It's Time to Drag a Jig
After many years of fishing I am convinced that winter time is jig time and meticulously dragging that jig on the bottom produces big fish. If I look back at my data over many years nothing has produced for me like a Tight-Line football jig in the middle of winter; moving it slowly, and crawling it along the bottom is the key to big winter bass. There is a reason that Tight-Line jigs refer to their football jigs as "Muscle Crawlers," emphasizing the need to work it on the bottom and letting the bait do the work with slow movement and great results.
The important thing to me is being able to put that jig on the bottom and keep it there regardless of conditions; this to me tells me that if I am fishing anywhere below 8 ft. I go with a oz. jig and if I fish shallower then lighten up to a oz. set up. There is no need to struggle to keep your jig in the bottom so fish heavy enough to easily accomplish that by getting the jig to the bottom and being able to keep it there.
Colors are always a question of my customers, I can make it easy for those who need to know; Tight-Line jigs makes a color called "Guntersville Special" I just about exclusively fish it during the winter. The blue/green coloring is just a perfect fit for lakes that clear up in the winter as most do. If you add a few more colors like motor oil, crawfish and watermelon you will have the full line of colors I fish with most of the time. It is also important to make sure you are rigged properly as fishing rod and speed of reel can really make a difference. I use a 7ft. 10in. Duckett extra heavy rod, with a Lew's 7:1:1 reel that you can retrieve quickly when you feel that bite. It's just imperative that you have a rod with enough backbone to drive that jig into the fish mouth so the fish is hooked correctly; and that fast reel allows you to retrieve at a rate that gets you to the hook set quickly once you feel the bite. I also never fish a jig in the winter with less than 20lb. test Vicious fluorocarbon line so I have enough line strength to hold on to a big fish.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
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Email: bassguide@comcast.net
Call: 256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry