the summer bite, the bait I enjoy fishing is working a traditional jig. There are several reasons I like this presentation and none more important than the pure fact it catches big fish.
If you’re a tournament fisherman, you can rest assure that this bait gives you a great chance of landing the kind of fish that will give you a chance to win the tournament.
There are some keys to getting this bait to do its magic.
Mostly it relies on patience and fishing around the right kind of cover to get the best results.

Jig fishing is often about getting the bait to immolate the feeding source that the bass are feeding own so understanding your lake and food source can be very important. When the jig bite is the best for me its generally early summer when there is spotty grass with holes in it that you can get the jig to drop into. This also requires some thought as to the size of the jig your fishing. A bulky jig is better for flipping, but early summer requires you to pick a smaller profile that will fall into the edges and holes in the spotty grass. Shaking and stroking your jig in this time period is imperative as you must create some movement that the bass will react to. The good news is when the bass are sitting in the holes, they generally feed upward allowing them to see that bait above their head and reacting to the movement.

As the summer progresses the football jig becomes a great choice as the bass move deep and feed in the deep shell beds and feed on crawfish in the deeper water.
A football jig is just ideal for dragging your jig on the bottom as it replicates crawfish like no other bait. Find the deep shell beds as this type of bottom structure in the heat of the summer helps create oxygen as the water warms and always holds good fish. There is also wood around most deep shell beds as stumps hold the shells in place on the bottom and the bass like to hide and ambush on the down side of the structure.
Captain Mike