2022 BASSMASTER ELITE SERIES PRO Follow along my journey as I attempt to catch trophy bass, hone my craft, entertain, and share my learning experiences.
all right guys um been a while since I
kind of did a debrief on jigs but I'm
just going to kind of talk about the
colors I use whenever I like them and
also a new jig that I've kind of talked
about a few times in videos that is
going to come out very very soon but
number one the color that started it all
is donk really really good blue gill
color you know it's got some some light
muted down chartreuse in it it's got
some green pumpkin with some blue
glimmer on it then it's got some really
good contrast right there in the front
that you can tell I'm really big on
contrasting jigs kind of in all baits
really I feel like when youever you look
at Bait fish there's a really definite
contrast between their back and their
belly you can see a different color so a
lot of times I really like for a jig to
to have kind of layers to it and have
that contrast I feel like it looks a
little bit more natural but obviously
the Don really really popular color from
the people that fish with untame tackle
jigs this is the one that started though
on
Gunnersville my rookie year I caught
like 19 lbs the first day and four of
them or maybe five of them were on that
jig you know it was actually a prototype
at that point in time but one of my
favorite colors without a doubt usually
use a green pumpkin trailer something
around that green pumpkin I've used
watermelon some but green pumpkins a
really good standard for that another
really really good one is black and blue
this right here happens to be black and
blue smoke actually so you can see
that's just kind of a tried and true
standard color jig you know like that's
one that kind of everybody throws you
know and there's a good reason for it it
catches really really big ones when that
light penetration is less in the winter
it's a really really good color and then
anytime you're around grass vegetation
it's really good color cuz that bait
darkens up and then also you know when
the water's muddy everybody thinks to go
black and blue and that's that's a
really good standard cuz they can see it
from a little bit further it looks like
a shadow in the water and you know
visibility twoot or less black and blue
is definitely going to be the stand
standard but it's also a really really
good color whenever it's cold and that
light penetration is less catch some
really really big
ones another really good one is dirty
crawl this right here is dirty crawl you
know it just looks like a crawfish it's
got some muted down orange in it it's
got some black to darken it up and then
it's obviously got some green pumpkin in
it you know just to give it that natural
look with a little bit of contrast to
make it darker and then some contrast to
give it a little bit of orange to make
it look a little bit more like a
crawfish but it's not a it's not a
bright orange as you can see it's really
a muted down orange like it it's enough
where you can see it and the fish can
see it but it's kind of muted down and
not overbearing and I like that cuz I
like my stuff look a little bit more
natural all the time in the water so
those are the three all those have a
pretty stout weed guard you know I can
flip that jig I could skip it under
docks that are that are you know have a
lot of brush on them skip under docks
have a lot of cross cross bars and
crossmembers you know there's other jigs
I've used in the past where I'd have to
have a jig tied up for skiing under
floating docks and I'd have to have a
jig tied up for ski sking under you know
gnarly docks with brush cuz there wasn't
a really good hybrid for both you know
and this is a really really good middle
of the road jig you kind of do anything
you want to with it so the setup I'm
going to use for these 7 fo3 medium
heavy extra fast muse from 13 Fishing
that's the rod that I use now for
skipping a jig all the time I actually a
couple weeks ago I put it I put it on a
71 medium heavy Muse and I was like 71
I'll be able to cast it even better and
fish to tourament with a couple buddies
that weekend fish one on Saturday one on
Sunday and I couldn't cast I couldn't
cast it it's just years and years of me
throwing a 7 foot3 medium heavy that
just I couldn't get over it quickly and
go back down to a shorter Rod so it's
really just what you're used to anything
from a 66 up to a 76 is going to be fine
a 76 gets a little bit cumbersome to
skip a jig with but that 73 is is the
sweet spot for me because of how many
years I've got throwing it you know it's
kind of going to be a personal
preference for you but the 73 medium
heavy extra fast Muse 8.3 to1 gear ratio
reel is a must have the more cast you
can make in a day the better and my
standard is anything that I work with
the rod I use a 8.3 to1 gear ratio reel
anything that I work with the Reel you
know vibrating jigs chatterbaits spinner
baits crank baits I go to a 7.5 to1 or a
6.8 to1 for those you know anything that
I work with the Reel slower reel
anything I work with the rod faster re
cuz then you're just reeling up slack
and you're reeling up to make a new
presentation so that's kind of my
standard 20 lb sunline shooter
fluorocarbon that's going to be the gold
standard for me for jig fishing if I'm
around super super gnarly docks I'm
going to go up to 22 if I'm around
nothing but straight floating docks that
are not bad at all sometimes in Crystal
Clear Water I'll go down to 18 or even
16 but for the most part that 20 is
going to be the gold standard for me so
as far as trailers go you know there's a
couple different styles that I'll use
I'll use a a big a big one one whenever
I want to flip you know whenever we have
draw down lakes that there's not much
cover left in the water I'm going to
typically go with a bigger bulkier
profile because I feel like it gets
bigger bites and I'm not trying to fish
as fast cuz there's less cover in the
water when there's a lot of cover in the
water and I want to be more efficient I
go to a smaller more slender style
profile bait but
recently for whatever reason it has
seemed like this cleanup crawl from
crust city has just gotten more bites I
went and filmed a video the other day
and y'all probably seen that video where
I was skipping a jig and I was using the
cleanup crawl which is a really really
good trailer and I caught them really
good on it in like 2 hours I caught four
or five fish on it which skipping a jig
on docks is typically a grind like it
typically is what it is it's more of a
grindy type of a profile of of a
presentation you know so I'm going to
rig this up with a cleanup crawl and I
went back and fished a tournament like 2
Days Later and I wasn't that smart and I
actually forgot the cleanup crawls so I
caught like a fish on it quickly then I
lost one of the legs off of it so I had
to use a regular chunk style trailer and
I actually only caught like one more
bass all day skipping a jig under dock
so I went for 2 hours with this set up
and I caught four or five and I went for
like 6 hours with a regular chunk and
didn't catch them near as good so you
can see that right there that's the
cleanup crawl on the back of a jig you
cut it down pretty small and make a
small profile has a really good wide
surface for skipping makes it a
phenomenal skipping trailer and then a
really consistent action which I like
because when I skip that jig under the
dock I want to know what my bait is
doing at all times I use a chunk style
trailer I use a chunk style trailer a
lot when it gets cold but it's kind of
one you got a babysit like the the the
leg on it will get flipped over the hook
a lot especially if you do it like I do
it and I I like to thread it to make a
little bit smaller profile the trailer
will get actually twisted around itself
a good bit this this bait seems to not
do that at all like it seems to the legs
very rarely get around the hook or
anything like that but it's just a
really good consistent jig trailer that
I've been catching them really really
really good on this year so that's kind
of the setup that I use and you can kind
of see the difference in the two one's a
chunk style one's a you know cleanup
crawl style this bait has almost no
action at all this bait has a ton of
action and it seemed like the more
action has played a little bit better
you know in the past 2 or three weeks so
definitely have been experimenting with
it back and forth though you know that's
just kind of how I am never I got line
coming out I guess that's on a dang
spool I was wondering what that was I
thought it was trash line but I guess
it's my leader line out out of my Center
box so but I always the way that I am
when I fun fish I always play with baits
and try to figure out if one is actually
better than the other you know because a
lot of times if you throw by an
aggressive one he's just going to bite
but that's not always the case sometimes
there's little little nuances to these
baits that make the fish actually
trigger and this is a setup that I've
been using recently is with with the
cleanup crawl so definitely something
worth checking out they're in stores now
they're actually available now all the
crush City baits I've got a freeloader
right here rigged up all these all these
baits are available right now they're
they're for sale at some of the major
retailers and that's kind of pretty
exciting for us at the crust City team
because they have not been available for
a while and everybody known about them
for a while cuz my boy wheeler won
pretty decent size tournament on them
you know he won him 100 Grand this year
on Gunnersville and on on the freeloader
and everybody's been wanting them ever
since and now they're available so you
can get them but you better act fast cuz
I think they're going to sell out pretty
fast but anyways that's kind of my jig
set up probably about to go catch one or
two on it do you think any tourn any
Elite events will be W on a Jeep this
year or will it play at
all I don't think so I don't think so I
don't think so at all we we just we just
don't have a schedule for it you know
there's some opens that I see could
definitely W on a jig you know shallow
and then there's some other tournament
schedules like the npfl they've got a
couple that I think could be W on a jig
because the time of the year and the
lakes they're going to but as far as the
elites you know fork and Toledo a jig
can play and and will play a little but
as far as the win I don't see it
happening this year
I better get the new jig should
I there she is right there new jig from
Untamed tackle flipping jig really
really good head design this one has got
the paint absolutely wore off of it I've
thrown this thing a ton I mean all over
the place too a lot of lakes around here
I actually won a tournament on this on
this bait last fall and it was really
cool because it was like as soon as I
got them I painted them myself took them
to a small little local Lake about an
hour away and pulled up to a place and
like Third cast with it I call like a
three pounder and like the 10th cast
with it I caught like a 2 and a half it
was actually like a 360 and then like
the 10th cast with it I caught like a299
so that was really cool and I remember
that so vividly because it was like 10
cast in that I'd ever used with this jig
so pretty cool pretty fun pretty
exciting we're really happy about it but
that's it it's going to be a really good
flipping jig the ace has a head design
that really makes it skip extremely well
and the other jig will skip too but the
a skips super super well that jig has
the head and the lead kind of poured in
a way where it falls straight down makes
it a very efficient flipping jig and
also makes it very good jig for pitching
to them whenever we're using for face
and sonar it falls straight down it
doesn't Glide as much you can get it on
those fish really fast and that's kind
of
you need both you know over the course
of a year now if I'm going to be
skipping boat docks or fishing really
really shallow cover in the bank the ace
is perfect like it's exactly what I want
for that but flipping super heavy cover
and then you know fishing a little bit
deeper I like for that jig to fall
straight down and get down a little bit
more fast and a little bit faster and a
little more efficiently so kind of a
hole in the lineup that we needed to
plug and now it's been plugged and this
bait will be out very very soon so
pretty exciting sucker's got a really
beefy four all hook for throwing a 7 fo6
heavy 7 fo6 medium heavy 22 lb sunline
shooter is the one I've been throwing
this on and then flipping it in some
gnarly gnarly stuff and then getting
them out came in second in a tournament
a couple weeks ago and caught a couple
of them flipping that jig couple really
key ones flipping that jig you know in
in in current and in big log jams and
stuff like that so it's really been a
player for me and pretty excited to see
y'all's reception to it cuz I think it's
a phenomenal flipping jig but without
further Ado what else we got on jigs
Hunter
that we covered it it's all good all
right they also had a baby
uhoh why we do that
for I was just getting way too much
sleep before you know so I decided to
have a baby and kind of cut down on that
a little bit so we did have a baby
Hunter's holding them right now behind
the
camera and he's cute he is cute that's
all he's cute and hungry and that's
pretty much all the time so appreciate
it guys we about to go fishing