Modifying the jig

This week's fishing tip deals with rubber or silicone skirted jig modifications.

The jig is perhaps the best bait an angler can use when in search of big bass, and by modifying the jig, anglers will catch more bass.

A) Trimming the wire weed guard

Trimming the wire weed guard down to one eighth of an inch above the jig's hook point is a modification that will pay off for anglers in a few ways. By trimming the wire weed guard down, the jig will stay weedless in most types of cover and it doesn't hamper your hook sets, especially on bigger bass.

B) Wire weed guard fanning

Fanning the wire weed guard will make the jig even more weedless in extreme heavy cover situations. Fan out the wire weed guard where it covers the hook point in a wide path. This will give you an extremely effective jig with a 130 percent hook set in extrmemly heavy cover.

C) Worm inserts

Small one-inch worm inserts are so valuable because of the effectiveness in making the jig a more effective bass-catching lure when the jig is teamed up with a pork frog trailer.

This worm insert also acts as an added attractor when used in chartreuse and yellow colors and fills out the body of the jig. The worm insert also holds the pork frog trailer in the round bend of the jig's hook and keeps the pork frog from riding up the jig's hook shank, which prevents bad hook sets and lost fish.

D) Bending up hooks

Probably the easiest and most effective jig modification is bending the jig's hook from the packaged, nine o'clock position. This will give you a 100 percent hook set directly into the upper part of the fish's mouth.

Good fishing

Chris Foster

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