Jig Worm help needed ... is this a "target" technique for tight fish

[RandyFish]

Ray and Deitz...I was reading Ray's advice on jig wormin' and its use as a tool for weed edges and as way to entice fish during a negative mood....

Are you trying to get the jig worm on to the bottom

next to the weed edge and then fish it extremely slow...kind of like dragging a full sized pig and jig?

Or is this completely a "Throw it up on the weeds and hope to rip it away so fish hit it on the fall" deal?

This was my other big thing to learn this summer, so I can justify all the small straight worms and 4-inch "ring" worms I bought over the winter....

Now is the time to try it during post spawn

Do you ever use craw type pastics in this presentation?

I have a sunken grass hump -- 10 ft and surround by hard bottom --- that I want to try fishing around using this approach.

[Ray Esboldt]

Jigworms are a great negative fish enticer, no question. You can fish them ultra slow, you can use a light jig that falls ultra slow, you can even just let them sit - deadstick them. I fish them that way, sometimes.

I really think jigworms are a better trigger bait. I like enough weight and enough slack line where the bait virtually falls straight down. That means I don't throw them into heavy weeds, and I use enough weight where wind doesn't hold the bait back. I want the fish to think they are looking at food rushing back to the bottom because another predator is hot on their tail. Or, maybe they think the other predator just put the hurt on it but escaped with heavy injuries. Whatever. I want competition amongst fish. Weedline fish are rarely alone. There might be only a few, but I want a fish to think he better eat this thing before his buddies get there. That kind of competition makes the second and third fish even easier to pick off. And, on the right day, you can empty a school of 20 or 30 on jigworm.

So, to answer your question. No, I don't normally fish jigworms ultra slow. In fact, there's many days where all I do is let it sink, hit bottom, make two hops, crank it in, and keep on a movin'. And, it's really not a great heavy weed option. If the fish are in it, a Texas Rig is a much better extraction tool.

I doubt I explained this with enough detail, so keep asking questions.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I fish it the same way Ray explained it. Your not throing it into thick weeds.. just on the deeper weed edge. And its only maybe slow waiting to get it down to the bottom.. then you twitch and hop it back a few feet... you are targeting a spacific area. Not the best search bait...

[Ray Esboldt]

I will respectfully disagree about the search bait opinion. I do use it as a search bait. However, it's really a specialized search bait; a weed edge only search bait. I'll plow down long stretches of a weedline winging a jigworm all the way.

If you're confident in fish inhabiting the weedline, a jigworm can be a search bait. However, other baits do a much better job of covering wide swaths of water.

Randyfish also asked about other baits tipping a jigworm rig. I use a wide variety of plastics with a jig. 5" Craws come right after 4" worms. 7" worms are the ticket some days. Tube style baits like small Brush Hogs or Super-Do's are absolute killers. Small lizards and Fluke style baits show up on my jigs as well. Experiment, some days the big baits are the ticket, some days the 4" are the deal.

[Deitz Dittrich]

O.K. Ray... You win.. I do the same. However, I really dont consider a lure that I am targetting a small area, like a weedline a search bait... So we only disagree on the wording. To me a search bait is something that you fancast an area looking to see where the fish may be. IE spinnerbait, Rattle Trap, Topwater, Crankbait.

[TNFL]

What does this rig look like. Is it a round jig head with a hook and worm, or is it a jig with the skirt removed and the a worm put on?

[Deitz Dittrich]

TN-its just a small mushroom head jig, usually a 4" worm, some use larger, its up to you. Some rig it with the hook exposed. some weedless..that too is up to you.

Icould only find a pict of one rigged weedless. I usually rig it with an exposed hook.

[Mutty]

I fished a tournament on the chain in Alexandria using jigworms. My partner outfished me by a great margin by tossing the jig worm out into the standing cabbage weeds and just letting it sit. Dead Sticking it. Eventually the Bass would pick it up and move off slowly. Learned a lot about jig worms that day!!