Where To: Fish A Jig And Pig
Dateline 1/3/00
I tried to fish a jig and pig many times without much luck. One Thanksgiving several years ago I decided to fish nothing else all day. By lunchtime I was fishless and wishing I had not promised myself not to change.
At about mid-afternoon I worked my way to a rockpile were I had put some brush. I cast to the brush and pulled the jig and pig over a limb. Suddenly I realized my line was going sideways and I set the hook on a solid two pounder. I caught two more good keepers from that spot before moving to my next brush pile.
The next spot was the top of an underwater ridge where I had dropped a big cedar tree. It was surronded by a hard clay bottom with some rocks. My first cast to it produced a 6.5 pound bass! That made me decide a jig and pig was a good bait, and I have caught many bass on it since then.
Both the spots mentioned above contain brush and rocks, a good combination for jig and pig fishing. Crayfish like rocks and clay, and a little brush seems to make bass like it even better. Look for hard bottoms like red clay, and work your jig and pig there. Banks and mid-lake ridges both are good.
Rocks by themselves are also excellent. One of my favorite places to fish a jig and pig is riprap. These rocks around bridges, dams and other spots hold crayfish and bass. Use a light bait, 1/8 ounce if the wind and current will allow, and try a football head jig to lessen hangups. Bounce the bait around all the rocks and cracks between them to offer it to any bass in the area. Hopping the bait from behind a rock will make it look like a startled crayfish swimming from a bass that got too close, so hop your bait above the rocks often.
Steep rocky banks, especially those on the outside bends of creek channels, are very similar to riprap and can be fished the same way. Cast or pitch to the shallows and hop your bait down the drop back to you. If all the bass seem to be holding at the same depth, make parallel casts to the bank and concentrate on that depth.
If the rocks drop sharply, flipping is a fast, efficient way to cover them. Flip your bait near the top and hop it with short jumps down the rocks, all the way back under the boat. Then pull in thhe line and do it again a few feet farther down the bank.
Blowdowns are another excellent place to fish a jig and pig. Position your boat so you can cast to the trunk and work you bait back parallel to the limbs. Try to work every limb on one side of the tree and then move around to the other side and do the same. If the brush is too thick to fish this way, try to hit the outside edges first. Then cast to the center of the brush where it is real thick, jigging your bait up and down there over and over.
Brush, rocks and clay are the kind of cover to find for a jig and pig. Find all three and you may hit a motherlode of bass!
Also check out last week's article How To: Fish A Jig and Pig.
Do you fish a jig and pig? Tell me about it. Also, you can also post information about it for others on my message board - you must register to post but can read the board as a guest. Also, if you have thoughts you want to share about this topic, let me know about it at fishing.guide@about.com. for a "Fishtale" or discuss it in the chat room on every night at 8:00 EDT. Tell others what you like.
ONE YEAR AGO THIS WEEK - 01/04/99
- Winter Fishing Memories
Maybe some of the ways I have caught fish in cold water will help you
this winter.
TWO YEARS AGO THIS WEEK - 01/05/98
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Check out Coming Next Week - Next week's column topic, contest prize and new additions to the resources lists.
