Deep Water Jigs?

[lowerider]

What do you guys use when deep water jigging? I'm talking like 35-45 ft. What size? 3/4 oz. -1 oz? What model? Line test? I am fairly new to this technique. Is it easier to just use a spider jig when fishing that deep? Appreciate any input.

[Oldschool]

The water depth is only 1 factor to consider when choosing a jig style and weight.
The 1st factor is determing what depth the bass are feeding at.
The 2nd is what type of cover or structure are the bass using.
The 3 rd is what type of prey the bass are targeting.
Weight depends on the cover, wind and current; use the the weight that gives you the ability to feel what the jig is doing at the depth you are fishing.
If the bass are eating crawdads, then crawdads colors and action jig should be used.
If bait fish are the prey, then use a swimming style jig and baitfsih colors should be used.
Tell me the type of cover and structure you plan to fish with jigs, then we can narrow the options down.
Tom

[D.B.COOPER]

Go 1oz Skinny Bear football. 20lb Seaguard Carbon Pro. Try and get yourself a G Loomis 844 GLX casting rod and you will be all set. The rest is up to you. Lots of experimenting and leaving everything at home except jig rod, if you want to become good at this. If you do it enough, you will start to understand it and the different ways you can use this particular jig. Also have lots of them(jigs) in your boat. You will be losing some. Cannot be afraid to lose some jigs. If you are afraid, then leave jig rod at home. D.B.COOPER

[Johnny C]

If the fish are really biteing you can get them fast with a one once jig or 3/4.. Most of the time I like a 3/8 to 1/2 in 35 to 50 feet. Rig a rod with each and you will quickly see what they want.

[lowerider]

Thanks for the tips guys. I am mainly fishing reservoirs with rocky areas being the predominant cover. I was using a 1/2 ounce football head today with a beaver style trailer with 12 pound mono on a flipping stick. At around 35-40 feet the bait was feeling so mushy I couldnt really feel what it was doing very well. It was pretty windy too which didnt help any. I was wondering if a heavier jig or different line might help detect the subtle bites? Thanks again guys.

[jimmy87]

I think your main problem is the flippin stick. it is too heavy for type of fishing. You need a rod with a sensitive tip. You really want to be able to feel every thing that jig bumps into.

Football jig in open water and rocks. arky or banna type in timber.

[Oldschool]

It will take some time to answer this thread correctly.
Think of jig fishing in 2 basic methods; vertical and horizontal.
Verticlal is when the jig is straight down or out no more than a 45 degree angle away from you.
Horizontal is when the jig is casted out more than 45 degrees away from you.
When you are fishing deep water over 30 feet deep, the presentation can be a combination of both verticle and horizontal jig fishing, however the majority of deep water jigging will be horizontal.
When you are fishing heavy cover and pitching or flipping the presentation is vertical, however shallow water, so a longer very heavy action rod is required to lift the bass out of the cover. Deep water doesn't require a extra heavy long rod, it requires a rod that allows you to cast the jig effectively and get a good hook set, then control the bass around the boat. A wide variety of rods can be used; 6 1/2' to 7 1/2' with a 7' heavy/fast action worm/jig rod, 4 to 5 power rated for line 12-25 lb. the most commonly used rod.
Line is important; 10 to 14 lb FC is a good choice. Reel; a good quality 6.3-1 bait casting is prefered.
Jig head design depends more on the cover; rocky structure a mod football/stand up jig head design in weights between 1/2 to 3/4 oz should work well.
The double bodied beavers or creatures create a lot of floatation to over come in deep water, a single bodied grub or pork trailer will fall faster and give you better feed back.
Exposed very sharp standard or light wire hook; 4/0 & 5/0 for the 1/2 to 3/4 oz jigs work better than heavy wire hooks with weed guards, when fish deep rocky structure.
Tom

[big bass beckstrom]

Jimmy87 is right on about the rod. I usually prefer to fish yamamoto hula grubs on 3/8-1 oz revenge football heads because it is cheaper when you loose them, and from my personal observation they produce the same if not better results than skirted football jigs. When I do throw skirted ones, I throw the bass patrol football jigs which are available at tackle warehouse for about $2 each. They are made with living rubber and have a good selection of colors. I have three setups I use for throwing football heads: a Powell 734, Powell 704, and a gloomis GLX 854. I have the Powells paired with 10 pound fluorocarbon, and the loomis with 12 pound fluoro. I believe the fluoro gets more bites and is more sensitive than mono. It is more sensitive because it has less stretch and it sinks so the line is more directly connected to the bait, instead of arcing above it. Technique wise, everybody has their personal favorite. This time of year I like dragging them; however, they can be dead sticked, stroked, yo-yoed, hopped, vertically jigged, ect. I also like to fish them uphill. It is easier to maintain bottom contact and I believe it is a presentation the fish do not see as often as downhill presentations. It is important to know what the jig is doing because once you become used to its normal behavior on the bottom it is easier to detect bites. Line watching helps a lot to detect bites, along with feeling the line with your fingers. Time on the water with the jig rod in hand is the best way to find how you fish them to get the most bites. It is a great technique that will produce year round, and it can be fished from 1 foot deep to 90 feet deep.

Tight lines

[Guest]

Jig fishing

[liveSTRONG]

I just started fishing deep this past year, and it's been a blast. What's worked the best for me is a 3/4oz Dirty Jigs Toad Jig. I like the no weed guard and stout hook. I like the 3/4oz and 1oz because you can feel everything, but have noticed there are times where the 3/8oz and 1/2oz do get more bites. Definitely something you gotta play around with and figure out when you get on the water.

[elfish16]

I fish jigs deep all the time and its one of the best BIGGER bass methods. 35-55ft of water I always fish a 1/2 ounce jig. Either it be a Picasso Stand up jig head with a beaver or a football jig and trailer...1/2 is all you need. I fish 16lb Sugoi line and a Loomis 844 IMX or GLX. With this you have NO issues feeling the bottom, whether that be mud or rock. The key is flourocarbon line and a GOOD extra sensitive rod.

[ash]

I fish jigs deep all the time and its one of the best BIGGER bass methods. 35-55ft of water I always fish a 1/2 ounce jig. Either it be a Picasso Stand up jig head with a beaver or a football jig and trailer...1/2 is all you need. I fish 16lb Sugoi line and a Loomis 844 IMX or GLX. With this you have NO issues feeling the bottom, whether that be mud or rock. The key is flourocarbon line and a GOOD extra sensitive rod.

My rod and line setup is the same as elfish, I will however have a 3/4 oz or 1/oz and a 1/2oz football head jig on depending on how I am fishing this deeper water column. A stout sensative rod with quality flurocarbon is a must when fishing the jig on these deeper ledges. It takes time to fully start to get the mental picture of what is going on at the end of your line.

An easy way to start fishing in these zones is to make a 20-25' cast behind the boat, let the jig hit the bottom and keep it there as you are dragging the bait. I open the bail to keep constant contact on the bottom, when you feel a transition or ledge these are key areas for the bite to happen, if you cant feel transitions from mud, gravel, chunk rock, grass, etc.. .then you are missing a ton.

[lowerider]

I sure appreciate the feedback guys! Thanks for the great advice.

[R.Cook]

I throw Berserk Baits Jigs. Yes I am sponsored by them, but I would still be throwing them even if I wasn't. If I'm fishing lakes with a football head jig, I normally have two setups ready to go. First I'll have a 7' heavy fast acton rod with fifteen pound flouro, with a half ounce football head. I'll use this for fishing from the bank down to 30 or 40 feet of water. The second I'll have rigged up is a 7'mh fast action rod with 12 pound flouro and usually a 3/4 oz. And I'll use this for fishing excusively deep. The 12 pound helps get down quicker and has less resistance in the water to help keep you on the bottom. As far as colors, if it's clear like most of our lakes in California, It's hard to beat brown, brown/green, brown/purple. Hope this helps- Ryan

[Oldschool]

It's interesting to read other jig fishermans replies. A 1/2 oz jig down 30 feet of water in anything less than very calm or very light breeze conditions, is my depth limit. Considering I make my own jigs and use the best possible hooks available, I suggest a 5/8 to 3/4 oz jig for anything deeper than 30 feet because you can't detect a big bass bite, if you have any amount of slack line. I don't care what rod and line you are using.
The fact is over 90% of the jig strikes occur during the initail fall or within 5' of the spot the jig landed on the bottom. If you are missing those strikes; you are missing 90% of the jig strikes and only detecting 10% of the other strikes.
Tom

[Tin Can]

Thanks for the tips guys. I am mainly fishing reservoirs with rocky areas being the predominant cover. I was using a 1/2 ounce football head today with a beaver style trailer with 12 pound mono on a flipping stick. At around 35-40 feet the bait was feeling so mushy I couldnt really feel what it was doing very well. It was pretty windy too which didnt help any. I was wondering if a heavier jig or different line might help detect the subtle bites? Thanks again guys.

Go lighter on the rod and switch the mono for a good flouro and you will feel things much better at those depths. Or you could go the braid to flouro leader route as well. The combination of too heavy a rod and mono is killing the feel.

[acm95301]

Rods: Dobyn's 744c and 784c
Line: Braid with FC leader, in open water 10lb FC leader
reel: 7.3:1 diawa or revo STX
Lure: 1. Berserkbaits 3/4 oz Juniors special with Brawler trailer.
2. 3/4 oz skirtless with DT hula grub
3. 1/4-3/8 oz purple hornet with brawler

most people will consider 1/2 oz an all purpose size, but I don't happen to use them yet. Jigging is still a new deal for me. With Spring here I'll be focusing on Lure#3 for a while.

[Gerryjig]

I use a G Loomis IMX 783 with 8-10lb. flouro. I throw a 3/8 to 1/2 oz. Arkie head jig that I can slide over the bottom on a tight line while using my reel and not my rod to slide it....the only time I use the rod on the retrieve is to pop it over a potential hang-up. I'm with the others on the bite coming within 5ft. of where it landed or on the sink....usually the first pull. I detect the strike by watching the line and feeling the "tick" usually both occure.....even at depths of 50ft. or more. Remember 60ft. is only 20 yds. Yes sometimes the bite is a tad mushy but then your senses still tell you to crank and swing!!

[Micropterus salmoides]

My setup is a GLX BCR854, Daiwa Steez 103HA (6.3:), 16lb Toray fluoro, and usually a 1/2 oz jig tipped with pork, double tail grub, or sweet beaver.

For those that are using Berserk jigs how does the paint hold up? I bought a few over a year ago and after a few hours of fishing on rocks the paint was almost completely gone. I've tried several different football jigs and that was the only one that did that.