jig head vs texas rig

[ImaFrayedKnot]

I'm curious as to what people prefer... jig head or texas rig? I'm assuming there's a time and place for either, but not quite sure as to when one would out perform the other. The reason I ask is this will be my first year really getting out after bass on large lakes and I'm trying to set up a variety of options for targeting LMB & SMB.

Any and all info is appreciated!

[Amx]

GENERALLY speaking, in bass fishing there is no absolute, other than the Bass WILL suprise you, the worm will catch more fish, the jig will catch bigger fish. Yes it depends on the lake.

[ImaFrayedKnot]

GENERALLY speaking, in bass fishing there is no absolute, other than the Bass WILL suprise you, the worm will catch more fish, the jig will catch bigger fish. Yes it depends on the lake.

Thanks for the input. What sort of plastics would you throw on a jig head? I guess I was assuming you'd throw a tube or grub on one and texas rig a worm/creature bait.... Again, I'm new to these techniques so I may sound like a newb but that's because I am. I grew up on my grampa's farm pond and had only a few techniques that worked. Trying to learn new options.

[Amx]

1/4 oz to 1 oz skirted jigs are the normal sizes. Some people use heavier jigs. Round, oval, pointed, and of course football head jigs which are great for fishing in the rocks. Those plastics that you mentioned, and crayfish is a normal plastic to use on the skirted jigs. Standard worms can be good on a jig head, both short 6" and long 10" worms using a standup jig head and a floating worm so the bass can see it better.

Grubs I use on 1/8th oz round plain jig heads. Big tubes are good on big jigs. Small tubes I use on plain jig heads and Texas rigged on a wide gap hook with an internal weight, or an external bullet weight, usually pegged.

[downriggeral]

I like the famous drop shot method but I'm no expert either! Alan

[Amx]

Yes, a very efficient technique, I do it alot, but he didn't ask about that or other methods. lol

[BassDood]

I almost always have a 5 inch grub rigged up. I like to use a 1/0 Gamakatsu EWG, t-rigged, or tex-posed, (weedless) with an 1/8 bullet weight that's pegged. Goes thru weeds and wood real nice and catches a lot of fish. If I could only fish one bait...that would be it. I used to fish the round jigs but the exposed hook was bothersome. I toss plastic worms t-rigged occasionally....tho probably not often enough. Hard to get away from what works for you and what you have confidence in.

[downriggeral]

No hyjack intended..Alan

[AJ's Dad]

If you're in the mood to jig, whether it's in deep or shallow water these Big Hammer baits do the trick. They have a square tail and it has great action on the lift, on the fall, or just swimming them. The regular hammers come in sizes from 3" to 9" and the bass love them. I started using them this year and I love em. Lots of good colors to. For bass I would suggest anything from the 3 and 4"ers for small mouth to the 5 and 5 1/2" ers (bigger if you like big baits) for large mouth. You can go to this link and see them. http://www.swimbait.com/hammer.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


This link is to the version they call the Ring Hammer.
http://www.swimbait.com/rhs40.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You can see it rigged on a swim jig, chatter bait, regular jig head and a swimbait hook. The Ring Hammer is a new product for them. I just got an order of them in the mail and they look great. Looking forward to using them in the spring.

[ImaFrayedKnot]

Thanks for all the info guys. I appreciate y'all sharing the info with me. I'll be sure to check out those baits.. They seem like they'd be pretty effective. Do you guys get out and hit the lakes this time of year or simply wait for Spring to roll around?

[BassDood]

There's guys that fish bass in the winter and do ok. I don't because I don't have the patience and fish from tube so it gets cold. I switch to trout in winter. Come march...it's about bass for me.

[Amx]

I got one little 8" Largie on Fri I think, maybe Thur., I don't feel like going out in the sunshine to go to the garage and get my notes, but there's a fishing report on it. lol

Nothing today except 6 perch, all big enough to eat, but I didn't keep any.

Dropshotting both days.

[ImaFrayedKnot]

So now here's a question for ya guys. Which hooks do ya'll prefer for a Texas rig, or a drop shot hook... for either SMB or LMB?

[Amx]

Texas rig: Gamagatsu extra wide gap.

Dropshot: Gamagatsu dropshot hook in size #4 and #2 depending on the diameter of the worm used.

[BassDood]

What AMX said

[Fish-N-Fool]

I'm curious as to what people prefer... jig head or texas rig? I'm assuming there's a time and place for either, but not quite sure as to when one would out perform the other. The reason I ask is this will be my first year really getting out after bass on large lakes and I'm trying to set up a variety of options for targeting LMB & SMB.

Any and all info is appreciated!

My opinion is if you want to fish soft plastics the Tex posed rig or wacky rig is the only way top go, If you want to fish a jig and pig type bait that works too, but i personally would never fish a worm on a jig head. I kinda ruins the point of a worm. I know a lot of guys think that jig fishing catches the bigger fish, but that's not what I find. I get about 80% of my big fish on weightless heavy salt plastics and i fish 80% of all soft plastics weightless. 100% if they are a heavy salted bait as in my Sink-N-Fools or Senko type baits and such, so they have that natural fall. 90% of your fish on these baits the bite will come on the fall. If I'm fishing open water I really like a weedless wacky rig. I use the Owner #1 wacky hook with the nylon weed guard and a 1/4" long piece of 3/8" surgical tubing slid up the bait to run the hook through. Here is a example but I only used the blue to show up better in the pixs I use black and the tan colors the most but you can get it in almost any color to match your bait if you want.


This is one of my Sink-N-Fool baits with the Owner hook wacky rigged how I like with the piece of 3/8 " inside diam surgical tubing. Rigged this way you can catch 50 fish on one bait and it will still be in good shape and not fall off the hook. Plus the hook it not sideways like when the guys that rig with a o-ring is so the hook-up ratio is much better. You get them in the upper lip 90% of the time.