Hair Jig Nuances

Nothing is a better instructor than time on the water. This summer I spent a lot of time fishing a hair jig for smallmouth bass on Lake George. I learned a ton - especially with the help of my Garmin Livescope and my Garmin Force trolling motor. Here are a few of my take aways from this summer:

  1. More is less with a hair jig. I tried to quiver a hair jig - with the goal of not overworking the bait. Often I could watch the fish eat the bait with my Livescope.

  2. Deadsticking is a great option. Instead of making a cast, I would often just drop the bait to the bottom and real up a crank or two and simply hold the bait in place. I always instructed my clients to set the hook if you feel anything. Some of my biggest fish were barely detectable. The way I say it is like this - if you feel anything out of the ordinary - set the hook and reel like mad!

  3. The hair jig fishes suspended fish really well. If I marked fish off the bottom, I would often bring my jig up to the area where I was marking fish. You can get those suspended fish to bite, but they don’t always want to go down to the bottom on a bait.

  4. Hair jig details are very important. I fish 8lb fluoro and I like a long leader - usually I try and have a leader that is about twice as long as my rod (roughly 15’). I also like to fish the 7’6” ML Seth Feider Daiwa Tatula AGS rod with a 20 size reel. With braid, I don’t need as much space on a spool so I prefer a smaller, lighter reel.

I tie my own hair jigs and I’ve decided to start marketing them. So if you’re in the market for an incredible little jig, hit me up at freshwatertherapy@gmail.com!

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