Jig Fishing Tips To Catch Bigger Bass This Summer

Hey, guys, Cliff Pirch here with BassResource.com. I want to tell you a little bit about Summer Jig Fishing. So, where I'm from out west, a lot of times summer fishing means those fish are going to be moving out deep. We've got a lot of deep western reservoirs, and they're going to be on deep rock shoals, deep breaks, deep points, deep ridges, getting some depth on them, and one of the keys to getting down there is getting down there fast with a Football Jig. The reason I go with a Football Jig, generally, I'm throwing a heavy one, especially, in the summer it's going to be 3/4 ounce or 1 ounce. I want something really going to get down there fast. I want to make a lot of commotion in the rocks, noise as I'm moving along and the Football Jig is going to do it.

The other thing is I can cast a long ways with a Football Jig, and when I'm throwing out to schools of bass, I want to make a long cast. The Football Jig, again, 3/4 ounce is probably my 90% of the time favorite and it's going to get down there and cover the country a lot better than if I was to say go to a half or anything lighter than that. So, a 3/4 ounce Football Jig, it's going to be a good mimic for bluegills, crawdads, and even shad colors sometimes. It's just a good natural presentation. Sometimes fish get tired of seeing, and hearing, and feeling the vibration of something like a crankbait, or a spoon, or something like that, where that natural jig will really get bit. So, the Football Jig is going to do it for me in the summer.

As far as my technique goes, I'm going to be making long casts, I'm going to get it down into the school and, typically, I'm not working it slow in the summertime. You know, some of the other months of the year that I'm fishing a Football Jig I might be crawling it or working through the rocks. In the summertime, a lot of times I'm going to use a hop and a pretty fast retrieve. I'm going to be moving that bait. It's going to be a little bit reactive, snapping it up off the bottom, waiting for that bite on the fall. So, I might be, like, double snapping it, let it fall, double snap, let it fall. That's going to trigger them. They're feeding a lot in the summertime, their metabolism's high, they're used to stuff moving fast and sometimes you need to trigger them to get them biting. So, the Football Jig works well to get them to react and covers the country again. Like I said earlier, it just covers the country well.

So, as far as my colors go, usually, in the summer your water clarity starts to get pretty decent. So, I'm going my natural colors most of the time, watermelon, green pumpkin, brown, those crawfish to bluegill color imitations. This one here is a, I've got a little bit of... I've got a little bit of brown living rubber on it and some some silicone to give it a little bit more clean looking, kind of like the brown back of a crawdad, kind of brown, lighter brown, and then I've got a little bit of a green-pumpkin orange Ramtail trailer on there and that's just a good natural crawdad color. Most places in the country that's going to be a real good natural crawdad colors.

Okay, guys, on the Football Jig as far as my trailer I want lots of action. This is the Ramtail craw from Big Bite Baits. It's got good vibration and good kick. Now, again, in the summertime, I want that action. I want the vibration. It's moving fast so I'll take and pull it out of the package. These legs have little appendages. You just pull them and it separates and that gives you the vibration. So, again, I want that action in the summer. Kicking legs, all that stuff moving really helps. So that's what goes on my Football Jig in the summer. It's the Ramtail craw from Big Bite Baits. It's got a little bit of extra scent. That's why they get the Scentsation name. It gives them just a chance to hang on to it a little longer. That Football Jig is super unnatural. That 3/4 ounces is as heavy. They're going to get rid of it as soon as they feel something unnatural. So, if I can get them to hold on to that Scentsation plastic a little bit longer it's going to help me out. I'm going to be able to recognize that bite and give me a little bit longer to make the hook set. So, the Ramtail craw from Big Bite Baits, that's my main deal on the back of my Football Jig. So that's my Football Jig.

Some of the key features on it as opposed to the flipping jig where I've got a real heavy wire hook, my Football Jig, I'm going to be going with more of a medium wire hook. The reason why I'm making a long cast it's way out there so when I set the hook I've got a lot of line to move. I might have some bow, some current, some wind. So, there's a bow in the line, I want to make sure I get a good hook set.

And the other thing is I'm probably using 15 to 17-pound fluorocarbon. So, you might get a little bit more stretch than you would as if you were flipping braids. So, the medium wire hook is what I'm going to go with. It gives me enough power to fight a big fish on a decent size line 15 to 17. It's not so bulky that I can't get a hook set when they clamp down on it. That flipping jig is going to be just a lot heavier wire hook. My Football Jig medium wire is what I'm going with.

So, my weed guard, a lot of times I will use a weed guard unless I've just got no cover and just shells, sand, rock. I might, completely, take the weed guard off. But if I've got some stumps, I've got some brush piles, any type of sunken boats or any kind of trash I'm fishing, I like a little weed guard. But my weed guard is going to be a medium to light weed guard. I'm not looking to have to punch through a whole bunch of weed guard. It's going to be a little lighter than say on my flipping jig would have. So, I've got a medium weed guard. If you're jig comes with a heavy weed guard, go ahead and trim some of those strands out. Trim them at the base. Don't trim them at the end. The end, basically, you'll just be stiffening up your weed guard. So, I want to trim some out, peel a few out and trim them right at the base where it's just got less for the fish to bite through. So, medium weed guard on my summer football head. Again, one, because of my long casts, and, two the cover's not as bad and I can get to that hook when I go ahead and set the hook.

As far as my rod goes, this is a Phenix Extra Heavy. It's a 7'7". I'm spooling it up with 15 to 17. You can even go 20. I like 15 to 17 because it tends to fall through the water column a lot faster and I can get it down fast, and your sensitivity is a little bit better if you go a little bit lighter. Now, you can go 20 and get away with it. Sometimes you need it in certain types of cover, certain fisheries, but my Football Jig, I'm going to lean towards 15 to 17-pound test a lot of the times.

Flourocarbon line, sinks, very little stretch, but more stretch than a braided application. So, 15 to 17-pound test on there. My rod, again, I'm using the 7'7". Extra Heavy. I don't want a lot of give on that. This is a heavyweight, that big old football head in there, 3/4 ounce, 1 ounce. Once they pick it up, it doesn't feel natural. So, as soon as I feel something, boom, I'm setting the hook. It's a hard hook set and I'm winding fast. They're going to jump. They've got a lot of leverage to throw it, and they'll try to throw it. So, I want a fast hook set and I want a real, like, mad. I want to get them to the boat. Might even have to point the rod tip down. If you see them coming up to jump, try to just four-wheel drive them. So, fast retrieve reel. I want to be able to move line fast, catch up to them. But that Phenix 7'7", Extra Heavy doesn't have a lot of give in it. It's real sensitive, but I want lots of power because I'm trying to move that bait a long ways away and get a solid hook set. Again, when they bite down on a crawdad, they're crushing it, and they've squeezed it hard. So, when you go to having to jerk, you really want to be able to move some lines. That's why I like the Extra Heavy, and I'll get a little better hook set that way.

A Football Jig is pretty easy to throw. It's a lot of leverage for them when they jump. I want good pressure. Like I said, I'm four-wheel driving them. Once I got them on, I'm four-wheel driving them, trying to get them to the boat. You know, least amount of jumps possible and get them in the boat. That heavy action is really important for that. Again, my line, 15 to 17-pound fluorocarbon, I want it to sink. The rod heavy, my action in my reel, I want a fast speed.

So, I think those are some of the key components for Summer Jig Fishing. Again, I'm going to lean towards the football head. If you're on a different type of fishery, you might be somewhere where it's flipping shallow cover. That would be a whole different video, but I'm talking summertime, basketting out offshore on the reefs, deep breaks, deep points, stuff like that. So, I'm going to lean towards a Football Jig, I feel, like, that's going to be my most efficient and most effective presentation. So, Football Jig fishing in the summertime. Hopefully, some of those tips will help you out. Go catch them.