Posted: 11/15/2011 2:25:22 PM EDT
| I never use jigs or fish plastic worms because I can not feel the lure hitting the bottom. I don't know if this is because my rods are not sensitive enough or I am doing something wrong. I mostly fish with crankbaits and spinners because I can feel the lure vibrating and therefore feel when a fish hits it. I feel like I am misshng out on fish sometimes because of not ever using jigs or plaslic worms. My most sensitive rod is an IM6 medium action 6' 6" Basspro Shop spinning rod. I use 8# trilene line. Is the rod my problem ? Should I try braided line ? |
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My general all around rig is a 6.5'-7' fast action ultralight spin rod. Add in a 1000 size shimano reel (i like the older trigger spin models) spooled with 4lb trilene or izorline. This will throw a 1/32 oz. tube jig without any additional weight. Deadly on lake/stream trout and works equally well on panfish and small bass. Sometimes I will go with 2lb line for trout in the sierras... but not for a pond where there may be bass.
The fast action is what makes it work. you want the flex in the tip down to maybe top 1/3 of the rod. |
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You did answer your own question(s).
Yes you are missing out on a lot of fishing by not fishing jigs and soft plastics. The rod you are using should be fine but I agree you will be better served using braid on a soft plastic/jig set up. One for sensitivity and two for better hook sets. It sounds like you are at the point where you need to start to thinking about different rod/reel combos for different applications and techniques. I say that because I got to that same point several years ago when I realized I was losing/missing fish because of poor hook sets or I was ripping the hooks out of the fish's mouth because I didn't have enough stretch in the line. |
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I don't typically worm or tube bait fish for bass with a spinning rod and reel combo, I like a baitcaster and a medium action rod. I tried the braided lines and did not like them and went back to monofilament. I'm not saying the braided won't work, it just didn't work for me. With plastic worms, I typically texas rig the worm and ocassionally carolina rig. With tube baits I will typically rig them with a jig head.
On really slow days I will ocassionally try splitshotting or dropshotting with a spinning rod and reel. Google Don Iovino to learn more about this finesse technique. Can't help you with jig fishing, as I never did get the hang of it and only caught a couple of fish that way. |