Hey black bass gurus, I need some help. I'm trying to learn how to fish deeper water for black bass. I've ordered some SICK 3" minnows from Paul Krew Custom Baits (guys, check this guy out on Facebook, his baits are awesome and he'll customize them any way you want) and am going to practice drop shotting. But I also want to learn how to fish jigs.

Thanks to Grease Bath's suggestion, I bought some pumpkin colored finesse jigs with craw plastics to use as a trailer.

What other plastics work well on jigs? I was looking at the plastics I have (mostly curly tail grubs and cane thumpers) and none of them look like they'd work well on a jig. Can anyone suggest some jig/plastic combinations that have worked for you in the past, and tell me how you fish them?

I'm going to try out the craw setup at Eisenhower on Texoma tomorrow starting at around 4:30 PM if anyone wants to join. Going to try bouncing it up the rocks to see if I can get a few smallies.

Thanks for any advice/tips on this and deepwater bass fishing in general!

Robert

The Craws have always worked best for me, at least over the grubs.

I also have better luck when i put a rattle in the craw.

How deep is deep?

I don't think of finesses jigs as being a deep water thing because it would take them forever to get down to the bottom.

What ounce jig are you using?

For anything over 15 feet I throw a 3/4 oz football jig usually with a Berkley Pit Boss trailer. In shallow water I like a Santone Ratlin jig with a craw trailer. Color varies but green pumpkin is a good place to start.

I have used jigs since they were made outta buck tail hair and trailered with Uncle Josh pork, and I still have no idea what a finesse jig is or how to use it lol. There are so bloomimg many trailer combos out here I could type all day and not cover them all. Lets just go with what you can buy at Academy and use the same day. A jig banging over rocks needs to be a crawdad. I suggest a bag of Big Bite Baits "Yo-Moma" in blk neon. I use these everyday and they seem to work as well as anything else I have ordered. Green pumkin with red flake, $ maker, cali 420 are few other colors that have produced. Never leave the house without the standard blk/blu jig with black trailer. Its pretty simple if it looks like a crawdad it will most likely produce.
I use nothing less than 3/4oz, and prefer 11/2oz but Im busting through 20' of heavy vegatation. My jigs have to be big, heavy and easily seen in low light conditions. This being said I never pinch off, or cut down the trailer size. You may find pinching off a bit of the "worm" section of the bait works better up there.
I like to give my jigs a hair cut to allow that craw trailer to flow. I cut the jig skirt to about an 1/4" beyond the hook bend. If you do this stagger the cut a bit so its a bit ragged. This really livens up the jig.

Uncle Josh Pork...now that's a trailer I can relate to. I don't use them any more, one small jar lasted half a life time.

Several milleniums from now, archeologists will be finding Uncle Josh Pork trailers (in pristine condition) and wondering what kind of creature they were.

There's a good article on this very subject in July/August BassMaster Mag.

When I say "deep" I just meant like 10-12' and deeper. Basically down below crankbait range (that's my current "go to" for "deep" water, that or spinners).

Thanks for the info everyone! I might pick up some pit bosses and Hooligan thanks for the color and haircutting ideas!



Can I find that online somewhere?

Thanks for all your help guys!

Zoom chunk trailers

Nice. Picking up some Pit Boss and Zoom Chunks.

How do you work a swim jig? Would it make sense to put a shad-type trailer on a swim jig and just steady retrieve it low in the water column? Seems like that would look weird to me but if I understood how bass thought, I wouldn't have so much trouble catching them haha.

I use rage tail chunks or lake fork flippers on my jigs. If it is a white swim jig I use a grub as a trailer any other color I use a craw.

I'm not sure but I will mail you the copy I have if you like.

And the Aug/Sept In-Fisherman magazine.