Bassin' USA - Bass Fishing Forum Archives

"Today, almost 30 years after helping to make the original, Garry Garland says the spider jig remains largely unchanged. Says Garland, "it is not exactly a true copy of a crawdad - or anything else for that matter. I feel lures can sometimes be too perfect and too painstaking in detail." "Imperfection and incomplete detail in a bait works better. The image it presents to the bass is not that of a perfect, healthy specimen, but a target that's imperfect and that may be easier to catch."

"Gary Yamamoto agrees. The spider jig is like that, he says. It imitates nothing in particular and everything in general. Depending on the color and action an angler uses, a (spider) jig can give fish the impression of a crawfish, a panfish, a shad, etc. Yet at other times, it's just something moving - an easy target that bass strike.

But, in the latest Bassmaster magazine, an article caught my eye concerning jigs and trailers and their color concept. (Anytime I see the words 'resembles' and 'imitates', a red flag goes up telling me a sales pitch is soon to follow or that filler is needed for the article or video.)

To quote Louie Stout, senior writer, "while a dark-colored pork frog kicking beneath a billowy black jig skirt imitates a crawfish flicking along the bottom, , a white jig and white trailer swimming over cover and around boat docks will fool suspended bass into thinking it's a bait fish."

"Says BASS pro Dean Rojas, "a white jig (& trailer)undulating in the water, looks just like a shad. The proof he gives supporting this statement is that during a tournament, he caught a smaller fish on a spinnerbait one day, and improved his catch the following day by swimming a white jig and trailer. (Since his partner was consistently catching 3 lb. bass the first day to his 1 1/2 lb. fish, I have to assume Rojas couldn't tell the difference between bigger and smaller and the cause for his partner's bigger catch; (must have been the late-night party in J. Houston's motel room the night before.) :rolleyes:

(That's funny, I've always been under the (conventional) impression that spinnerbaits always represented shad or a baitfish school.
(Not that I ever believed the impression, but just under the impression.))

Come to think of it, why wouldn't a bass think, "a white jig and pork frog, undulating in the water", actually respresents an albino Rastafarion in white tails smoking a ganja cigar(weed guard)!

But alas, it can not be - 'dare aren't any bass from Jamaica, mon!'

Frank M
(give me Garland/Yamamoto's concept anyday.)

I think that these pros have made a generalization about a bait based soley on its color. White is a baitfish color, darks are associated with craws. A white jig represents........who knows, I doubt a shad but maybe in shallow water it might. Swimming it may further increae its mimicing of a baitfish. I think the bass strike these things more because of movements than color although color may be important at times. This is revisiting our discussion about natural looking baits. Why do you think that they hit in the case of the spinnerbait/jig pro?

What I found interesting Craig, was that they modified conventional theory,(spinnerbait did not catch bigger fish, therefore was not perceived to be a shad)and eased in the idea that a white skirt and trailer was perceived as a shad because it 'swam' rather than was worked near the bottom.

If they took a few more minutes to think about it, they might have come to the more supportive idea that a white jig and trailer is merely a spinnerbait minus the blade or that a spinnerbait is a jig with a blade.

I've slow-rolled and jigged short-arm spinnerbaits and swam 3/8 oz. jigs since the late 80's. I used to use white, #11 pork frogs for both and caught very nice fish.

Angler knowledge has evolved; may be it's time sports writers and video producers came up with more original theories and real logical arguments. But then again they probably think no one would pay to read or watch their media.

Frank

As an Outdoor Writer, and most likely guilty as charged along with my cohorts, we write mainly for weekend anglers, not true professionals. We endeavor to write columns and articles the general public can relate to so words like "represent and imitate" are likely to be printed. Were I writing for guys of the pro staff calibre, I'd difinately change my wording. I do agree, that often, the swimming action is the trigger to getting strikes, I guess I've never really felt a bass would mistake any artificial bait for the live thing, there are just too many variables in taste, smell, action, motion and vibrations. Good post fellas, take care. Johnnie Crain