Which do you prefer: skirted jig/trailer or plastic T rig worm?

I haven't cast either for quite some time after having gotten into making and modifying small soft plastics lures. But if I did target bass, it would be the skirted jig hands down!
Your choice, why?

Too many factors to consider to pick just one. Depth, cover, temperature, season are just a few.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This.

If I'm fishing docks, almost always a jig, If I'm fishing deep structure, especially trees, probably a TX rig worm.

texas rigged, craw though

For pure catch numbers the T-rig worm will out catch the jig. For catch sizes the jig will catch bigger bass than the T-rig worm.

I got a buddy that tells me this all the time! I dont know why, but I just cant get confident dragging a jig. I feel like the times ive fished it that ive missed bites! and not because of the weedguard or because of the jig, just cuz I sucked and dont know the "jig feels" like i do with the T-Rig....even though i figure its the same thing! LOL

I love me some T-Rigs and have thrown it enough to know what those subtle bites are like, but just cant get that confidence with a jig. Most every jig fish Ive caught has always been a solid bite! I only have a handful of subtle bites I can remember nailing and hooking up on. With the T rig, even if they sniff it im confident ill get a hook in them

Jig guys....you fishing the jig the same as you would a T-Rig?

I fish both the T-rig and the jig the exact same way, meaning I let the fish tell me what is working. A common misconception is that the only way to fish a jig is by dragging it on the bottom. Dragging a jig on the bottom doesn't always work. Sometimes I'll pop it off of the bottom, then drag for a few seconds, then do a double pop off of the bottom, and then drag. If the fish are more in an aggressive mood then they will prefer the pops. If they're more lethargic and just want something dragged in front of their faces with little effort, then obviously the drag on the bottom approach will work the best. Usually in colder water they prefer it just dragged, but that's not always the case. Not too many people drag a plastic worm on the bottom, but I do sometimes. I'll reel it in off of the bottom a little faster than I would a jig, and let the ribbontail do the work for me. Oftentimes when you reel it in faster the fish thinks an easy meal is getting away, so they'll swim up to it and strike. Long story short, there is no real right or wrong way to do anything. Simply explore different ways of fishing different lures with different approaches to see what works best. The same approach doesn't always work every day.

I used to be a T-rig fanatic but the past year I really started bearing down on the jig to bring my stringer weights up and once I got a feel for what the bite is supposed to feel like the jig has taken over in my arsenal. I'd fished it some every once in while in my early years but never had any success. Looking back I'd have to say I was probably getting bit, just didn't know it. It's a whole different deal from a T-rig worm bite. You'll get the bump bump bite like a T-rig but most of the bites are mushy like you are dragging the jig through a clump of grass or something similar.

I need to dedicate time to learning the jig!

What you mention is what I know im missing! I can almost guarantee ive wiggled a jig out of a bass's mouth like an idiot thinking im hung. ive had a few where it got mushy....then i started pulling like you would to unsnag it....and it springs free! like that feel when you were snagged on a branch or something, not stuck in some muck! I can guarantee ive done that a few times! I need to force feed that thing....cuz no lie, put a gun to my head and tell me to catch a fish in an hour....i wont even sweat cuz I got that kinda confidence in my light weight texas rigging. Cant guarantee itll be a keeper but ill get a hook in ones mouth! LOL

I need to upgrade my catches for sure! those 5+ are fewer and far between this last year or 2!

Both presentations are often interchangeable.....until they're not.



There is just something special about a jig bite.

I love fishing with a jig! If I had to use one lure the rest of my life, a jig would be it! There are so many ways to fish one! But as stated above there are days one will out fish the other. My self, I keep both tied on and let the fish tell me what they want. But I start with the jig. As far as dragging a jig, I only do that when fishing open water or points, Like a Carolina rig. I spent most of my time picking creek channel cover apart.

Lots of variables.
On the lake I fish the most, I throw a swim jig more than anything else.
This lake has grass and deep timber

On the lake I fish the second most, either a wobble head or a finesse worm or small craw on a light trig is what I’ll throw. This lake is mostly rock and gravel.

T rig or CS rig

I was fishing Holbrook one morning and I kept feeling that mushy feeling at the end of my line and I began notice when I'd feel that my jig would come back with the trailer stripped back, so I just started setting the hook on that mushy feeling. I boated 5 bass pretty quick.

This! My recommendations are that if you are getting bit on a T-rig set it down and pick up a jig. Chances are the next fish you catch will be bigger. I rarely catch one on a jig under 4#

Thanks for the inputs guys.
For river smallies the skirted jig & trailer or spinnerbait hands down!
For LM, a presentation I started catching bass on a few years ago is to swim the jig like a spinnerbait or crankbait. I only use an Uncle Josh pork-frog copy from a plaster mold I use to make duplicates. The tails have just the right amount of flap & flutter along with the pulsation of the skirt.

No point in using a jig for swimming that's over 1/4 oz. The Arkie jig below and trailer have done well when worked mid-depth:


The one on top is size #1; the one below a #11. both do well.

A craw trailer would also do well:

I would reduce its body length by half. Talk about an action trailer whether jigging or swimming the jig!

I don't use a swim jig lighter then 3/8. A 1/4oz has too much lift especially when a you add a trailer.

I've also done well with a 3/8 oz Arkie in water over 9'; the 1/4 oz in shallower water.

TX rig. For some reason, I do not catch fish with jigs or spinners.

Believe me - you would! I wish I'd known the value of jigs and spinnerbaits when I lived in Tx for over 5 years.

I almost always throw a jig first, but typically end up fishing both. If the jig will get bit nearly as well as a soft plastic, im sticking with the jig. Its nice to be able to continuously put the lure in cover and not have to adjust the lure.

Have also seen several days where the jig outproduces a soft plastic in terms of numbers and quality.

Went from having essentially no confidence in a jig to it being one of my confidence baits.

You said it all with that statement. Not only that, but you gave a great example of the importance of versatility and never assuming anything.

This. If they will bite a jig, go with it, if not throw the tx. rig.

Fish both and see what the fish want more that day.

so are you starting with a jig first and hitting those more high percentage type spots, then following up and doing clean up with a t rig? or throwing one or the other until you get bit and try to start patterning that bite?

Im dedicating a lot of my day to fishing big baits....and trying to get a feel for a good progression. Glide baits are good search baits even if you dont catch, so I like the idea of starting with that...but after that I just usually junk fish. instead of just junk fishing i might need to force feed the jig right after i force feed the glide so I can get confidence in it 🤔i know jigs get bit at my home lake. got a friend who has the results to show it! Need to step my game up on that

So I'm clear, what glide baits do you cast? How do you work them?

Sonar can find fish only a small percentage of the time and only those in its field-of-veiw; most of the time our casts are way beyond it and in cover. Using search baits and casting to different area types give me a clue as far as possible patterns. What search baits to try? Depends on past percentage of catches over time vs other more specialized lures (surface baits, drop shot, bottom dragging, etc.) where much slower presentations are the rule. It's nice that search baits can also be used in slower presentations that concentrate casts vertically to specific structure once fish are found.

Small search baits have been my preference in order to catch the largest fish of smaller fish species, knowing that larger fish (7 lb catfish, 3.5 lb pickerel, 4 lb white sucker) can also be caught on them. If I fished bass tournaments like in days past, bass size lures would be the only lures I would cast such as 5 - 7" glide baits.

Stanley Black/ Blue rubber skirt with a black Uncle Josh #11 pork frog... Dan

I usually have both tied on postspawn. Prefer Texas rigs in late summer up til turnover then jigs.

If you are getting bit on a craw and trying to get confidence in a jig just force yourself to put the craw down for good and flip a green pumpkin jig. Don’t put it down.

Unless it is a really odd day, if they are biting a craw, I bet you can catch them on a jig.

Trim the skirt to the bottom of the hook to give skirt more flare when it is resting on bottom and trim the weed guard. Just slow down to reduce snags. You will spend more time with your lure in the water than rigging plastics. I feel I can catch as many or more on a jig.

There are a handful of days it doesn’t work out that way. But you will never gain confidence if you don’t spend enough time fishing them.

I've always been a fan of the 10" t-rig worm or a creature bait. Caught tons of fish on them over the years, including some of my largest. But on my first guide trip back in 2011, Tom Redington told me, "There's a lay-down right there, drag that jig through there a few times." So I pitched in 5 or 6 times with no bites. My dad in the back of the boat had pitched in there 3 or 4 times, and then all of a sudden he sets the hook. By this time I'm pitching at another tree on the creek channel in front of us, so I turn and see his rod still as could be and think, "Wonder how long til he figures out that's a log..." Turn back around and start fishing, but I hear him reeling back there, so I turn around again and his rod is still completely still, and I think, "What an idiot..." Start to turn back to my tree and out of the corner of my eye I see a giant mouth coming out of the water. Tom sprinted back there with the net and got her in, a 10-5 and my dad's first DD (after fishing Toledo Bend for decades in the 70s and 80s), a 10-5 that was so beautiful. I fell in love with jigs and have fished them heavily over the past 10 years. Oddly enough, that was my dad's first and last DD. But he always loved jig fishing.

Good example of slowing the retrieve to get bass to strike - in your father's case - reeel slow!

That's the beauty of the skirted jig: the skirt's flair and slight movements: even at rest on bottom it holds a fish's attention long enough such that it finally has had enough and then BANG!

I’ve got to start throwing a jig again... quit years ago, can’t remember why. Was fishing palestine yesterday.. throwing a spinner bait, made cast with spinner bait thinking to fish it like a jig.. slow dragging it on its side and feel the mush..


Boom... throwing a jig if I go today.

Too many variables to make a decision between one or the other. I will fish both if the conditions are right. Also some lakes are jig lakes and some aren't.

The biggest thing I have learned over the years is not to have blinders on. You have to be versatile to be a bass fisherman. You fish the conditions and the techniques that will get you bit. One day it may be a jig, and the next day it may be a drop shot.

Good example is one day I was fishing with a buddy at Fork. He was smoking me flipping tree from the front of the boat. Out of frustration, I decided to make a change and do something completely different. Tied up a drop shot and started flipping it. I started catching fish out of the same trees/bushes that he wasn't.

Just be versatile, and let the fish tell you what they want.

I mainly fish for spotted bass here in Alabama, and I usually keep one rod rigged with a Texas rig and a ribbon tail worm and another with a shakyhead jig and a 5" Hit worm. There are some days that I get more bites with the T rig, but I would guess that about 75% of the time they prefer the Hit worm. Once the water gets below about 50 degrees, there isn't much point in even trying the T rig; the Hit worm will be much better. I noticed your post because of the way you described that "mushy" feeling when they hit a jig. I experience the same type of hit with the Hit worm on a shakyhead. I caught a bunch a few days ago in 44 degree water and every one of them came on the Hit worm.

I don't fish a skirted jig enough and probably need to start trying one instead of the T rig in cold water. I was wondering how you guys compare the skirted jig to the shakyhead with a Hit worm on it? The skirted jig with pork frog imitation has a bigger profile, and that could be good or bad, depending on the situation. I think the Berkeley powerbaits improve my odds over other plastics. I have thought of trying a Hit worm or a Flat worm as a trailer on a skirted jig. Anyone ever used them that way?

The Hit Worm and Flat Worm kinda resemble a Zoom Trick Worm. What's the difference?

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That design trailer, regardless of size, has never put off the bite in my experience. The jig & trailer are too compact for bass to pass up and the delta-shaped legs provide just the right amount of action along with the skirt to get strikes from inactive fish.

+1


If the fish are biting a jig then I will stick with it.

Berkeley claims that their Maxscent products, like hit worm and flat worm, put off a scent that attracts fish and makes them hold on longer when they bite. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that I've had days when fish would bite them better than anything else. I've also caught a good many catfish on a hit worm, and that seldom happened when using other plastics.

Some lures are more versatile for different conditions; some not so much. Being versatile and open-minded to what fish are biting and where can make all the difference between getting skunked and catching a few. Most lures have an optimum speed-of-retrieve and knowing which to use depends on knowing/ discovering which lures fish will or will not chase.

Good point FK.

https://m.bassmaster.com/tips/three-keys-winter-jig-fishing

I like 'em both.