* Collection Of Jig Fishing Tips

image tarponcharters.com

From Sam & Tim's Fishing Page

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When Is The Right Season For A Bass Jig?
Jigs are a top bass bait throughout the year and it's never a bad choice to use one. There are no magic lures of course, and some days a crankbait might work better, or a spinnerbait; it's up to that day's experience to tell you which. Jigs are great in cold water, when slow presentation is essential, or in delicate situations when bass are otherwise hard to catch. But don't think of jigs as strictly a cold-water bait. They also work exceptionally well in spring and summer. Use a bass jig anytime, anyplace with confidence.
There is no wrong season to use a bass jig. It can be worked in the variety of places bass are holding, in cold water drop-offs or around weed beds in late summer. Jigs are just a great bait a lot of fishermen don't use because they've never taken a little time to learn to use one.

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How To Retrieve Bass Jigs?
Bass jigs are worked slowly across the bottom, across structure and objects which might hold fish. Sometimes you might cast a jig into a good-looking location and let it settle a few moments before starting the retrieve. A bass will sometimes snatch up the bait where it lies.
But most bites occur when a jig is falling, either on the initial cast, or after a little jigging by the angler. A good way to imagine how to retrieve a bass jig is to imagine a cat responding to a ball of string being twitched across the floor. Work the jig slowly, with anticipation, as if bass were actually a cat hiding behind your living room couch, waiting to pounce on the bait.
Don't cast and retrieve jigs quickly, as with other baits. Each cast should take a little while. The strength of bass jigs is in their ability to be twitched and hopped along slowly, tempting a bass into taking the bait.
Bass jigs are great for going into heavy brush, and coming out with a fish attached. Don't be afraid to cast into fearsome-looking places with a bass jig, and retrieve the bait slowly, alert for strikes. Bass jigs are surprisingly snag-proof. If you do get into trouble, try jiggling the bait free instead of attempting to jerk it loose. It's uncommon to get snagged for good with a bass jig.

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Jig Sizes
Keep in mind two factors when selecting sizes.
• Smaller baits are generally best whenever they can be used.
• Being able to 'feel' the action of a jig is essential.

These two factors guide your choice of jig size. Remember smaller, slower baits and thinner line with low visibility will almost always catch more fish than their big counterparts. Keep this in mind when you select sizes. You want to use the lightest bait and line you can. But if you can't tell what's going on with your bait underwater because it's a windy day or there's a strong current, switch to a heavier jig. Or maybe you're fishing deep water and a light jig simply takes too long to sink. Use a jig as light as possible as long as you can still feel what's going on.
Heavier line affects the rate of fall of a jig: light line makes a jig fall faster, heavier line slower. If you can still feel the action of a 1/8-ounce jig on a particular day, keep using it. Don't be intimidated by someone else using a monster bait with the idea that big bass only take big baits.
In tough situations like after cold fronts, in the winter, or during heavy angling pressure, a light jig will out-produce a heavier one.

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Detecting Strikes
When a bass strikes a jig, often it's an uncertain sluggishness or gentle pull on your line. Sometimes your line feels lighter because the bass has lifted the bait. Remember that bass usually pick up the jig on the fall, so keep a tight, careful line between your jig and rod.
The strike differs from the feel of when a bass hits a spinner or plug bait which is often unmistakably hard, and the line seldom zips away, like when a bass picks up a plastic worm. Set the hook with a quick snap of the wrist (it doesn't need to be a wild exercise of the entire body like on the fishing programs). Set the hook anytime you feel something odd on the line-usually it's a fish. After a little practice you'll recognize strikes as surely as when a bobber goes under.

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What To Add To A Jig
Many of us know bass jigs as jig-n'-pigs because a pork rind trailer has been hooked onto the jig to create extra appeal. Usually these have been cut in a wedge shape like a frog, and these trailers are often called pork frogs. But pork eels can be productive as well, especially in deep water. All are sensitive to drying out, so if you quit fishing for a while, take it off the hook and replace it in the jar, or keep it wet otherwise.
Light jigs usually call for light pork rinds. The same goes for a dark jig, which usually gets a dark pork rind. Sometimes a local behavior trend will upset the cart and anglers will swear a strange light/dark combination is best right now, but stick to the old combination as a rule. If you have a dark blue jig, a black pork trailer might be appropriate.
Use a smaller trailer instead of a bigger one if you hope to get more bites. It seems bigger fish do like large trailers, but experiment for best results.
It's not wrong to skip adding a pork trailer altogether and to fish the bass jig just plain. Plain jigs will catch bass sometimes. But it's a little like baking a cake and not bothering to add icing-you're better off with something on it.
Plastic crawfish have become an increasingly popular trailer for jigs. The plastic claws stand up when the jig is resting on the bottom, since the crawfish is hooked onto the jig by the tail, and it adds a great appeal for jigs. Pick a small size for these trailers also, and follow the same color combination guide lines for pork frogs.

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Colors
As a rule, light colors are a good choice for bright sunny days. Dark colors are best for overcast days or at night. Often a particularly bright or unusual color with a dark combination will also work well on bright days. Strong sunlight is also a good condition for the sparkle of Mylar jigs. Bass will prefer certain colors at some locations under specific conditions-but minor color preferences are for every fisherman to argue about. Why someone might use a red-and-black jig over a red-and-brown jig is often a matter of preference.
Water clarity and waves also affect the amount of sunlight bass receive. Consider other factors besides clouds when picking out a color for your jig. For instance, a bright jig would be a good muddy-water choice, even on a cloudy day.

A Basic Color Guide



Source And Adopted From
timbaker@jal.cc.il.us
shouse@siu.edu
http://www.jal.cc.il.us/~timbaker/ctips.html

* Open Water Trolling

image from : boatinsurancerate.org

By Mark Brumbaugh and Bob Riege

Schooled walleyes roaming open water, either suspending or lying over open basins, are the reason an angler would switch from a jigging approach to a bait delivery system that would include planer boards, snap weights, and crankbaits or spinners. Trolling boards arose out of the Great Lakes where they were used for lake trout and salmon. Walleye anglers were quick to use this application for big water walleyes as well. Boards spread multiple lines wide to the sides of the boat, to minimize spooking and to present a spread of lures at multiple depths. No longer are you limited to trolling a narrow path behind the boat. Instead you can now troll a path 150 feet wide, simultaneously experimenting with depth, lure size and action, color patterns, speed and more.

This presentation is effective for eliminating unproductive water and zeroing in on walleyes, particularly at the 1 to 3 mph quick trolling range, which is productive in cool to cold water, and during summer as well. It’s simple in principle, complex in execution, in order to minimize tangles, maximize catches, and achieve desired results. But a properly run set of lines proceeds through open water like a giant rake, showing fish suspended at the target depth.

Board presentations evolved from traditional mast and ski systems popular on large Great Lakes boats, to small in-line planers easy to use in smaller craft. Planer boards clip onto line via simple friction releases, sending lines out to the sides of the boat while trolling. When a fish strikes, bobbing or dragging the board backward, reel in, detach the board release with a quick twist of thumb and forefinger, drop the board in the boat, and fight the fish unhindered by excess hardware.

Planer boards are small and light enough to use on traditional walleye gear. Typically that would mean that you could use line as light as 10 pound test monofilament which maintains good lure action and diving depth, and promotes a good fight on light tackle. Anglers generally use long trolling rods about 7 to 8 footers to hold lines off the surface of the water while trolling, reducing drag and maximizing the spread. Long handled rods fit in rod holders until a fish strikes. A well placed spread of four lines effectively covers open water options.

Crankbaits run at specific depths depending on size, diving lip, line length and trolling speed. Within the natural diving range of each lure, depth is fine tuned by adjusting line length. Trolling reels with line length indicators have become popular for exact replication of productive depth and pinpoint control. Many manufacturers offer line counting reels now so anglers don’t have to count the number of throws a reel goes through to set a specific depth.

Few crankbaits dive deeper than 25 feet, even on a long line. To reach depths exceeding the natural diving ability of crankbaits, weight must be added to the line to drop lures down into the fish zone. This is just as true for presenting spinner-crawler combos. Walleye anglers have several solutions for increasing running depth while maintaining control.

Traditional deep water trolling was once accomplished with leadcore line. This leadcore line is braided dacron with a thin lead core, creating a sinker running the entire length of the line. Leadcore was used to toll deep water for walleyes or trout. The answer to the solution of depth was to simply let more line out and the lure went deeper. A monofilament leader between the lure and leadcore minimized spooking. When a fish hit, you simply reeled the leadcore up into a large capacity trolling reel.

When leadcore was first used with planer boards, it was to heavy; anything more than about 30 yards of leadcore sunk a typical board. This was remedied by tying a 10, 20, or 30 yard segment of leadcore into the main line, 50 feet a head of the lure. The segmented leadcore approach took lures down to about 35 feet, but was somewhat confusing to most anglers. Multiple reels with different lengths of segmented leadcore were needed to effectively cover a variety of depths.

The answer was attaching weights to the main line. Trouble was, a sinker placed too near the lure spooked fish, and too far up the line it interfered with netting. The solution came from tackle companies, that offered detachable snap weights. Simply let out some line, then with the same release clip used on planer boards, snap a weight onto a line 50 feet ahead of the lure.

Now let out as much additional line as necessary to reach a targeted trolling depth. Need more depth? Switch to a heavier sinker. Got a bite? Reel in until the sinker is within reach, then pinch it off your line and drop it in the boat. Experiment with weights from 1/4 up to 3 ounces with boards, heavier sinkers without boards.

Open water trolling for suspended fish taught anglers that walleyes could be caught tight to the bottom. Run snap weights near bottom, or switch to three-way rigs or bottom bouncers to make lures or baits run just above bottom. Bouncers run the closest, while three-ways are adjustable by varying dropper length. Remember, anything more than 3 ounces can sink a planer board, though heavier weights can be used without boards for fishing on or near bottom with vertical lines, to cover many productive zones.

Trolling large open water expanses has recently been applied to some areas that previously would not have been attempted with amazing results. This summer don’t keep pounding the shoreline in hopes of catching a few fish when you have all of that open water to troll.

Adopted From : http://www.walleyehunter.com/articles/riege13.html