How to Fish Hair Jigs for Big Smallmouth Bass
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- Опубліковано 1 сер 2024
- Hair jigs are one of the best ways to catch big smallmouth bass around the spawn when things get tough. When you fish this small hair jig, you are able to present a very natural presentation that triggers big smallmouth to bite in shallow water situations.
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VIDEO NOTES:
Hair Jig
Where - Shallower water situations, I typically focus 12ft or less. Best around shallow flats with rock where bass are cruising early season prespawn through the postspawn. Look for spawning flats and areas where bass can pull up to feed with sporadic isolated cover
When - 53-70* late prespawn through postspawn. This is a relatively limited presentation for me. Some people utilize in cold water situations (ice out through spring) but I have other confidence techniques that I prefer. Also a big player for me around the mayfly hatch
How - 2 approaches
1. Fan Casting - Cast and very slowly reel this bait with little rod movement or reel twitches. Useful when covering shallow flats or covering water where fish may be spawning or cruising
2. Specific target casts and bed fishing - Cast to visual targets or beds. Start by swimming the bait and then slowly drag/fish the bait through the area and pick it apart as needed
Gear -
Rod -
7’ - 7’6” ML Rod with Fast or Mod Fast Action
You want a rod that will cast the hair jig well and load up, but is not too “whippy.” Also when setting the hook on baits with light hooks and line, softer power and action will let you keep fish pinned and manage the fish to the boat
Reel -
5 or 6 speed gear ratio big 3000 or 4000 size spinning reel with 8-10lb braid to 5-8lb fluoro. Small diameter line casts better and comes off spool better. Run a top shot 30’ leader
Bait -
1/16-1/8oz Hair jig (3/32oz is best).
Favorite color is black but I’ll mix in brown during mayfly hatch. I have other colors but those are my favorite. Add a small piece of senko or soft plastic to hook to add weight to the bait for better castability. It doesn’t add action but helps with some bulk for casting
That was
awesome
Thank you!
Ben these extended video notes are AWESOME and very beneficial. BTW this is how Matt and Tim write the video comments for Tactical Bassin. For SUPER SMART anglers such as you three extensive comments help encapsulate all of the great data that you share!
Latest material, just what I was looking for...
Ben thank you for the video. I make one change when tying these. take one extra bait keeper, clip off one end like you did at top. tie this to the bottom af shank near hook bend. this is a perfect keeper to prevent small soft plastic from coming off. I noticed on the jig you held up it had a small piece of senko for added weight under the maribou.
Good stuff. Story time. When I first moved to Mi from Ohio in 1979, I joined the local bass club. Our first tournament was in Indiana. I had a small aluminum home made bass boat. Using a black hair jig, I caught a huge smallie that took big fish and I finished 2nd in the tournament. The power of the bait transcends generations.
That’s so awesome man! Honestly until a few years ago, I didn’t know of a hair jig. It’s really interesting to see the power of an old school bait like that come back into the limelight like it did
Great video. Very thorough. Hitting a highland reservoir next week in Tennessee and a well known fisherman of the lake recommended the hair jig.
Awesome stuff man. I've been chucking one the past year trying to get back in the groove with it. Glad you guys are safe out there 👍
Thank you so much! I appreciate you man. Hopefully you stick some bigs on it soon!
Great video man!✊🏼 perfectly explained and sooo deadly on Lake Michigan.
Great video. Good info and thorough explanations. I'll be giving hair jigs a try.
Thank you John! Hopefully you go out and smash some on it!
I love fishing hair jigs,and tying my own. No smallies yet on them, don’t have many places for smallies. But largemouth love them! I’ve done very well with them 1/8 and 1/4 ounce damiki, ball head, and ned head. I’ve caught them when the pond was 90% frozen. The largemouth were chewing a 1/4 ounce green pumpkin ball head with olive green marabou jig, slow reel on bottom over the green weeds. Also fishing it like a jig crawled on bottom works well.
yeah man thoughts and prayers for Michigan. Thanks for the tips.
Nice! Liked the senko tip, always looking for a way to use up “used plastic”, thanks!
Amazing video Ben!
Thanks Connor!!!
That tip at the end 🔥 🔥
Great tips, thanks!
Thank you Ken!
This is perfect……I fish in Manitoba and really want to learn this technique. Thanks!
Awesome video Ben tons of info thx!
Thanks Victor!!!
Great vid ben!
Thank you!
Can pop the heir jig or behind a popper work great. Everyone I know is not using the heir jig but me. I'll get them to use them.
awesome video, will be trying this out in my local creek here in south east Missouri. water is always crystal clear, 6 foot plus vis, has some nice small mouth bass in it but not monsters like you got up north, but loads of fun.
That sounds awesome! Hopefully you smash some big ones on it
Great vid Ben ! We got some on this last week in Door County !!
That’s so sick! I need to make it over there one year
wow those look amazing
They straight up smash them dude! It’s a dumb presentation but it works so well!
Great 👍
Very timely Ben! I just caught two 5 lb smallies on my favorite lake in two different spawning pockets. They pretty much ignored everything BUT a black 1/4 ounce hair jig. 5.20 lbs and 5.71 lbs. SO MUCH FUN!!! I fished mine with some action mimic the insects in the water they were chasing/eating. Black was the only color they would pay attention to. They were eating emerging insects just below the water surface and feeding like crazy. Deadly bait!! Never fished a hair jig until this trip to my favorite lake. Now I will never leave home without one.
Were you dragging it or swimming your jig?
@@northstarcustombaits8803 I was "popping" the rod tip, never letting the hair jig touch bottom. I was fishing in less than 5 feet of water and in all weather conditions (flat calm and 10 mph winds with chop). The fish were not interested in a straight slow retrieve, I needed to impact some "action" to get them to react/bite, and when they did, hold on!! I was using your Hair Jig in Black 1/4 ounce and was absolutely hammering huge smallies!!
That’s sweet! Those are serious giants dude! It must’ve been the way that hair would flow when you’d pop it like that
@@brnowak_fishing Ben, there were a ton of emerging insects on this body of water. It's a primary cold water fishery with a lot of salmon and lake trout and brook trout in it, but for some reason somewhere along the way smallmouth got introduced and they've taken off. It's a really deep clear cold water lake with a ton of smelts and crawfish as forage for the smallmouth. I honestly just think I happen to match the hatch And as a result I probably caught 40 fish Just fishing a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening for the last four or five days. The bugs have been insane with respect to almost driving you off the water as no insect repellent will touch them. I think our mosquitoes and black flies in Maine are taking some sort of steroid because they're absolutely ferocious and almost completely unfazed by insect repellent. Honestly it's these situations and these times of year where your channel is so helpful to my fishing success. The lakes and waters around me are so well suited for smallmouth, that that's predominantly what we chase from a fishing standpoint so to have a channel dedicated to the fish that we prefer to chase is just so very helpful. Thanks for all you do and And I look forward to future content.
@@northstarcustombaits8803 I think it's worth noting, that I don't believe these fish have ever seen a hair jig before. I used it as a follow-up bait to several fish that chased a swimbait or a spinnerbait towards the boat and then flipped the hair jig out past where they had turned off and I bet I caught nine out of the 10 fish that I saw chasing / following my bait. So I think part of the success that I had with the hair jig was that it's just not a bait they've seen much of and they attacked it anytime they could see it.
The hair jig huh?? Well if Ben says it works then it works, I'll give it a shot, thx again brother. hope things improve for you and your family, stay safe!
It’s a staple in the spring time! Give it a shot and send some pics when you catch a giant
Hey Ben have you tried these on a float?
thanks for the tip about the plastic .
100%. It’s a really helpful tip to make it cast so much better!
Awesome! Would be cool to see how you tie them. Keep it up 😎
I might have to make a video on that too!
Should you contact bottom at all?
Dude please do a video on how to rig a 3.5 inch salty solid keitech tube, I didn’t mean to buy solid ones but I did and I can’t find a ewg hook small enough to Texas rig it..
Hey Ben awesome video. First time viewer. Are you talking deer hair or marabou? Have started tying my own and have done very well with them.
Ben man, you are letting the cat out of the bag! OG anglers like me need to keep some tricks up our sleeves!
Hahaha whoops 😂
Man I tried throwing these a day early spring and didnt have much luck on them. Now they are more aggressively feeding will have to give it a try again. I did use a piece of Berkley flat worm on the back like I seen in a previous vid. Hope all is well we have not talked in awhile . I know you guys are going through some tough times there so didnt want to bother you .Glad to hear every one is ok though.
Thank you Shawn! Yes, thankfully all is good here at home. Just prepping for the baby and fishing when I can!
Great info, just watched again, could you please provide a link to that specific rod, sounds like exactly what I want....I also walleye fish some, so there’s another purpose for it...Thanks!
absolutely - here's the link to the rod: tforods.com/professional-walleye-rods/ref/2/?campaign=76%20ML
Also if anyone ties their own the eagle claw pro v bend jig head are great
Great video! These work really well in shallow rivers fishing current seams as well. Do you cover any shallow river smallies?
On the upper Mississippi river in Minnesota, Bucktail jigs are awesome river lures.
Black rabbit zonker jigs are great in cold water in central PA. Never thought to use them during the spawn .
I’ve always been interested by the differences in different types of hair
Can you use this during the end of summer-start of the fall when smallmouth are moving up into those shallow areas? Im out west where summer water temps are mid 80s and the fish are down deep; sometimes beyond 40'. water is currently dropping to about 74ish and will continue to drop
Yes, this is actually one of my favorite times of year to throw this approach because those fish get into that funk as they move shallow, but this is a great approach on those slick calm, tough days when the fish don't want to bite anything else
Couldn't have asked for a better presentation, Thanks so much. Is your hair jig fishing confined mostly to prespawn because of the higher certainty in where to find them, coupled with the relatively shallow water you intercept them at prior to them actually getting onto the beds? In certain smallmouth fisheries it seems dragging the hairigs slowly over areas known to hold them seems to be more the approach, rather than swimming the jig. I know the steady retrieve is more the norm in Great Lakes fisheries. Can't see why both wouldn't have good results in most smallmouth waters. Great Job, Ben! I've subscribed and will be looking through you other videos to help me learn more about tying the hair, as I am interested in tying my own jigs.
Hi Bruce. This can be an all year approach depending on retrieve, especially in moderate to shallow water areas when you want to cover high percentage areas. It also works great dragged slowly on the bottom but that’s something I really don’t talk too much about, but it’s deadly. The biggest key is having a high percentage area where you know they’re at or should be and using the hair to pick some out of there
I live down here in Tennessee, around Rudds area, closer to South Holston area. Will these hair jigs work in my rivers for smallies?
They should! It’d be particularly deadly when those fish get on those 45* banks and you can parallel the banks with it. They’d absolutely smoke it
Hey Ben, would this rod do additional work as grub and tube also
It’d work well for Spybaits and small swimbaits too. But it’s pretty limited to light baits with light wire hooks
Great video 👍 got some from Dale Hollow Tackle great tip on the plastic and got the pacemaker from TFO"SWEET"
Heck yessss! I’m glad you like it man. I can’t wait til you get to start cranking up some fish on it
@@brnowak_fishing hey Ben getting close on the kayak just waiting on the Dakota lithium battery to get her been eyeballing that To walleye spinning rod you were talking about and really liked that goby bait you showed on instagram!
I'm wondering if you've ever tried the Jackall riser bait? great vids btw.
I’ve never tried it, but it looks interesting
Will give this a shot next week at Dale Hollow ( Tenn/Ken ) If you have fished that lake, can you give me some pointers? My 1st time.
I've only been out there once unfortunately
Definitely that spybait i just started it throwing it last yr and would like to see how ypu fish it
Yesss 🙌🏻 definitely on the list
Hey what size hook are you using? Is that a 1/0?
This is a Gami 111 2/0. Ive also used the 1/0 which is good too
I’m going toTawas bay they’re usually spawning around this time of year up there should I be concerned with the floods I don’t fish smallmouth all that much I’m down near Utica Michigan any tips would be a helpful
I’ve actually not fished in Tawas before, but have heard it can be awesome
The Smallmouth Experience its usually really good
Caught my first fish of the year on a feider fly hair jig.
Heck yeah! Such a good hair jig
I was just looking at one of these in my hand like wth I should try this
It took me a bit to really throw it, but it’s a powerful bait
How about you show us how to pour some of them. That’s really want I wanna see also 👍🤜🤛👊
I will add that to the video ideas! Thanks 🙌🏻
If I tie this correctly this hair jig will last me pretty much forever unless I lose it right?
Not normally. Most good hair jigs will last about 10-20 fish until the hair will really start falling out
@@brnowak_fishing what abt bucktail ik bucktail is a little bit stronger?
@@FlyFishingGavin it might be but it definitely has a different action than marabou. Marabou has a lot more flow and movement than bucktail
@@brnowak_fishing ok bc I have a friend who I thought tired marabou but he ties bucktail jigs he ties them rlly well how long would they last im guessing a while since there a lot stronger?
Is there a difference between a hair jig and bucktail jig
Yeah, a marabou hair jig is a smaller jig as shown vs a bucktail which is typicall 4-5” of white hair on a 3/8-3/4 oz jig that you fish on/near bottom in deeper water
@@brnowak_fishing thank you
Boat tour?
First comment!
When you tie your hair jigs do you wrap or stack the marabou? You should make a video on how you tie yours up.
Check out Bruce’s Canadian Fishing channel. He did a great vid on em this week
I agree with Big Mike, you should do a how to video on making them. I have the mold and I've made a few but would like to get your take on how it's done. Great video, thanks and know that the Michigan community is in our prayers. Go Blue & God bless
Thank you all! I used to tie them with the spine still on the feather, but I had issues with them not always swimming right - so now I pull the hair off and stack and tie. I’ve found you can be far more precise and really customize not only the way the jig looks, but how full or thin it is
Hi enjoyed the video! Are your jigs deer hair or Marabou feathers?
I tie mine with marabou most often. Deer does work better on hair jigs in ultra cold water dragged on/near bottom
I fish more bucktail than say a marabou but black and white is my little sneaky sneaky
Do you fish them more like a jig along the bottom?
Ya i find myself kinda really stroking it than anything
If you’re fishing a hair jig only around the spawn, you’re losing…
Well, this was disappointingly generic
This video covered a lot of the basics, but here is a deep dive on hair jigs that I recently did - ua-cam.com/video/lM9lcbj-G8w/v-deo.html