The Right Jig

By Aaron Martens

Not all jigs are created equal. Martens discusses how he matches selection and presentation to local conditions and crawdads

The first thing I do when I get to a new lake is walk down bank and begin flipping some rocks. I want to dig up a few crawdads, just to see what they look like in that particular lake, and I'll usually find what I need within the first 50 feet of bank. I want to know their average sizes, colors and patterns, which are different in every lake, so I can select jigs that match them.

Then, I'll pull out jigs that are well-suited for that type of water--considering rocks, vegetation, clarity, etc.-- fine-tuning the colors and trailers to match the crawdads. Finally, before I'll look at the jigs and the crawdads together in the water. It's important to hold both under the water. A jig that looks like a perfect match, may look completely different when submerged.

A lot of people don't go through this trouble, thinking it's a waste of time. However, I believe that using the right jig is just as important as fishing it the right way. In fact, matching color to the local crawdads--the food item jigs best imitate--is a major part of jig fishing that most anglers overlook.

After Color, Style

I spend a lot of money on jigs, and have boxes full of countless weights and styles. Some boxes are loaded with nothing but grass jigs, rock jigs or maybe finesse jigs, and I'll pull out different boxes based on the kind of lake I'm fishing.

I also use a lot of different trailers, among them Roboworm Kickin' Craws, plus Zoom Brush Hogs and Super Chunks. The Kickin' Craw works great for swimming, a technique I'm just beginning to explore. The Brush Hog is extra good in the spring, when the big females are looking for larger meals. The Super Chunk is great for hopping because the jig falls straight back down when you let it drop, and the legs kick a lot.

For fishing around grass, which I do a lot when I'm fishing out East, my jig must be able to pull though cover. Therefore, most of my grass jigs have the eye at the tip, which works best for nosing through vegetation. My favorite jig for this application is a Lunker Lure Ultimate Rattlin' Jig.

Rock jigs, on the other hand, should have the eye on the top, which keeps the rocks from tearing up the knot. I especially like football heads for fishing clear, rocky lakes, and a friend hand-makes my football jigs using fine rubber skirts and Gamakatsu hooks.

Because I use fluorocarbon about 90 percent of the time when I fish jigs, I use a San Diego knot. A palomar knot, I believe, will cut fluorocarbon, and the San Diego knot is very strong. It's also a tight knot that holds secure to the eye, which is important. For casting applications, I like to place the knot right at the front of the eye and tighten it. For more vertical approaches, like flippin', I'd rather have the knot right on top. The knot position makes a surprisingly big difference in the action of a jig, and provides a little extra control.

The Ups And Downs

My retrieves vary greatly, based depth, cover and aggression level of the fish. Generally speaking, I use more hops on grassy lakes, where the crawdads spend more time up in the water column. Over rock, I tend to drag the bait more. Crawdads typically stay close to rocky bottoms, so dragging works much better, especially when I stop and shake the jig whenever I feel a boulder, or other cover. Try hopping it a bit, too, instead of just shaking it against cover.

For fishing grass I experiment a lot, using big hops for aggressive fish, or just shaking the jig--much like shaking a worm--for more tentative bites. Usually there's that happy medium somewhere, and once I get bit a few times, I can usually figure it out. Most days, the bass will definitely want a jig a certain way, so it's important to mix it up and not get caught fishing just one standard way.

My jig-fishing outfits include a 7-foot, 2-inch flippin' stick, matched with 20- to 25-pound fluorocarbon; a 7-foot, 2-inch pitchin' stick, matched with 16- to 20-pound fluorocarbon; and a 6-foot, 8-inch medium-action rod, matched with 12- to 14-pound fluorocarbon. Occasionally, I'll use monofilament for a slower sink rate around grass, or braid for fishing really dense cover.

The main jig sizes I use are 3/8- and 1/2-ounce models; however, I'll go as light as an 1/8-ounce for very clear water and shallow fish. Plus, I have plenty of 3/4- and 1-ounce jigs for when I need them.

Again, I carefully consider conditions, the depth where I expect the fish to find the most crawdads and the technique that I want to use, then try to pick the best jig I own for doing what I need it to do. Go through these steps in your mind, don't shortcut inspecting the crawdads, and you'll catch more jig fish. That's my promise to you.