Winter Jig Fishing

As fall fades in the rear view mirror and the freezing Winter mornings arrive, many bass fishermen put their boats away for the season. If you're one of the few committed anglers who continues fishing regardless of weather, temperature, or season, this week's post is for you. While Winter brings cold weather and uncomfortable conditions but it also brings your best shot of the year at a GIANT bass on a jig. 

Let's begin by breaking Winter jig fisheries into two categories:

1) Reservoirs or lakes with sparse cover and/or clear water

2)Shallow water fisheries, often containing heavy cover, including river/tidal systems

Category 1)  I focus on small, compact football jigs. My jigs of choice are the Dirty Jigs Finesse Football and HP Football. The finesse football is my most consistent jig. It comes equipped with a light wire hook, allowing me to downsize my equipment and draw bites, even under tough conditions. Coupled with a double tail grub or smallie beaver, this jig is deadly throughout the cold water months. 

View fullsize

Clockwise From Left: HP Football jig with 4" Double Tail Grub, Pitchin' Jig with Paca Chunk, No-Jack Flippin' Jig with Sweet Beaver, Finesse Football Jig with 5" Double Tail Grub

If I know that I'll be encountering larger fish, or if I feel that I may need to step up to a heavier weight line to combat heavier cover, I'll transition over to the HP football. This jig has a slightly heavier wire "EWG" style hook and is great for powering fish away from snags. With both versions of the football I'll start out with a light weight and go with the lightest line possible, only stepping up to match the conditions or size of bass. 

Day in and day out these jigs get critical bites when I need them most. For colors, I keep it as simple as possible. My two most consistent colors lately have been "Go To" and "Super Matt Brown". In the past "Molting Craw" has been a consistent producer as well. Trailer color is a matter of preference. Some days I'll stick to complimentary colors, other days I'll use a clashing color to change the overall profile of the bait. You'll need to experiment to see what your fish prefer. 

View fullsize

Left to Right: Finesse Football Jig, HP Football Jig

Category 2) When fishing shallower water, especially around cover I will use either a Dirty Jigs Pitchin' Jig or the No-Jack Flippin' Jig.  The pitchin' jig is a go everywhere, do everything jig with a medium-heavy wire hook. I'm confident that I can show up to any body of water and use this head shape to catch bass. 

If I'm specifically dealing with heavy cover, grass, or giant fish I'll step up to the No-Jack Flippin' Jig. The No-Jack hook is the stoutest hook on the market. While this isn't necessary for fighting the fish during their cold water dormant season it can be vital to getting them through thick vegetation. With these jigs I prefer either a beaver-style trailer or a pork chunk. I will generally start with the plastic trailer but if I can't get bit will switch to pork. 

Color selection in shallow water fisheries depends upon water color. If the water is fairly clear I will stick with "Go To" or "Molting Craw" but if the water becomes dingy or muddy I'll transition into "Black and Blue" , "Black Emerald" or "Black Red". 

Another quick tip is to add a section of chartreuse plastic to the shank of the hook before adding your primary trailer. This works for murky water largemouth but is also deadly on clear water smallmouth. 

We hope these tips will help you refine your cold water jig fishing this Winter. This is prime time to catch a monster bass so bundle up, grab a pair of gloves, and head for the water. Good luck out there!

Ledge Fishing: Tricks to Catch More Fish

No matter where you are in the country, when the baitfish start moving to the rocks the bass fishermen will be close behind. Whether you target summer ledge fish in the Southeast, fall ledge fish in the West, or Winter bluff fish everywhere in between, a time of year will come when dialing in your approach to fishing vertical cover will come in handy.

I have the unique opportunity of fishing with anglers from around the globe and in doing so, I've noticed a pattern. The vast majority of anglers struggle to effectively target bass when they move from their shallow haunts in favor of more vertical cover.

Fishing vertical cover presents some unique challenges that are not often encountered with other styles of fishing. In no particular order those challenges include staying in the strike zone long enough to get bit, knowing if you're on bottom, feeling the bite, and missing the bite because you're out of position. These problems are even more severe if compounded with fishing at night.

View fullsize

Almost all of these problems are caused by adjusting your baitcasting reel correctly. Yes, I said correctly. For every other application your adjustments are perfect but if you want to fish vertical cover, its time to make some incorrect adjustments that will make all the difference!

Through trial and error I've found a very simple way to eliminate all of the above mentioned problems at once. By backing off the spool tension knob (found next to the star drag) you can eliminate the resistance the reel has on the line. This allows the bait to fall vertically instead of drifting away from the cover like a pendulum. Additionally, the free-floating spool will spin freely enough that you can feel the line falling, stopping, or even getting bit, without having to look down.

I've found this technique to be most effective when fishing jigs, worms, and swimbaits. If using a smaller reel like a Core 50MG you can get away with weights as light as 3/8 oz without experiencing the pendulum effect. If you're going to use standard tackle (I prefer a Curado 200) its important that you step up to a 3/4 oz jig (this works great with swim jigs as well) or heavier in order to keep the presentation as vertical as possible.

Using these quick tips will make you a more effective ledge fishermen overnight. I've seen clients go from getting no bites at all, to catching fish after fish by just backing off the tension. Its a simple solution to a very complicated series of problems that plagues us all at one time or another.

Top 5 Baits for Spotted Bass

Okay, so we can't really count. Its more like 6 categories and 12 baits but its hard to narrow it down! There are a lot of great ways to catch spotted bass but we can narrow it down a little for you. With all the giant spotted bass being caught in California there are a lot of rumors flying about secret baits, modifications, etc.

The reality is, nothing can replace time on the water. I say again, if you want to catch a giant spotted bass you have to put in the time. In addition to time, you need to be sure that your gear is dialed in. Tim breaks down the various baits that we use day in and day out to put spotted bass in the boat.

Spotted bass fishing is great for new anglers as well as pros. Unlike giant largemouth, spots have a varied diet. They may have preferred foods but they're willing to eat just about anything that crawls or swims in front of them. If you have a preferred method that is on this list, stick to it and you'll see success! 

Our top 5 (6) baits that you should be throwing for spotted bass are:

The Tube: We've found a 3 1/2" finesse tube is best. See our Tube Video for all the details.

View fullsize

The Senko: Whether you're fishing shallow or deep there is a way to rig the senko to get in front of the bass and fool them into biting.

Straight Tail Worm: Dropshot, Darthead, Shaky Head... they're going to eat it.

The Football Jig: We use the Dirty Jigs Finesse Football. You get the bulky presentation that big spots can't resist with a hook that let's you use lighter line for a finesse presentation.

The Spook: Spots can't resist a walking bait. Whether you're using a true spook or some other brand, it needs to be in your arsenal. As an extra tip: Think "chartreuse" and you won't go wrong.

The Swimbait: How can you beat a swimbait? The key is size. You have to find the right balance between drawing power and overpowering. Our two most reliable options are the 6" Osprey Tournament Talon and the S-Waver 168.

Give these baits a try the next time you're on the water. Spotted bass fishing is booming right now and you need to get involved! From one side of this nation to the other, there is a lake with monster spots just waiting to be caught!

Fall Bass Fishing: Top 5 Baits

I love fall fishing! After a long summer the lake finally feels alive again. The baitfish are schooling, the bass are feeding, and the fishermen are wrapping up their tournament seasons. Whether you want to catch more bass, win the AOY race, or win a new boat, these 5 baits will get you headed in the right direction.

Its never easy to limit yourself to just 5 baits but if I had to choose one season to do it, it would be the fall. As the bass group up and feed they become much simpler to target than they were throughout the summer. In no particular order, my top 5 baits are as follows:

1) The jig: The bass are gorging before winter and one of their favorite meals is a crawdad. Stick to a simple craw profile and you'll succeed. There are a lot of great jigs out there including a plethora of colors, head designs, and colors but if I could only choose one it would be the Dirty Jigs 3/4 oz Pitchin' Jig in "Molting Craw". That color, coupled with either a Sweet Beaver-style trailer or a Twin Tail Grub-style trailer creates a phenomenal crawdad imitation.

2) The Spook: Walking-style topwater baits work great through all the summer months but their effectiveness peaks during the early fall. Bass are gorging on baitfish and baits like the super spook (see our video on the top 5 walking baits for ideas) are a perfect imitation. Choose a color you have confidence in but you can never go wrong with whites, silvers, or even a little chartreuse to draw the bass away from the 1000's of other easy meals swimming around. Try The Super Spook in "Okie Shad" or the Rover in "sooner" if you need a place to start.

View fullsize

Top 5 Baits for the Fall Transition

3) The Glide Bait: Glide baits have taken the industry by storm the last couple years. If you aren't throwing one this fall, you're missing opportunities for great fishing! I'm particularly partial to the S-waver in the 168 and 200 sizes in "Warden" or "Light Trout" (See our S-Waver Video and S-Waver 200 Video to see why) The S-waver is easy to use and won't break the bank but is by no means your only option. Check out the Gan Craft Jointed Claw, Smith Baits Hitch-X, or if you're in to the custom baits, the Hinkle Baits is hard to pass up. These are all baits that we've seen success with over and over again. They're big, but they get bit and fall is a great time to build your confidence!

4) The Deep Crank: Whether you're throwing a big 10XD, a Rapala DT-Series (because Ike says so), a slim profile like the Deep Six, or my old standby DD-22 you can't go wrong with a deep crank. We throw a lot of the shad patterns including those with lavender, chartreuse, or brown backs. We even branch in to the craws a bit. Whatever it is you choose, the deep crank will let you cast farther and reach deeper to catch those fish other anglers are overlooking.

5) The Lipless Crank: Who could possibly overlook this crank? Whether you're burning through the fading grass, fanning flats, or ripping off the bottom around docks and cover, the lipless is probably the most versatile bait during the fall. Again, stick to the shad patterns. If I could only choose one lipless it would be the Lucky Craft LV-500. Like many Western anglers I've discovered the benefits of the fast sinking, loud rattling bait. Try Chartreuse Shad, Ghost Minnow, Wakin if the fish are really active, or even Crack if the water has some stain to it.

What "Top 5" list would be complete without fudging and including some extras? Because 5 baits really is tough to do, the rest of the baits that really should have made the cut are the Swim Jig (California Swim Jig to be exact), the Flutter Spoon, The Jerkbait (ripbait if you live on the west coast), and the paddle tail swimbait (I'd go with the 6" basstrix or 4.8 Keitech on a Dirty Jigs Swimbait head).

Put these baits to work for you and have a great fall. Good luck out there!

Is your favorite bait on the list? Did I miss something? Let's hear what's on your top 5 list.