From my experience, fishing a hair jig is one of the most successful techniques for catching some of the biggest smallmouth bass that I have ever caught on Lake George. They work great on heavily pressured fish. They shine whether you cast them or simply fish them vertical. I have a lot of theories on why my hair jig works so well on Lake G. Here are my top 5 rationales:

1. The small, compact size. I think the hair jig imitates a crayfish or a sculpin. Both are small on Lake George.

2. Hair. Hair looks alive. Marabou pulsates with the slightest movement of the rod. Some of the best bites I get on hair usually are connected with subtlety.

3. Color: I will say that I’m definitely biased. I have caught some fish on black hair jigs, but by far, my best color is brown. I tie tons of brown hair jigs simply because they work. The brown matches both the crawfish and the sculpin on the bottom.

4. No one fishes them. When fish, especially in crystal clear water, see the same things over and over again, they become a little gun shy. But literally, I don’t know another person who fishes a hair jig on Lake George other than me. (If you do, drop me a comment…love to hear your thoughts of how you like to fish ‘em, etc).

5. Works super well in tandem with Garmin’s Livescope. This technique shows up really well on Livescope. I will often drop on a fish I see on my screen and work the fish up off the bottom - similar to the cat and mousing we do when we icefish.

I love everything about the hair jig. And I can’t wait to fish with them again this summer. I do sell hair jigs and you can order them simply by emailing me at freshwatertherapy@gmail.com.

Hope my posts are helpful to you! Can’t wait for soft water….