Jigs — Middepth Water
A large trailer with claws and a full skirt help create a slow-sinking presentation .
A compact , streamlined trailer and a trimmed skirt let the jig sink faster .
Bryan Thrift
For jig fall rates , the strategy comes down to how the fish are biting that day .
“ If I notice all of my bites are coming on the fall , I will change to a slower-falling jig ,” says bryan thrift , winner of the 2016 FLW tour Invitational at Lake norman . “ If they are biting it as I ’ m working it on the bottom I want it to get down quicker .” thrift is one of the best in the business at skipping jigs deep underneath docks . he nearly always uses a 1 / 2-ounce jig for this situation . to adjust his fall rate , he will either change his line size between 15- and 20-pound-test p-Line fluorocarbon – lighter for a faster fall , and vice versa – or change soft-plastic trailers .
“ If I want my jig to fall slower I ’ ll use a bulkier trailer such as the Damiki Knockout . If I want it to fall faster , I switch to the Damiki Air Craw because it is much thinner in profile and falls much quicker ,” he says .
Drop-Shot Rigs — Deep Water
When fishing for suspended bass he can see on his electronics , FLW tour pro braxton Setzer pays close attention to how the fish are acting .
“ I have found that when bass get pressured on deep spots , your fall rate is very important ,” says Setzer . “ Sometimes they will only hit it on a fast drop , and other times you can watch them on your graph following a slowly falling drop-shot rig and eating it once it reaches the bottom .” to adjust his fall rate on his drop-shot rig , Setzer will adjust three things : size of weight , type of soft plastic and line size . the weight adjustment is pretty obvious . Setzer carries weights as light as 1 / 16 ounce . Line changes are straight-forward too , but be aware that lighter line often allows a supple soft plastic to have more action . Soft plastic selection is about buoyancy . “ If I want it to fall slower I ’ ll go with a worm that is more buoyant ,” says Setzer . “ When I want it to drop quickly I will use a heavy bait such as a soft stick bait to get it to fall that much faster . Worms that have a lot of salt like your stick baits are heavier baits , so they ’ re going to fall faster . then there are some baits out there such as the Z-Man ElaZtech baits that float .” though Setzer doesn ’ t often wacky rig a soft bait , he does advise that switching from a nose-hooked or texas-rigged worm to a wacky-rigged worm can also alter the fall rate since the wacky-rigged worm catches more water as it sinks .
Some worms float , while worms with a lot of salt sink quickly . A worm ’ s shape and size also impact fall rate . The three shown here — Z-Man ElaZtech FattyZ ( top ), Yamamoto Thin Senko ( middle ) and Roboworm Fat Straight Tail Worm ( bottom ) — can all be used to create different fall rates .
How you rig a worm also affects the fall rate . A wacky rig ( top ) without weight will sink very slowly , but even with a weighted wacky head it ’ ll still flutter down due to the tails “ catching ” water . Texas-rigged ( middle ) and nose-hooked baits ( bottom ), when pulled down by a weight , will plummet faster because they ’ ll turn vertical as they sink and experience little resistance .
Braxton Setzer
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FLWFISHING . COM I FEBRUARY-MARCH 2017