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Fishing Baits How to select the best jig for bass fishing
There are many different types of jigs in hundreds of colors and shapes so it can be confusing to pick the best one for the job, but let’s narrow it down to two types to carry in your tackle box: a jig you can drag on the bottom, and a jig you can flip into structure. The dragging jig is often called a football jig due to the football-shaped head. This shape of jig will help the bait navigate through rock and cover and not get hung up due to its streamline shape. A favorite jig in this style is the Molix MF Football Jig - this is the bait Carl used to win the Elite Series event at Lake Tenkiler in 2019. The unique head shape glides through structure easily and the hand tied skirt will get you the bites. Try a 3/4oz for your deep water bass fishing and 1/2oz for everything else. A good choice for a flipping jig – one used for targeting heavy structure – is going to have a few slightly different attributes and the Molix Kento Jig is a great choice because it has a smaller profile and different head shape. This is great for targeting bass wherever you can think of; docks, laydowns, stumps and rocks, it will do the job. The main size is 1/2oz for this application but you can drop down to 3/8oz for super shallow water fishing. Both types of jigs are weedless, which means they have a small bunch of soft plastic bristles guarding the hook point. They’re positioned in such a way that the jig won’t get hooked onto structure or weeds when retrieving, but fold under pressure from the bass biting the lure, thus hooking the fish. Using a weedless-style bass lure allows you to fish into dense cover and structure, where big bass love spending time, without getting snagged or hung up.
