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Football Jig (Video Included)

Wade's World Fishing: Football-shaped jigs are highly popular among pro anglers on today’s national bass fishing circuits. These jigs – so-named because of their football shape – are good for scouring bottom and catching bass holding on deep structure. Typically, football jigs are “dressed” with a plastic crawfish trailer, and they are drug across bottom (not hopped!) to kick up a trail of silt – just like live crawfish make.

Football jigs are meant to be fished on hard, clean-bottom areas, not where vegetation or brush is thick. Rock, sand, gravel, clay or hardpan points and ledges are classic spots to use these lures.

Heavy football jigs are typically used in deeper water, and these lures provide great sensitivity in determining bottom content. For instance, it’s easy to tell when a football jig is drug from a soft-bottom area onto gravel, rock or mussel shell beds. Bass typically relate to these clean, hard bottom surfaces. Here are more tips for using football jigs with greater success.

• For fishing in deep water, use a rod that is at least 7 feet long and which has a strong action but a medium tip for more sensitivity. Spool with 12- to 14-pound test fluorocarbon line.
• Make long casts over target areas and start the retrieve only after the jig has hit bottom.
• Drag the jig along bottom with 1-2 foot sideways movements of the rod tip.  When dragging, use a middle range speed: not too fast, but not too slow.
• Strikes may be jolting or very subtle. If the rod loads but no bump is felt, hold tension and feel for fish or watch where the line enters the water for any twitches or sideways movement.
• If you feel a bite and then there’s no feeling whatsoever, a bass has probably grabbed the jig and is quickly swimming toward you with it. Reel in slack quickly until your line is taut, then set the hook.
• After you land this fish, quickly cast back to the same area. The first fish was likely being chased by other fish, trying to steal the “crawfish.” A repeat cast to the same spot might produce another strike.