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This article was originally published in Tennessee Sportsman, December, 2003Hair jigs and smallmouth bass go together like ham and eggs. A bait doesn’t develop a reputation like that unless it works. Try these tactics for more brown bass this winter.
Once upon a time, long ago, anglers believed that their prey did not bite during cold water seasons. When early winter arrived, they put their rods and reels in the garage and waited for warm spring breezes. Modern-day angles know better.
At a time unknown, on a lake unknown, by an angler unknown, the hair jig was discovered. Since that day, or night, the hair jig has consistently caught fish, especially smallmouths.
Perhaps the greatest smallmouth angler ever to live and fish was the late Billy Westmoreland. No angler in history ever caught more smallmouths, at least not big ones. He believed the single most effective tool for coldwater smallies was a hair jig. His beliefs should be taken seriously.
This belief led Westmoreland to design, develop and manufacture the Hoss Fly. The Hoss Fly had a round head, flat on both sides, poured vertically on the hook and tied with hair. In the early days he used polar bear hair, and then, after it was no longer available, he used brown bear hair. Bear hair was selected because it was durable, waterresistant and buoyant, and it separated well in the water. The only perceived drawback was that it was just a little stiff.
Westmoreland fished his Hoss Fly during coldwater months, usually when the water temperature dipped below the 55- degree mark. Billy certainly saw no reason to put away his equipment just because of a little frost or snow – not when there were brown fish to be caught. (He was known to fish it some in the spring, though, especially around brush when th water was high.)
His original technique was to throw his jig along rock or bluff walls in deep water that was close to even deeper water. If he could find a little grass that survived the winter, so much the better. His technique of choice was to lift and drop the jig in a very deliberate and methodical manner, never getting in a hurry.
On occasion, he would crawl it along the bottom – again, very slowly, never losing contact with the bottom. The Hoss Fly could be used as a swimming bait as well. If and when it was so used, it was worked deep, very deep, and never far from the bottom. That was the beauty of the design of the Hoss Fly: It would hop, crawl or swim.
IT’S IN THE HANDS
To do this requires “hands” – hands that are gentle enough to work the jig slowly and carefully while at the same time strong enough to set the hook in a big smallmouth bass. Some of the best hands belong to a contemporary of Westmoreland, Cobby Hayes.
Hayes has decades of experience chasing smallies. That experience has allowed him to perfect his lift and drop technique. Hayes points out that to catch coldwater fish one must, absolutely must, work the jig slowly. He lifts the jig slowly and then lets it fall, by its own weight, never losing contact with the lure. This requires some practice and experience but is well worth the effort.
He is also a master at crawling the jig along the bottom. He lifts the jig just enough to allow for forward movement while at the same time never losing contact with it or with the bottom. The forward movement is nearly imperceptible, but effective.
At times he will swim his jig. He never allows it to lose intermittent contact with the bottom, however – not in cold water at least.
Like all good anglers, Hayes never takes his eyes off his line. He knows that most of his strikes will come in the form of nothing more than the twitch of this line. When that happens, his hands are ready.
Recommended tackle for this style of angling is a medium-action open-face spinning rod (something around 6 ½ feet in length is about right), with a mediumcapacity reel spooled with 6-pound-test line.
OTHER MATERIALS
Over time other materials became popular for jig dressings. Nearly anything and everything know to man has been tried at one time or another, with varying degrees of success.
Then along came Stephen Headrick (The Smallmouth Guru), owner of Punisher Jigs, LLC. He began using craft hair for dressing. Craft hair had all the qualities of bear hair but was thinner and more pliable, and it provided a subtle and flowing action in the water.
Headrick now markets a modern version of the original Hoss Fly – th Aspirin Head. The head is somewhat thinner and the workmanship somewhat better, owing mainly to advances in manufacturing equipment, but the basic design and principles are the same. It will hop, crawl or swim. Aspirin Heads are molded on large wide-gap hooks for quick and easy penetration.
Color selection for this style of angling is basic. Hayes recommends – and most experts agree with him – light, natural colors for clear water and clear sky conditions. He further recommends dark colors for dark conditions and bright colors for stained or muddy water.
As for size, the rule is simple. Use the smallest size that water depth and casting conditions will allow you to get away with. If there is a standard, or at least a starting point, it would be around 1/8 ounce. The most important factor in size selection is your ability to keep contact with the lure.
Most anglers use trailers. Nearly all prefer pork over plastic in coldwater conditions because of its ability to remain flexible.
An Uncle Josh No. U2 was the choice of most experienced smallmouth anglers for many years. They generally selected colors to match their jigs. U2s are still popular, and they are still used and still catch fish.
There are newer products available, however. These include the No. 18 and No. 19 pork frogs from Uncle Josh. These pork chunks are small and are rapidly becoming favorites of wintertime anglers.
These were the techniques of choice among top smallmouth anglers across the country for decades. Times change, however.
FLOAT AND FLY
Somewhere along the line, a few anglers began noticing that crappie anglers were catching a surprising number of smallmouths during the winter. They were doing this with jigs tied under a bobber. Out of this emerged the float and fly technique. This technique has been around for at least 15 years but has just begun to gain widespread popularity over the last three or four years.
It is a technique that is made for suspended fish. Smallmouths tend to suspend as the water gets colder.
The undisputed master of the float and fly is Bob Coan. His technique starts with a jig, but not just any jig. Float and fly jigs are small (1/6 to 1/32 ounce); they are molded on a No. 2 wide gap hook and painted. Craft hair is used as the dressing.
He ties this jig to a light monofilament leader between 9 and 15 feet in length. The other end of the leader is tied to one ring of a three-way swivel. Coan then spools his open-face spinning reel with Berkley Fire Line and ties it to the second ring of the swivel.
A customized bobber, developed by Coan, is clipped directly to the third ring of the swivel. This rig is fished on an 8- to 10- foot “noodle rod.”
Once your cast is complete, allow the jig to drop through the water so it suspends directly below the bobber. At this point, wiggle the bobber by shaking the rod tip. For those who have not tried it, don’t knock it! According to Coan, his wintertime smallmouth catch has tripled as a result of the float and fly.
SCENTS
No article about hair jigs would be complete without a discussion of scent products. To a man, every angler mentioned in this article believes in them. Nearly all agree with Coan that it is impossible to know if they are attractants or masks. Whatever, however, they work.
Headrick, Hayes and Coan all agree on another thing as well: As the water temperature dips into the low 40s, or below, hair movement can put off the bite. They believe the old adage: “If the water is cold and a lure looks good to you, cut it off.” Nothing in cold water has much action.
The smallmouth experts solve the movement problem with Fish Dope. It is a scent product made with a petroleum jelly base. As such, it is very thick and will mat the hairs on the jig when applied. After applying Fish Dope, twist the hair into a point behind the bend of the hook. This trick will markedly increase your catch in cold water.
Instead of putting your rods and reels away for the winter, make them earn their keep. No matter if you hop, crawl, swim or suspend them, hair jigs should be your weapon of choice for wintertime smallmouths.
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