Deep Jigs - Line Choices

[74mph]

Hey guys! Ive been fishing more and more deep jigs this year and I am setting up a new rod/reel for the job.

Ive been using a rod that was completely not intended to be a deep jig rod. It is a rod that I typically use in sloppier conditions. The reel is currently spooled with 65lb braid.

Since I have been using it with deep jigs I have been tying a 4ft floro-carbon leader to make it less obvious down there. I have actually been having realy good success with this goofy line setup.

Im building a new setup now. My main question is should I

a) stick with braid and just go to a lighter test like 30lb braid and use the 20lb floro leader

or

switch to a full spool of 20lb floro?

My concern with option b is that I may experience some stretch that I did not ever get in the 65lb braid and this will make me less sensitive to the bite. I do know that a ton of guys including the pros use straight up floro...

What do you guys do?

-DK

[Cecil]

Tough to say. I have a couple of both. If im fishing weed edges I use the 20-25 flouro. If Im in the thicker cover, I will run the braid.

[slipperybob]

There are some concerns with line stretch, but line will bow in the water and you'll have to pull a line hard enough to straighten it out before most of the stretch will come into play.

If you're looking for casting distance along with deep water fishing, I'd spool up 30# braid.

[74mph]

Casting distance is a good point. I do feel that the braid gives a bit more distance and is definently easier to un-tangle if I forget to adjust the reel in the wind!

[Cecil]

I wouldnt make tooo long of casts with jigs in deep water or weeds. Askin to lose fish.

But braid would help with that

[Larson15]

Agreed. Long casts on a deep weedline will result in lost bites and poor hookups. I use nothing but 20lb fluro on all of my jig rods. All of my jig rods are heavy action as well. With a good hookset and a heavy action rod stretch has little concern. Also another thing to note with braid is that it has Zero sensitivity when there is slack in the line. This is an important factor when fishing deep especially on days that might be windy. Even with slack in the line I can feel the bite through flurocarbon.

[74mph]

Larson - That is interesting, never thought of that but it makes sense. The floro actually has a compressive stiffness where the braid does not so your right on, slack line braid would have no sensitivity.

Most of my deep jigs I'm talking about are football jigs. I fish a deep weed line swim jig on a different rod - That's the one I should definitely put the 20lb floro on based on this feedback. For the football jigs I can always keep constant tension since I'm dragging and since they are typically heavy.

That is great advice. Thanks!!

[Deitz Dittrich]

I do not cast a jig far.. I just dont.. I do however have 5 jig rods in the boat at all time.. 2 have floro, 2 braid, and one mono.. And to be honest.. each get about the same time in my hand.. The mono may be the least.. As far as sensitivity. Not a whole lot of difference in Braid to Floro, and to be honest, a jig bite is about as good as it gets.. if you miss it, your not paying attention or your casting cross wind..

[Cecil]

We'll test that tmrw

[Superduty]

I'm not a big flouro fan. Never had a line of any kind fray more than when I tried pitching with 20 lb flouro. I really don't understand the "abrasion resistance" all the professional fisherman/line salesman pitch to us about flourocarbon. Any by the way, it stretches too. Infisherman mag. did a pretty good job of debunking some of the flouro rumors awhile back. Good reading from a source that wasn't getting paid to promote the product! The only baitcaster in my boat with flouro is my deep crankbait rod. You can't argue with the density of flouro getting you more depth on a crankbait.

Larson is right about the lack of slack line sensitivity of braid.

I have to disagree with Deitz about a jig bite being a can't miss type of bite. Some of the biggest bass of the day/year are usually on a jig and often are from barely detectible bites. Anybody ever set the hook when something just didn't seem right? It can pay to be a line watcher. I'm amazed every year how a bass can swim 5 feet with a jig and nothing is felt through a high $$$ flippin stick. Anyway, to answer the original question, I would go with 30 lb. braid on a deep jig rod vs. straight flouro. Occasionally, I will run a short leader of flouro. or mono attached to the braid main line if I'm fishing especially clear water, or if I would like to add some stretch for a shock absorber on hooksets or when playing a fish near the boat.

[MegaHawk]

I went from 20 lb 100 percent floro to 17lb this year and wow I can't explain how much better and managable the 17lb is for me! i can get better distance outta my casts and no issues with break offs from fish.

as far as floro fraying , I have only seen my 6lb stuff do that after a few fish or a toothy critter gets a hold of it.

[slipperybob]

I think the casting distance in content is regarding ease of casting of 30# braid vs 20# flouro. Not talking about long distance casting for deep water weedline fishing.

Flourocarbon lines like nylon lines comes in different grades of abrasion resistance. It's all about the resins and the line extrusion process. The Flourocarbon crystals should be harder than nylon. When made soft and supple to be spoolable, it loses it's abrasion quality. Simply can't expect it to perform at the quality of the actual leader material.

[Jig Master]

If you're talking about fishing a football jig then it's hands down flouro all the way, and lighter than what most people have mentioned. 15lb. is good and I've used a lot of 12lb. this year too. I am basing my opinion on 1. personal experience

2. what the pro's use

If you look at the good guys fishing the Elites or FLW Tour they ALL throw fluoro for this technique. Throwing braid with a football head is a little greenhorn if you ask me.

[Superduty]

Don't believe everything you hear from a pro that is paid to endorse products...

[Jig Master]

ha ha, oh trust me I don't believe everything the pros say. Especially when it's on tv, the net, or any other media source their sponsors will see. But when you talk to them 1 on 1 and walk the docks at tournament blastoff and see for yourself, then you know that's what they use. Plus I didn't even mention any brands!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Superdude- I know better than to argue with you on anything. You have beaten the pants off me more times than I care to admit. So, I give you permission to disagree with me.. LOL. I'll stick by my original statement though. Of all the techniques, I can still feel a jig bite better than any. But I aint going to lie, I have missed my fair share too..

[Superduty]

Deitz, no disrespect intended. With most of my 2010 tourney season behind me, I havn't beaten the pants off of anybody this year! I would consider you to be one of the better anglers out there that knows what it is like to set the hook for no apparent reason or maybe just a slight something feels wrong type sensation. It's been my experience that this happens more with a jig in my hand than any other bait. (I admit to having a jig in my hand a lot!) Often times these goofy bites are the biggest fish of the day.

[mww24]

isn't the old saying, "the only thing free in fishing is a hookset". i will admit my largest ever bass and countless other fish were caught while picking out a backlash . As for line. i don't jig often but i use pretty light braid like 14 pound or something. only because my jig rod is also a spinnerbait rod a large crank rod and a few other presentations. I wish i could afford more than five rods, but I can't. So the story goes for me i find a happy medium for countless presentations.

[Bullwinkled]

How about using a spinning rod with 15 lb power pro, equivalent to 4 lb mono, unless you are fishing really clear water you have all the sensitivity you want, with this set up I can feel an inhale on a slack line.

[gritsnham]

I will side with Dietz for this side of the argument when fish hit jigs more often than not they slam the bait really hard. I also use short casts when fishing jigs and your bait is bulky enough to make maintaining contact with the bait very easy. Most jig fishing I do is either pitching or dragging the bottom in deeper water with 20lb power pro but have started trying 20lb floro with jigs this year and like it.

Always need to pay attention though when bass fishing as lots of hits are not that hard. When I fish with really inexperienced people it always bugs me if I notice their line twitch or move and they will just go on talking to me! I interupt with a "SET THE HOOK!"

Deitz or others do you notice a big difference ever in the amount of bites on braid vs. floro when jig fishing?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Quote:

Deitz or others do you notice a big difference ever in the amount of bites on braid vs. floro when jig fishing?

For the most part, no.. but I adjust to the conditions I am fishing, If I am fishing open water(IE, no weeds or anything) I throw my jig rod with Floro.. If I am fishing weeds, I'll throw the braid.. To me, the line is just another "line" down there, the weeds have lines everywhere.. Just my take on it, I'm no expert on it though.

[RK]

Hiya -

Fluoro here, personally. I use 15# for both jig and pig on weedlines and football heads. Jig and pig on a 7' MH power fast action rod with a 7.1:1 reel, and football heads on a 7'6" flipping stick with a 5.3:1 reel. I use a slower reel because I tend to reel too fast with football heads and the slower reel settles me down. (I have a coffee habit...)

One of the reasons I like fluorocarbon, for this and for jigworms, is because it doesn't blow around on the surface nearly as badly as braid or mono. It can really help when there's a breeze. Plus, as someone else mentioned, you can still feel fish hit on a slack line.

This past weekend was definitely one of those times when hits on jigs were NOT obvious. A few fish smoked it, but a lot of the time it felt like your jig fell into a bowl of oatmeal. Missed more of them than I'd like to admit, especially when the wind was up.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[mainbutter]

I really don't understand the "abrasion resistance" all the professional fisherman/line salesman pitch to us about flourocarbon.

I've never had a bite-off using 20lb fluoro leader in over 200 pike and 10 muskies, plenty of those had hooks that were well enough into the mouth that teeth were scraping the line. I do replace my leader when I can feel knicks in the line, but have never had fraying problems. The only damage I've sustained while fishing was from toothy fish, and they've never given me a full bite off before they were boated (knock on wood).

[74mph]

Jig Master - This is interesting, thanks for the response. It sounds like you have some really good experience/knowledge on this one. So it might be green horn to fish a football with braid and a fluoro leader but I have wacked a bunch of fish this year with my goofy 65lb braid/20lb fluoro leader and some really nice fish too. I felt like the braid helped me with feeling the bite, not breaking off the fish, and the sensitivity of feeling the bottom content.

I'm getting a lot of mixed opinions here. If the braid works why is it so green horn? Ive got walleye fishing friends that fish braid walleye fishing all the time to feel those light walleye bites on jigs. This is whats driving me to think braid is better.

The feedback seems to be saying that the fluoro is better for

1) feeling more on a slack line

2) stability in the wind

3) better for sinking due to density

Which all make sense to me.

Are these the main reasons why you are quoting that fluoro is the hands down favorite? It seems like the only thing going for braid is the super low stretch.

I do usually fish my football jigs on a tight line so the slack line and wind stability don't really affect my fishing style when using braid. Now the sink ability of braid vs mono might make a difference, especially if using lighter jigs but the low stretch of the braid might be the more significant advantage.

I'm getting the feeling that both are good depending on how you fish. Ideally I think we would all be like Dietz and have multiple rods with both options of line. Unfortunately not all of us can afford it.

Only having one deep jig rod Im leaning towards the 30lb braid/20lb fluoro leader option but this is mainly based on what I said above in my technique for fishing these football jigs. If I were to ever decide to start hopping and manipulating the motion of the jig where I would get slack line I think I would switch to fluoro...

What do you think. Anyone feel free to chime in.

Thanks for the feedback here guys this is a great post.

Fyi. I caught my personal best MN bass yesterday at 22.5 inches and 6-lbs! I couldnt have done that without the fishing minnesota family! Thanks everyone!

[Jig Master]

It sounds like the braid/fluoro rig is working for you, so you might as well stay with it. As we all know there are no hard and fast rules in fishing, so use what you have confidence in. My comment about the pros was guys like Remitz, Moynagh, McClelland, Kennedy, all who have won over $100,000 on a football head all use fluoro. I just figured that if braid to flouro was the hot line choice for dragging, it would have shown up at the top levels of our sport by now.... To my knowledge it hasn't.