Skirted Jigs: A Go-To in Almost Any Water Conditions
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Skirted Jigs: A Go-To in Almost Any Water Conditions
If I had to choose one lure that offered the best chance of success no matter the season no matter the water conditions it would be the jig and trailer.
From early spring, throughout the summer into the late fall, the jig, either swimming style or bottom bouncing provides the opportunity to present your bait to any desired depth at any desired speed.
The jig and trailer is arguably the most versatile bait in your arsenal considering the different weights, skirt styles and trailers that are available, especially for a custom assembling garage geek like me.
Choosing the Right Size and Color
Contemplating the common forage in our local waters it’s very easy to match up the proper jig head size and skirt color combos to replicate the basses favorite food sources in our local water.
For fishing more of a rock or mud bottom lake, I’ll make my jigs with a football or Arkie style of head. If I’m fishing the more veggie laden inland lakes in Michigan, my favorite choice by far is the Chompers Brush Jig. Its triangular head design with rounded edges easily comes through the thickest vegetation that I can find.
And I spend plenty of time throwing my swim and pitching jigs into the thick stuff. The weed guard on this brush jig is soft enough for effective hook sets yet not so stiff where I find myself nail clipping individual guard strands to find that hook set comfort zone.
Jig skirts are available from a large variety of manufacturers in a plethora of colors. The brand that I’ve had the most success with are from Boss.
With 60-plus different color choices, it’s very easy to “match the hatch” to the forage base in the waters I fish. In the last few seasons, the Boss Army Blue Bars color for a bottom bouncing craw mimic and their sprayed grass color as a bluegill mimic for swim jigs by far have been my most productive colors here in the upper Midwest.
At times, I’ll take a few strands of chartreuse and a pair of hemostats and manually push them through the collar when I want to add a little flair to a skirt.
Adding a Trailer
Trailers are another item that anglers can have a specific preference for.
Berkley or Zoom chunks are always a good choice when the water is colder or I need a more subtle presentation. When I want to stir the water up a bit and create some vibration, then Strike King’s Rage Tails, Net Bait Paca chunks, or Big Bite Baits chunks are all fantastic trailer options.
And if you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself attaching something extra (such as Northland Fishing Tackle’s Double Barrel Buckshot Rattle) to really wake ’em up.
Closing Thoughts on Skirt Jigs
So grab yourself a cup of coffee, your heads and skirts, lay them out on your table or the deck of your boat, and put together your very own customized jigs. I get a little more satisfaction lipping a chunky bass after I fooled him on a bait I designed and created.
I’ll bet you’d feel the same way too.
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