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JIGGING SPOONS
(By: "The Bass
Coach" ... Roger Lee Brown)
Through out the past several
years while fishing with co-anglers, charter clients, and some
of my bass fishing school students, I have noticed that most
of the fisherman and women dont carry jigging spoons in their
boxes, in fact when I ask them if they've ever used one they usually reply that they
have never used one or they wouldn't know the first thing about
using them. Well, let me suggest to you that a jigging spoon
is a very "Highly Productive" type of lure that you
need to learn if you plan to do a variety of bass fishing.
There are many different
brands of jigging spoons on the market today to choose from and
most of them work as well as any others that you might select
from all the different manufacturers but there is always an exception
to the rule, right? While recently on a fishing business trip
in California a fellow (a former bass fishing school student
of mine whom I spent 3-days on the water with) introduced these
jigging spoons to me, and let me tell you: "You won't find
any better than these!" They have such a unique design,
ultra sharp hooks, and the different color combinations are great,
anyway, when I got back home to Lake Champlain and Lake George,
NY I headed straight for the water to give them a try. I caught
a limit in the first two hours of using these jigging spoons
with one of the bass weighing a solid 6 lbs. (a Smallmouth bass).
And since then I always have one rigged up on one of my rods.....
Now, there are several
different patterns you can apply when fishing a jigging spoon
while fishing suspended fish, bottom fish, structure fish, and
in and around vegetation just to name a few....
SUSPENDED BASS: Suspended bass are probably the
most difficult bass youll ever fish. Many anglers use several
different methods and lures to fish suspended bass but, a jigging
spoon can prove to be as productive as any type of bait you can
ever use in this situation. Now, I will suggest how I use a jigging
spoon with suspended fish but keep in mind that every angler
seems to develop his or her own little touch, flare, or certain
technique that suits him or her with any bait used.
If I fish suspended bass
whether it be over tree tops, along bluffs or cliffs, or any
structure that may be in the water where suspended bass are I
will vertically drop the jigging spoon straight down just below
the suspended bass and let it pause for a moment. Then using
my rod to do the work, I'll lift the tip of the rod about 2 feet,
drop the tip about a foot, lift the tip another 2 feet, drop
the tip about a foot and repeat this technique until the rod
tip is usually up to a 10 oclock position. Then, while keeping
the slack out of the line I will slowly drop the tip back close
to the water surface and start again! Sometimes you will feel
a little pressure instead of solid hits, but as the ole saying
goes! "When in doubt?..SET THE HOOK!"
I strongly feel that if
you give this a try (not just for 5 minutes), but if you really
give this pattern a honest try Im sure that you wont be disappointed
at all!
BOTTOM BASS: Bottom bass
fishing with a jigging spoon again, can prove to be a highly
productive technique you should try. Now, before we fish for
bottom bass we want
to make sure of what's on the bottom as far as vegetation and
structure because we probably won't use a open exposed treble
hook if there is lots of stuff to get hooked up on, (get the
picture?) If there are lots of obstructions to get hung up on,
switch to a "Weedless jigging spoon" instead of using
the open exposed treble hook.
There are several different
techniques to use when fishing bottom bass with a jigging spoon
and I will share a couple with you to get you started. The first
one would be to vertically drop the jigging spoon and let it
hit the bottom. Lightly twitch the rod tip, making the jigging
spoon dance around the bottom, then let it lay still for a moment,
and repeat the technique.........I have caught small and large
Largemouth, Smallmouth, and
Spotted bass using this technique (one I remember being a 7.8oz
largemouth.)
The second technique would
be to make long casts and slowly retrieve the jigging spoon back
to the boat. Im quite sure that if you use this technique you
wont go home empty handed.
FISHING VEGETATION: There
are two techniques I will use when fishing in and around scattered
or thick vegetation. The first one I will use will be especially
for thicker vegetation areas. I will tie on a "Weedless"
jigging spoon and even apply a trailer (plastic grub, 1/2 of
a plastic worm, plastic crawl, or just about anything used for
a trailer) and make a cast letting the jigging spoon fall "ON
TOP" of the thick vegetation. After letting it set still
for a moment Ill start to drag it slowly back towards the boat
with a "Stop & Go" technique. All I can say is
HOLD ON!.... I cant tell you how many times Ive had big bass
come up and grab the lure.
The second technique I'd
use around vegetation would be using the same bait but now instead
of dragging the bait on top, let it fall in the open pockets
of the vegetation, and once again, HOLD ON!
I cant really tell you
in so many words of how great a jigging spoon can be for bass
fishing, but I can promise that if you gave these jigging spoons
a good honest try youll surly find these to be one of the best
baits you will ever use for not only quality, but for quantity
as well. I definitely teach all my students while attending my
3-day bass fishing school how to use these baits because they
have most definitely proven themselves to be one of the top universal
bass baits youll find on todays market.
If you have any questions
concerning jigging spoons or have any questions about bass fishing
in general please dont hesitate to contact me at my Email address
at: rlbrown@capital.net or you can visit my web sites
at: "The Bass Coach" and at fishing-boating or you can call me at (518) 597-4240.
Until next time! Take Care
& God Bless.......
"The Bass Coach"...Roger
Lee Brown
If you contact The Bass
Coach, let him know you saw his article on Zeiner's Angler Supply's
site.
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