THE BASS COLLEGE

Today's soft plastic lure market is booming with new styles and colors of baits, but when you are looking for the biggest bite of the day, the fish that consistently win tournaments; then anglers in the know go to the bait that has been proven over time to catch the biggest bass; the venerable jig-and-pig.

20 years ago, this bait was reserved for the sluggish bass, or for fishing in the heaviest cover, or for bottom fishing techniques. Today, this bait is being used at all times of the year, in a variety of different fashions.

This bait has remained relatively the same over the past 30 years. It has gone through some cosmetic changes, such as better hooks, livelier skirts, and a broader spectrum of colors and sizes, along with plastic trailers, which enable a wider variety of color options, but this bait, dressed with either plastic or pork, continues to catch bigger bass when other baits fail. Because of the popularity of the flipping technique used by most of the veteran anglers today, the jig has remained among the most popular baits in many anglers tackle boxes. Because of so many recreational anglers concentrating on the flipping technique, the jig's universal effectiveness has been overlooked.

Many people have forgotten that casting a jig is an effective technique also. The jig can be presented at a lot of different depths and around a variety of structure. You are really limiting yourself if you only focus on the flipping aspect of it. Many times during the summer months, we have come in behind other anglers flipping obvious targets, or casting more traditional summer lures, and we have caught bass making roll casts, looking for isolated pieces of cover that other anglers have missed.

DIFFERENT SIZES

Jig sizes have changed in recent years, along with skirt material and colors. The 3/8 ounce size remains the most popular, with smaller versions are being used more and more with great success. The smaller finesse type of jigs are much more effective in clear water, while the heavier, bulky versions are great for fishing stained to muddy water. Not that the heavier jig isn't effective in some shallower, open water, but a more compact 1/2 ounce bait is more effective. This is especially true when fishing some of the finger lakes of New York State, or any of the waters where smallmouth bass are also present. The heavier jig is more effective when the bass are aggressive, as it allows you to fish it faster and cover more water. When the fish are suspended, or you need to keep it in the strike zone longer, the lighter jig is more effective.

We always keep experimenting with several sizes, letting the bass tell us what they want. In the summer months, when we swim the jig around boat docks, we opt for the lighter 1/4 ounce size, with a plastic trailer, to imitate a crawfish or baitfish. Swimming the jig is a very effective technique that is overlooked by many weekend anglers. Most small jigs don't have a big enough hook to handle quality bass, which is why we use a Strike King Bitsy Bug. We have been using this bait since 1998, when we had great success with it in several local tournaments in cold water as well as in the summer. The Bitsy Bug has a bigger hook than most, and it handles larger bass well. In warmer, clear water, we like to use a grub or swimming worm as a trailer, this is very effective when you are trying to imitate a crawfish. In colder, or more stained to muddy waters, we like a bulkier trailer, as they displace more water and make it easier for the bass to home in on the bait.

The design of the jighead is another thing you have to think about. They need to be matched to the type of cover you are fishing. A jig that has a head that is more pointed, with its eyelet coming out of the front rather than the top, is going to pull through weeds better than a broad shouldered jig. We like to use a Jungle Jig, by Northland for this. This is one of the jigs that helped us win the Big Bass World Championship several times. It was very effective here in the Northeast, in some of the heavier, weedy cover. When we fish around rocks and wood, we use a jig with more shoulders to help stop it sometimes. Many companies make this type of football or stand up jig, which is great for these situations. When you pull it over an object, the jig tips, adding more action. We have used these jigs effectively on many of New Jersey's reservoirs such as Spruce Run. You must also match the size of the line to the size of the jig hook you are using. A heavy-duty jig hook requires a stronger hook set, so you need heavier line to handle it.

Of course, it helps to know when you're getting a bite. Big bass really thump a jig with the same vigor they do a plastic worm, and many other strikes are felt simply as spongy sensation, or just like you're dragging weeds. That's why it is important to set the hook on anything that feels unnatural, it could be weeds, or it could be a 7 pounder!

JIG COLORS

While a black and blue jig seem to be the favorite, we like to match jig colors to the water conditions. A dark colored jig with a big crawfish trailer, moving on the bottom, does a great job imitating a crawfish, but a white jig swimming over cover and around boat docks does a good job of imitating a baitfish. This is great when bass want a slower presentation, or when you can't fish a crankbait or jerkbait with ease. Many times when bass are feeding on shad, but want a slower presentation than a spinnerbait, this is the best choice. It can also catch the bigger bass, that are ignoring the spinnerbait.

We like the plastic trailers in the summer months, and the pork in the winter. Pork is more pliable in cold water, while plastic gets stiff. In places where many anglers cast tubes or small finesse worms, such as clear water flats, we cast jigs in neutral colors, and catch bigger bass. Many times when bass ignore other baits, the jig will trigger a strike. This is also a great bait for night fishing.

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I'm not a jigs man.  But after reading more about jigs here on the site I'm going to try to uses them more.  I'll be fishing from the banks so it looks like I'll be swimming jigs.

             Thanks Steve.I bought a bunch of jigs last year and didn`t really get a chance to use them. Being a first time user of Jigs wasn`t really sure how or where they would work best.Any info is always helpful.

OLDF whiles theres endless ways to fish a jig heres 3 simple ways that will help you land more and bigger bass and help you become a JIG MAN.  1. Pitch a jig into,up against or on the edge of the thickest cover  (laydowns,logjams,stumps,brushpiles,weed clumps,lily pads,weed lines,docks,seawalls,bridge supports etc)Let the bait fall to the bottom lift and drop to bottom again, repeat then if no takers reel in make another pitch. 80% of strikes come on that initial fall the other 20% on the first or 2nd lift. Be sure to make a quiet entry when pitching the bait as your hoping to drop the bait right on the fishes head and to much commotion will spook even the most aggressive bass.   2. A cast and hop or drag retrieve. Cast bait out let it fall and start hoping and draggin the bait back to the boat almost like fishing a weighted plastic worm. This technique works well and I prefer a football head jig for this most times. Works great over a sand or gravel bottom where bass are used to seeing crawfish. 3. Swimming a jig. While you can vary your speed and retrieve my favorite is to throw the bait in a baitfish color to the same spots you'd throw a spinnerbait. I like to reel it just fast enough that I can keep a visual contact with it. Depending on water clarity that may be 2 or 3 ft in clear water or 6 inches in muddy but I reel it in with my rod at about 10 oclock giving my rod little erratic twitches or jumps as I'm reelling it in.

For all my jig fishing I like stout equipment. A minimum of a 7ft MH rod, a high speed reel at least 6.3 to 1 and heavy line either 20 + mono or fluro or 65 lb braid.

Thanks for the tips.

TIPS BY STEVE AND KURT Filmed at the Northeast River in Maryland.

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GIVE A FLIP with Denny Brauer

By Ken Duke

Over the course of my career, I've caught bass just about every way there is to catch them — from topwater to dragging the bottom with a Carolina rig — but most people seem to associate me with flipping and pitching. It's a fair label and one that I don't avoid. After all, several of my 16 career BASS tournament wins (including the 1998 Bassmaster Classic) came at the end of the long rod, and I think there's no better way to target big fish in shallow water than by pitching and flipping.

Thirty years ago, when flipping was still fairly new and pitching hadn't been invented, everyone carried just one rod style for the technique. It was 7 1/2-feet long and had all the action of a pool cue.

Today, however, we know better. Over the years, I've learned just how diverse flipping and pitching can be. I've fished with lots of different rods and reels and learned the shortcomings of each. One rod size and action doesn't cut it for me anymore, and if you're a flipper and pitcher, you should consider expanding your lineup to get more out of these techniques. Here's what I do:

The Rods

Just like everybody else, I once tried to use one action for all of my flipping and pitching. Boy, was that a mistake! The rod was too heavy for light lines and small baits, and it was too light for working extremely heavy wood and matted vegetation. The compromise was costing me fish.

Fortunately, one of my sponsors, American Rodsmiths, saw the same need, and we designed a three-rod lineup of flipping and pitching rods that will cover all the bases.

The Denny Brauer Flipping/Pitching Rod is 7 feet, 4 inches long and is a terrific all-around rod, but it's specially designed with a softer tip to handle lighter lines (17-20-pound test) and lighter baits. It's perfect for working boat docks or other areas where the cover's not as heavy or when you want a little more finesse in your approach.

Our Perfect Flipping Stick is 7-6 and is probably the model that I use most. The tip is light enough for smaller baits, but it's got enough backbone for mats. If you're getting only one rod for your flipping and pitching, I'd pick this one.

Finally, there's our "Big Nasty." It's a 7-7 rod that's perfectly suited for a style of flipping and pitching that's gaining in popularity every year — mat fishing. This rod is designed to yank big fish out of heavy cover. You wouldn't want to use light baits or line with this outfit, but you'll get tremendous hook penetration with the big hooks commonly used when pitching and flipping heavy cover.

One thing I want to mention about these rods is the new handle we're using. It's a softer handle than you're used to — very much like a golf club handle. It gives you a better grip — wet or dry — and once you use it you won't want to go back to cork or anything else. I'm addicted!

Now, for your personal flipping and pitching, you might not need all three rod types. Your waters might call for the lightest model or the heaviest, but I use all three because I travel the country and see all types of scenarios. Sometimes I've got all three of these rods on my deck and alternate between them depending on the cover I'm fishing. The tools you need depend on the situations in which you find yourself.

The Reel

While I use three different rod actions and lengths for my flipping and pitching, I only use one reel, the Ardent F-700 Flip-N-Pitch reel. It's a signature series reel I designed for Ardent, and the best flipping and pitching reel I've ever used.

The first thing you'll notice about the reel is that it has no levelwind. Instead, there's a cone at the nose of the reel and the lines passes through it. This reduces friction and lets you make longer pitches with less effort.

The spool is small and narrow. You don't need a lot of line for pitching and flipping; they're close-range tactics. But the F-700 has plenty of line if you want to make a cast. It's rated for 90 yards of 20-pound-test. If you think you need more line than that, we need to talk.

It has a flipping switch that will reengage the reel when you release the thumb bar, and it's fast at 6.3:1, so you'll pick up line quickly and be ready to make another presentation.

Another reason I'm so proud of the F-700 is the guts of the thing. We reworked the old Ardent F-500 and beefed it up with more and better ball bearings. There's no star drag on this reel, either. Instead, it has a Perma-Lock drag that's factory-set at 22 pounds so it won't slip on the hookset. It's the ultimate flipping and pitching reel.

Working with two different companies — American Rodsmiths and Ardent — to create the perfect flipping and pitching combo was a challenge, but it came together because they're both committed to being the best.

If you're ready to take your flipping and pitching to the next level, I hope you'll take a look at the products I've designed. No matter what, though, start thinking about pitching and flipping as being more versatile and wide-ranging than you may have in the past. These techniques have been around a long time now, but they're always evolving and improving. Our job is to keep imagining new ways to use them to become better anglers and catch more bass.

And remember: Give a flip!

Very good soft lure, also weightless!!

Just bought a couple of swim jigs in red and black and blue, black, and pink. I added a zoom trailer. I will try flipping and pitching with these jigs at a lager pond with docks. I've only fished there once, but I think that there could be several bass holding under the docks, up in the shallows (that also have plenty of brush), and under the overhanging structure on the opposite bank. 

Flippin and pitching is a great way to use a jig but also your swim jigs should be reeled in almost like youre throwing a spinnerbait

You will catch way more big bass.

I was working it today. lol I kept setting the hook everytime the line felt different. Must have been grass. Never caught a fish on it. The guy who was fishing with me had a good laugh all day.

i have only caught a few fish on a jig but they were all big, usually when i fish tournament im a co angler snd the boater never fishes slow enough for me to hit the spots i want to with a jig,

by the way how do you peg something as dumb as that sounds i dont know how to do it, lol since i never knew i always just used a weighted hook