Wenners will seldom let the bait sit still. When he sees several
fish streak up to his Jigging Rap on his fish finder and they don’t
hit, he will slowly lift the lure to trigger a strike. If that doesn’t
work, experiment with sudden drops or lifts, or pause the bait
dead still and read the fish’s reaction on the graph.
Aggressive or subtle, the best presentation is usually
revealed through trial and error. That’s the great part about jig-
ging baits. They can be fished slow and easy, with subtle twitch-
es, lifts and pauses, or made to dart erratically with longer rod
sweeps or harder jerks. The key is to locate bass in clear-water
areas using electronics and take a stab at them. The fish might
not be under ice, but this old ice fishing standby can still put
them in the boat.
Guide Pete Wenners believes a subtle approach is the best approach
with a Jigging Rap.
NOT JUST FOR
VERTICAL FISHING
JIGGING WITH BAITCASTERS
Most anglers fish jigging baits with spinning tackle, but not Lawyer. He uses
a 7-foot, 3-inch, medium-heavy, fast Lew’s Magnum Hammer baitcasting rod
and spools up 12- to 17-pound-test fluorocarbon line.
He will go with the heavier line when he’s fishing in thick treetops and
knows the bass might try to dart into the timber once hooked.
62
Though the Jigging Rap and
other baits like it are most com-
monly fished vertically for bass
that have been pinpointed with
electronics, that’s not the only
technique that works in open
water. Casting and snap jigging are
effective means of covering water,
particularly for bottom-oriented
bass.
When casting, let the lure hit
bottom and work it back with a
series of firm, yet short snaps of
the rod tip. The bait will hop off
bottom and then plummet back
down.
Snap jigging can also be done
while trolling or drifting, with the
line sloped back at about a 45-
degree angle behind the boat. It’s
a good method for locating deep
fall smallmouths up north, or in
any situation when bass are scat-
tered across a flat or drop-off.
The action is similar as before:
Pitch the bait out and start the troll
or drift, then snap or hop the bait
up and forward a short distance
before dropping the rod tip so the
bait can fall straight back down on
slack line. Use the boat to present
the lure around the structure. ■
FLWFISHING.COM I NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2017