By Staff
Kevin Stone
Franklin County Times
One of my favorite lures to fish with is a jig. I used to fish jigs primarily in the spring and fall but with the new styles that have become popular, I now fish jigs year-round. With all of the colors, styles, and sizes available, choosing the right jig can sometimes be difficult.
Let's discuss color first. I primarily fish three colors – green pumpkin, brown and black/blue. Most of the jigs I fish have one of these colors as the primary color with some jigs having different accent colors to mimic crayfish or bream. One of my favorite color combinations is peanut butter and jelly. It's basically brown with purple accents. Most of the accents will contain glitter that adds a little sparkle. The color combinations are endless but if you stick with the three basic colors, you can't go wrong. Use the light color jigs for clear water and the dark colors for stained or muddy water.
Over the last couple of years, I have become a fan of the spider or finesse jig. This is a round-head jig where the skirt is cut short and it flares out at the top. These jigs offer a different presentation and although they are finesse-style jigs, I tend to stick with 5/16 and 7/16-ounce weights. The 5/16 works great around shallow structure, and the 7/16 works well as a deep-water bottom bouncer.
The poison tail jig is a new style that is custom-molded. It has a head design that allows it to sit up and rock along the bottom. This jig is one of the best all-around flipping jigs made. I fish sizes in 3/8, ?, and ? ounces with the ?-ounce being used for deep water. The head shape also allows the heavier sizes to penetrate grass.
The football jig has become popular as a deep -water bottom crawler. The head of this jig is shaped like a football, which allows it to sit correctly once it hits bottom. The lighter sizes in this jig, 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4 ounces, are becoming popular when used as a shaky head.
When fishing a jig, I match a plastic trailer with the color and size of the jig. I most often use a craw papi or a twin tail grub. For the smaller jigs, I rarely use less than a 15-pound test line, and for the larger jigs I use 17 or 20 pounds. I fish most jigs on a heavy rod that is 6-10 in length and the larger jigs are fished on a 7-6 flipping stick.
For me, this weekend will kick off the spring tournament season. Vina School will be hosting its annual tournament at Slick Rock boat ramp on Cedar Lake. This is a well-run tournament, and I highly recommend fishing it. If you need any tips on jig selection, I will be at the Kiwanis Pancake breakfast Friday morning at First Baptist Church in Russellville. We will begin serving early, so please make plans to join us.
Kevin Stone is branch manager and loan officer at Valley State Bank and can be reached at (256) 332-3600.