Gosh its soooo frustrating! I really have no knowledge at all when it comes to picking jig colors.The trusty blk and blu isnt cutting it, and when i try to match the native craw color, i cant get bit. All i would like is for someone to give me some insight as to what colors they use in what kind of water clarity/light. Any help guys would be appreciated! thanks soo much.

Just to give u insight.. I fish mostly weedy ponds and lakes, some gin clear, some dark/stained but not muddy. No deeper than 15ft. All help is appreciated.

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I fish jigs a lot!!!! All year long. The jig bite was one of the hardest for me to learn. I don't know how many times I fished it without even a nibble x(

I finally took nothing out but the jig on 2 trips. On the second trip I caught my 1st jig fish, a little over 3 lbs :7

I mentioned all this because in the process of learning, I constantly switched colors, sizes, etc. Not necessary. Sure there are times when you'll need to change size or color. But for starting out, keep it simple!!! Brown and black will cover almost any situation. I recommend 3/8 oz till you are comfortable.

For trailers, almost anything goes :P But again, try and keep it simple at first. Maybe a regular old zoom chunk (or something similar) in watermelon or green pumpkin. Those are just good all around natural colors. Fish the jig anywhere you would fish a worm. If you go into an area and catch a fish on a t-rig, switch to a jig. Once you catch that 1st jig fish, it will boost your confidence!! Then when you're comfortable, you can put something a little bigger on the back of that jig...like a Woodsac Lure craw :+

I fish the gin clear canals ALOT for jigs in clear water I usally throw Green Pumkin different variations some w/ black or red they all seem to work for trailers I really like double tail grubs just try and match the color of the jig as close as possible.

It is weird that green pumkin works so well around here since the craws are either red or brown, I assure you that Green Pumkin is a killer! If your not getting bites first try fishing slower and popping the jig in place I think most people fish jigs too fast and miss alot of good fish.

Hey let that Bass go I wanna catch her some day
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/tmcustoms/

Jig color has nothing to do with it! You said, your fishing in less that 15'. Most likely your fishing to shallow. Most lakes, the bass are just starting to stage on deep water structure. The lakes I fish are still way to cold (50-53d) for any pre-spawn shallow water situations. We have been catching are fish in 30-40 ft. on white 3/4 oz. spro jigs fished very slowly up-hill. A good rule of thumb on jig/lure colors, is clear water-light colors, dark water-dark colors. But, don't worry about specific color, it's of little consequence. A bass doesn't care if the jig is black, brown or green, if it's presented correctly, he/she will eat it. Water temperature is the key for finding fish and lure presentation is the key to catching fish.

Ok, wel then lets talk about presentation as well. How is it presented in an attractiv manner to big bass? Slow doesnt cut it. What is the tecnique?..Walk me through a cast..

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Most of my jig fishing is flip it in, pop it once, twice, let it sit, pop once more than pull out and hit the next spot. I flip or make short pitches most of the time when fishing a jig. When I make casts or longer pitches I tend to let it settle on the bottom, hop it once and then I start to slowly drag it with my rod tip, not the reel. I like to give it a pop every once in awhile to give it the scared craw trying to get away into a hole look. I usually get my bites on the fall when flipping and short pitches into heavy cover and on the pause when I drag.
My fav. color is blk/blue, then brown/purple

cz

Ok so have you found that a paeticular color does better in certian water clarity? IM really trying not to waste my fishing time if im throwing a color that the fish will not react to as well.

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I pretty much found two colors that I have confidence throwing. I guess i like the black jig in dirty, stained water, and either the brown/purple, or a brown/watermelon combo in clearer water, but I have used both in opposite situations and caught fish. Just take two rods one with a black jig, your choice of color for trailer, and a brown jig your choice of trailer, and fish them all day, for no bites if you must. Then do it again, it took me three trips before I caught my fist jig fish. Then it was like fish, fish, fish, once you learn how to hop it and drag it along the bottom like a craw, the fish will eat it.

cz

http://calfishing.com/gallery/brianb/bhdfg_049
these are some of the colors popular in my area,for clearer lakes i 'm working on an oxblood colored bait w/some blue, and brown and pruple always seems to work well in most water conditions.these i made myself but companies like assault makes some great jigs. brian

also my favorite trailer is a zoom brush hog with a lil bit off the end. :-)

Well i ahve caught some fish over 9 on the piccasso with a worminator creature style as a trailer, but i cant seem to get a pattern. I get bored with one color, switch and catch a fish, get bored with that color, switch, and catch a fish. Its just kind of frustating becaise i am changing my whole out look on bass fishing were as i used to be able to get a pattern on a crank bait, but with fishing for big bass, this isnt the case with jigs..

Talk is cheap; Just show me the picture!

Hooked_Up,

It may be that jigs just aren't the best bet at your lake. Some lakes are just poor jig lakes for whatever reason.

I do believe that color is important, but it's more about shade than color. If the water is murky, looks black colored or dark green, I like a black jig. I seriously only fish one color of black jig and it's black and red. If the water is clear, has light green or pale brown grass, or the bottom is generally brown or sandy, then I use brown jigs. I like the Assalt brown/copper color or just plain brown. It's kind of vague, but I try to go with what looks right. Sometimes black jigs look right in the water and other times brown jigs look right. Throw your jigs in 1 foot of water and look and see if they 'look right'

For my black/red jigs I like black/red trailers :) For the brown jigs I'll go with watermelon red flake, brown, or brown/purple. I like the red bluegill Assalt spyder grub on my brown jigs because it has a neutral look to it. The color is basically smoke with red/gold/silver flake. But it's not flashy at all in the water. Some guys like contrasting jig trailers, I don't. Crawdads aren't contrasting, they're one color and I want my jig to be basically one color or one shade.

What about the rest of your setup? What pound test are you using and what is the water visibility exactly? Maybe you need to go down in line size to get bit if the water is clear. Take a minute to read about Mike Long's 17.2 at Jennings on bassfanarmy.com

http://www.bassfanarmy.com/bfa_news_article.asp?id=26

I don't think Mike is pulling any punches there and the key thing he says is that he's using 12lb. If you're looking at 8+ foot visibility, its' going to be hard to get bit on a jig on 20lb. It can happen but it's just less likely.

My main message though to you is that maybe it's just not the right thing for the conditions right now at the lakes you are fishing. I know it's easy to get caught up in wanting to learn a certain technique because you see people getting fish on it, but that doens't mean you can ignore the realities of the conditions where you are fishing. A more productive thing if you want to expand into new techniques might be to take what works for you already, then try to expand on that with similar baits, different colors etc.

-Rob

The only thing that I can recommend is to use a good flourocarbon line. It makes all the difference in the world with jigs. Where are you fishing at anyways? If you're down here in So. Cal. I might be able to help you, but the boys up North won't steer you wrong. Color can be unimportant or everything. When I fished up in Oregon for small mouth they wanted colors that matched the crawdads. It just happened that the guy I was fishing with pours and ties his own. They were spot on and we caught a ton of fish. Bigger trailers slow your fall, but sometimes they draw more strikes.

Dirty water-definately black or combos of black, like black and blue etc;maybe add a rattle? Heavier for flipping like 1/2-1 1/2

Clear water-Greens and browns, maybe smaller sizes like 3/8 or even 1/4. I've had great success with 1/4 ounce jigs.

Jig head shapes can make a difference too, like football head or sled type head.
So good luck and be patient, the more you fish it the more chances you'll have to stick fish on it.

Walk the shore and flip some rocks. When you find a crawdad match your jig color. Don't forget to hold them both underwater, what matches above may not match below, I think that the reason for this is "shading" issue like Rob referred to, as opposed to color.

I use mostly browns and match the jig trailer (I fish a lot of clear water).

The other thing that may make your jig fishing more bearable: don't forget to match your jig head to the type of cover you fish. I like footballs for rocky areas, and more pointed jig heads with the eye in front (as opposed to on top) to pull the jig through grassy areas.

--John

I am throwing a 12lb Flourocarbon P-Line right now. Its really abrasion resistant and i grew up fishing "light" line anyways so it cool. I honestly think its one of 2 things.. Color, or presentaion. I guess i need to work on both:-( But I will find my nitch again hopefully with a little helo form you guys:-)

So what is the strike percentage and how can i make that go up in colder water?

Oh and i am fishing in Richmond,Va./.. Thats right.. East Coast big boys.. Not any trophy fish pressure, but i just need to refine my tactics.

Talk is cheap; Just show me the picture!