I had a chance to talk with Jim and we discussed his Rock Jig from All Terrain Tackle, one of his sponsors. He helped design this jig so his tips on fishing it are great.
The Rock Jig is a football head jig made for fishing gravel bottoms. It does not have a weed guard so wood or weed cover is a problem, but the All Terrain Tackle Football Head jig works well in those conditions. The Rock Jig is Jim's go-to bait when fishing lakes with gravel and hard bottom points and shoals. It also works well around boulders but hangs up in chunk rock. He can fish it fast and cover water, using it as fish finding tool as well as a lure to land fish.
Jim is from Minnesota and there are lots of lakes with this type cover so he is used to fishing it, but his Rock Jig works well all over the US, as his success on the FLW trail attests. With the Football Head jig he can fish most types of cover anywhere he is fishing.
Jim likes a heavy one-ounce jig when fishing open water and makes long casts to cover a lot of water each time. By making long casts you also keep your boat away from the fish and avoid spooking skittish bass. Depending on water clarity, Jim will fish his jigs on #10 to #16 line and sticks with fluorocarbon since it is more invisible and also gives him better feel.
Cast the jig out and let it fall on a slack line so it falls straight down. Then you can crawl or hop the jig back. Sometimes Jim will slow down and just jiggle the jig in one place, trying to make it "teeter" without moving across the bottom. Try different retreives until the bass show you what you want.
Colors depend on amount of light penetrating the water. On bright days and clear water Jim will go with greens like green pumpkin. Black is a good color in stained water or low light conditions.
Jim often fishes the jig with a trailer - something like a twin curly tail or chunk. He will add a skirt to the jig making it look more like a traditional jig and pig. He thinks bigger baits catch bigger bass so he often throws the jig head with a skirt and big trailer.
For fishing more shallow water and cover like docks and weed beds Jim will downsize to a 3/8 to 3/4 ounce jig. A lighter jig also comes through blowdowns without hangups better. For this type fishing the Football Head jig with a weedguard is a better choice.
Give Jim's Rock Jig and Football Jig a try and try his ways of catching fish. They should work for you.
