Feeling the Jig Bite

When it comes to jig fishing a lot of anglers have problems with detecting the bite. Sometimes you will get that good thump when a fish picks up your jig and it's really easy to know when to set the hook. A lot of times though you will just get a heavy feeling on the end of your line like you are stuck in a clump of weeds. There are a two things that you can do to help yourself be able to better feel the bite.

When it comes to rod selection for your jig fishing try and stick with the same rod and reel throughout the course of the day. Having the same rod and reel in your hands at all times makes it a lot easier to be able to weigh your jig on the retrieve. Keeping everything the same makes telling subtle differences a lot easier whenever you get bit. Whenever something feels different it's time to set the hook. The rod I use for most of my jig fishing is a 7 foot medium heavy action AiRRUS Co-Matrix 457. The rod has a lot of things that any jig fisherman would be happy to find in a rod. It is sensitive, has a lot of power, economical, and very durable. I have swung countless 4 to 6lb fish in the boat with this rod and I have never broken one yet. I have been very impressed by the value and durability the rod has to offer.

Another thing you can do to improve your jig fishing is to use fluorocarbon line. This becomes really important when you are casting your jig any distance away from the boat. You can feel so much more on fluorocarbon line than you would with mono because fluoro has greater density. The added sensitivity of fluorocarbon line will help you detect more bites and you will also catch more fish in clearer water because it is invisible to the fish.

Punching Grass with Naked Bait Co. Skirted Weights

When it comes to bass fishing you can not beat a good flipping bite in the grass. Big bass love to burry up in the grass because it offers shade, protection, increased oxygen, and great cover to ambush prey. Whenever you have a lake that has vegetation in it the bass will almost always use it at some point during the course of a year.
We all know that big bass like jigs, especially big bass hanging out in the grass. One of the problems though you can face with throwing jigs in grass is that sometimes grass can get caught around the weedguard which can make for an unatural presentation to the bass.

Naked Bait Company has the solution to this problem in the Skirted Weight System. Naked Bait Companies Skirted Weights allow the angler to present a bait with the same exact profile as a jig while allowing the angler to add whatever bait they wish as a trailer.

Skirted Weights do such a great job of coming through the veggies and they are offered in both freshwater and saltwater sizes to make punching the thickest vegetation possible. A freshwater pack contains two of the following 1/16 oz, 1/8 oz, and 3/16 oz. A saltwater pack contains two of the following 1/2 oz, 3/4oz, and 1 oz.

When rigging the Skirted Weights what I like to do is take the 1/2 oz or the 3/4 oz and add one or two skirts to the collar. Then I'll put the skirted weight on my line and then tie on a Honey Hole 3/0 hook. I'll put either a Sweet Beaver or some type of craw on the hook texas style. Then I will peg the skirted weight with a rubber stop that is also available from Naked Bait Company. When everthing is set to go one more thing that I will do is slide the weight on down to the hook but make sure you leave a little room between the hook and the weight so you can get good hook movement so you can a good hookset. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to slide the weight all the way down on the plastic bait which makes hookups harder. Leave about a 1/4 " space.

When you have your Skirted Weight rigged up just take the bait and throw it in the grass and work it like you would a jig. The action is so good and you will be surprised with how many more fish you catch in the process. All the components of the Naked Bait Company Skirted Weight System can be purchased by visiting www.nakedbaitco.com.

Kentucky Lake Tournament Recap.

Riverwoods Church/FLW Open Tournament on Kentucky Lake

Just got back from fishing Kentucky Lake for the last couple of days. I went down to Kentucky Lake to compete in the Riverwoods Church Open Bass Tournament that took out of the KY Dam on Saturday. The tournament had no entry fee and guaranteed a 5,000 dollar first place prize as well as paying out the top 10. The tournament had around 200 boats. Entered in the tournament were a couple of local FLW tour pro's as well as local guides on the lake so I knew there was going to be some competition.

I got down to the lake around 1 pm on Friday and put the boat in the water to check out some of the spots that have produced a lot of keepers for me in the past up by the dam. All I could gather from practice was what areas I would not be fishing in the tournament. One of the biggest problems was that there was no current being generated which was changing the way the fish were positioned on the ledges that had been so fruitful in the past. Instead of the fish being positioned on tops of the ledges on a 15 to 20 foot break and just on the drops the fish seemed to be suspended out in 25 to 30 feet of water on the base of the drop offs on the channel bottom or out in open water. Not much was showing up on the depth finder on top of the ledges. Whenever there is current the fishing is a lot easier because the bass will pop up on top of the ledges and get tight to the bottom. Since there was no current the fish were backed out off the ledges and I knew it was going to be a grinder for me because I'm still learning how to catch these fish.

Going into the tournament I knew where a couple of rock piles where out in 25 to 30 feet of water that I had found in previous visits to the lake. I hadn't checked these spots yet so I thought it would probably be a good place to start. When my boat number 83 was finally called I tore out of the marina and headed full speed to the first deep rock pile. I had on the deck a 3/4 oz OMEGA football jig that I had added a custom made skirt that was watermellon candy with a couple of strips of firetiger on the belly that I had created with the Naked Bait Co skirt expander and a 10 inch green pumpkin Power Worm. When I got to the spot I found another boat already sitting on it working it over. He wasn't fishing the rock pile though but fishing about 30 yards to the right of where it was so I idled on over to the spot and noticed that he wasn't in the tournament. After a couple of words were exchanged he said it was fine for me to fish the spot too. I pulled out the rod with the power worm and made repeated casts to the rockpile and on the 8th or 9th cast I got a solid thump and set the hook on a 3lb bass and quickly swung it in the boat.

I picked up the rod and put a new worm on it and threw it right back to the rock pile hoping that I had just gotten a school of bass stirred up. Well after about 8 or 9 more casts with no luck I picked up the football jig and started stroking it on the rock pile and bagged up another 3lber. The fish just about too the rod out of my hands. Having two keepers in the boat for about 6lbs before 7 am I was feeling pretty good but I knew to have any chance I would have to catch some 5 and 6 pounders. Kentucky Lake has so many big fish that if you are not catching 5 and 6 pounders you don't have a prayer.

After not getting any more bites I decided it was time to make a move to another deep rockpile. On the first cast I caught a short on the worm and went a little while without another bite. I picked up the football jig and hit the rockpile a couple of times and finally got a solid thump and set the hook on another 3lber and swung it in the boat. The fish had the jig all the way down it's throat but I didn't need a 3lber I needed one about 4 or 5 lbs. I fished the area without another bite and made a move to another rock pile that sat in 30 feet of water. After a couple of casts to the pile I boated a short and then as I was snapping the jig up off the bottom my rod about doubled over and I set the hook on a 4lber and walked it around the boat a couple of times and swung it into the boat. The jig was all the way down it's throat.

It was about noon and I didn't have to be back for weigh in till 3:30 I had plenty of time to check some other locations. I pulled up on this hump up by the dam and caught a short off it on the football jig and then didn't get any more bites. The day after the tournament I caught a 5lber off the hump so guess I just didn't time it right. Since nothing was biting I made a move to a rocky main lake point that I have fished in the past with some luck. On about the 3rd cast I got a bite at the end of the cast. I reared back to set the hook and my rod was doubled over. I quickly put the rod down to try and keep the fish from jumping but the 4lber shot up and threw my 1 oz jig. It hurt so much to loose that fish.

It had been a while since I had fished that rockpile that I started on so it was time to make the trip back down lake to hit it again to see if it had reloaded. I managed to pull a couple of shorts off it and then lose another 2lber at the boat because I had tried to swing it and it hit the side of the boat. A 2lb fish on Kentucky Lake isn't going to help you out at all anyways so it was pretty easy to shake loosing that one off. I rotated through the rockpiles that had produced earlier and just couldn't get anything off them.

Time was starting to run out and the day wasn't getting any better. My lack of practice was going to hurt me. All the obvious spots were covered up with boats and I tried joining the party on a couple of the holes but nobody was getting bit. Since the Marina wasn't off limits to fishing I decided to make a run back to the Marina to fish the last 15 minutes of my day away to try and pick up one more keeper. I was mentally exhausted from battling the heat and boat traffic and I knew that it would take culling all my fish or catching a 10lber to even have a shot at getting in the money because my day had been so slow.

When I weighed in my 4 keepers went 13lbs and it wasn't good enough to get in the money. I ended up somewhere in the 30's and was pretty disappointed with how I fished but I guess it could have been a lot worse. The tournament took 19lbs to get into the top 10 and 28lbs to win. That 4lber that I wasn't able to get in the boat would have made it close. I would have had around 17lbs but I guess that is why they call it fishing instead of catching. The last couple of tournaments I just haven't been able to control the variables. In order to do good you have to be able to execute when it counts. I'm sorry for no fish photos from the tournament. Since it was so hot the fish after weigh in were released as quickly as possible to try and ensure their survival.

Gear:

7 Foot AiRRUS Co Matrix Rod, 15lb Flurocarbon Line on the Jig, 12lb Fluorocarbon Line on the Worm, 3/4 oz OMEGA Football Jig, 10 Inch Berkley Power Worm Green Pumpkin t rigged on a 5/16th oz bullet weight with Honey Hole Hook.

Heading to Kentucky

I'm heading to Kentucky in a day to fish an open tournament this Saturday on Kentucky Lake. The last couple of days I've been looking at my maps, watching the water levels, organizing the boat, and getting my tackle together. I expect the tournament to take some weight to win so I'm looking forward to throwing a crankbait, a big worm, and a big football jig most of the time. I've got a bit of experience on fishing the dam area on Kentucky Lake but I am going to try and make sure that past memories don't affect the way I attack the lake. Hopefully the fishing is good and I can also get some film work done as well down there that will be entertaining.

Grizzly's Tackle Company

Since it's been hotter than a fire cracker on the 4th of July, I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about one of the largest suppliers of ice fishing tackle in the Nation, Grizzly's Tackle Company.

Grizzly's Tackle Company has everything one needs to gear up for their ice fishing adventure. They offer nineteen different series of ice fishing rods, four different ice fishing reels, line, and over a million ice fishing jigs, which is enough to satisfy the needs of even the most advanced fisherman.

Grizzly's Tackle Company was started in 1978 by entrepreneur Grizzly Gleffe. Grizzly had a resort on Fox Lake,Wisconsin. When the resort did not work out as planned, Grizzly decided to embark on a new career path by getting into the tackle industry. Grizzly started out from humble beginnings selling rods and jigs and the business continued to grow into what it is today.

Grizzly's Tackle Company caters to the needs of ice fisherman world-wide. It was a surprise to find out that selling ice fishing tackle is not just a seasonal thing. Grizzly's Tackle Company sells tackle year round to meet the needs of tackle stores, hardware stores, and major retailers. The whole product line can be viewed at www.grizzlystacklecompany.com

Grizzly, along with a few of his close friends field test all of the equipment to ensure that Grizzly's Tackle Company continues to provide great products to their customers. On average Grizzly gets out to fish three to four times a week.

The inventory of ice jigs is just mind blowing. The following ice jigs are available:

Two-Tone Glow Bug, Sunfish, Ants Hackle, Ants Rubber, Barracuda, Beetle Rock, Black Glitter, Caddis Cane, Demon, Devils Standup, Devils Walleye, Diamond Jig, Flat Fish, Wide Gap, Freshwater Shrimp, Willow Eye, Gill Pill, Glow'n Paint, Glow Bug, Micro Mouse, Rat Finkee, Ratso, Shrimpo, Tetr-Totr, Two-Spot, Glow Ice Tick, Glow Indy Eye, Glow Rocker, Glow Willow Eye, Grizz's Glow Glitter, Tear Drops, Grizz's Purist, Grizzly's Darter Jig, Indy Eye, Large Glow Rocker, Marmooska, Micro Dot, Oval Eye, and Rocker.

Grizzly's jigs can be purchased by retailers by the display. These wholesale display cases have a variety of different jigs and come in these sizes.

12 Unit Display 3,600 Jigs

9 Unit Display 2,700 Jigs

6 Unit Display 1,800 Jigs

4 Unit Display 1,200 Jigs

3 Unit Display 900 Jigs

2 Unit Display 600 Jigs

Grizzly's Tackle Company joined the American Sportfishing Association and will be attending the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades - better known as ICAST which is scheduled for July 14-16, 2010, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Grizzly has attended the show in the past but this will be the first time as an exhibiter and he is very excited. Look for Grizzly's Tackle Company to be in booth # 1753.

For more information on Grizzly's Tackle Company please contact them

Grizzly's Tackle Company

402 N. 2nd St

Alma, WI 54610

608-685-4070

Grizzly Gleffe-Owner

grizzlystackle@yahoo.com

www.grizzlystacklecompany.com