I am late to this party Benjamin but I live in north Alabama and fish Pickwick Lake. Not sure if you are familiar with this lake but in my opinion it is probably one of the best lakes for trophy smallmouth in addition to Dale Hollow in the country. Many years ago, I got the privilege and honor fishing with Billy Westmoreland. I met him through a friend of mine who mentored me at my current job. Billy taught me alot about hair jig fishing. Anyway, during your video you concentrated when these hair jigs are most effective. Late winter and early spring are key times to fish this presentation but what you didn't mention was the hot summer months. On Lake Pickwick around the first of June we have huge willow fly hatches at night. These hair jigs you discuss have put more trophy smallmouth in my boat in hot summer months during willow fly hatches and dark moons then any other baits. In the last 20 years, I have caught many smallmouth over 6 pounds on Lake Pickwick at night using custom hand tied marabou jigs. I do modify mine to include a few strands of silicone. Believe it or not my most productive pattern at night is a 3/32 Midwest finnese head with black marabou and two strands of pink silicone down each side. On my jigs that I tie, I incorporate a small chenile ball about a 1/4 inch from the lead head. The reason why I do this is because it makes the marabou flare out and keeps the material from being so compressed. Like you, I also use a small piece of plastic threaded on the hook to give the light jig just a little more weight during a long cast. For the most part, small hair jigs are great during cold water periods but don't kid yourself......they get smashed in the hot summer months as well. Thanks for your channel and the knowledge you share with us viewers. If you ever get a chance to come to north Alabama, I highly recommend you try fishing lake Pickwick. I honestly believe there is a world record in this lake.....it's that good.
Just watching these vids for fun, I’m fl we use flair hawks for giant snook and reds at the inlets and spillways, seems lots of people sleep on hair jigs when it was one of the first lures invented and still around to this day cuz it’s that effective and slow bottom bumping is the ultimate technique with it, you ain’t catching snags you aren’t doing it right
Thanks for those inputs Ben! I will give that a go come spring. Last year I did play with hair jigs and pulled a ton of bass both smallmouth and largemouth with it. As much as black as been the main producer, I came to another conclusion that by having the head of the jig contrasting the hairs I had even better success. Like a brown head with black hair. That slow crawl just above bottom paid off but didn't went all the way to dead sticking it.
The slow crawl is deadly too but for me I’m normally targeting less than 10’ with that. I just can’t confidently fish it much deeper with a steady retrieve. I’ll have to mess with opposing head/hair colors
I had a friend tell me about the Marabou jig when it was still a secret years back. I had an outing where there were over 10 boats prespawn fishing a river mouth. Didn't see any of them hook up so when a couple boats left I squeezed in. Started pulling them every cast from my kayak! It didn't even matter what direction I casted, it was like they were everywhere but only wanted the hair jig lol.. Maybe I'm doing something wrong or maybe the fish have adapted but the bite seemed to have slowed down over the past few years.
Yeah I definitely think the fish are getting a little smarter to it, but that’s a crazy story. I think there’s also a period when most anglers are trying to bed fish or near spawning areas where you can throw that marabou jig and crush fish when other boats aren’t focused on that bite. The closest thing I can compare it to is a big Swimbait - the fish are so curious and it draws them from long distances
Always great video content. Far more largemouth than smallies here where I now reside in NC but I have no doubt the largemouth will also eat a hair jig. I caught some nice ones up north on them.
@@brnowak_fishing I will let you know for sure. Planning on spending more time in the bay this year chasing brown ones as soon as the weather warms up!!
The rod for me won’t change, but on st Clair or the Great Lakes I may go up to 1/8 or possibly even 3/16 if I’m fishing ~15-20 and it’s windy. For me it’s about getting that bait near bottom and being able to just barely feel contact
Thanks for the video. The juice is definitely out. In this video you talk about only dragging the jig 3-6" at a time with no added action. But, In the on the water video it looks like you guys are bumping it a bit. Did I see that correctly? Did you guys try this at Dale Hollow? I saw Matt Stefan show how he uses a marabou fly rigged as a drop shot which allows the fly to stay at a consistent depth at any rate of reeling. I'll be trying that this year too.
Absolutely! We tend to shake the slack occasionally, especially when we’re fishing around perch grass or short grasses to keep the bait from digging in. I’m sure with that light of a jig it also bounces the bait a bit too. The main retrieve we use on hard bottoms does tend to be just slow slow drags though with some deadstick mixed in
@@brnowak_fishing I'm debating whether to go to DH soon or save the days for an "ice out" trip Traverse City area. Hearing you talk about it got me intrigued.
@@smalliehound I would save the days and go up to TC area. Dale is probably going to be good here in about 2 weeks, but nothing beats early spring up here
Typically this is a cooler water technique (early spring/mid fall - below 50°), but it can work really anytime fish are extremely tough but you know where they’re stacked up. We’ve caught them mid summer on this a few times as well
Wait you designed the tactical elite?! super awesome! I bought one earlier this year and caught my PB smallmouth on a hair jig on that rod in a 7' 6" medium light! 4 lb 14 oz hawg out of fort peck montana
I got the opportunity to help design the 7’6 ML Elite blank for the hair jig specifically. It was an incredible opportunity and process. Congrats on a beast of a fish!
That was part of the problem I had with some other rods was the tip was whippy so it took away from casting distance. I'm sure it'll work, but if you cast it and the tip wants to "bounce" on the cast, it may be taking away from casting distance
Great info Ben. I will certainly be trying this technique out next time I’m able to get out- thanks so much for sharing!🙂👍🏻 Btw- you looked very comfortable in your bare feet in your last interview-lol!😂
HOW TO TIE A HAIR JIG (MARABOU) ► ruclips.net/video/RIsrug7cta0/видео.html
🛠 Hair Jig GEAR 🛠
Homemade Marabou Jig - 3/32 Midwest Finesse Jig - bit.ly/DoItMoldsBRN
Marabou Jig - 3/32oz - omnia.direct/SB2FeiderFly
Rod - 7'6" ML TFO Spinning Rod - omnia.direct/SB2TFO763
Reel - Size 35 Pfleuger Supreme XT - omnia.direct/Pflueger
Line: 8lb Braid to a 6lb Fluorocarbon Leader
I am late to this party Benjamin but I live in north Alabama and fish Pickwick Lake. Not sure if you are familiar with this lake but in my opinion it is probably one of the best lakes for trophy smallmouth in addition to Dale Hollow in the country. Many years ago, I got the privilege and honor fishing with Billy Westmoreland. I met him through a friend of mine who mentored me at my current job. Billy taught me alot about hair jig fishing. Anyway, during your video you concentrated when these hair jigs are most effective. Late winter and early spring are key times to fish this presentation but what you didn't mention was the hot summer months. On Lake Pickwick around the first of June we have huge willow fly hatches at night. These hair jigs you discuss have put more trophy smallmouth in my boat in hot summer months during willow fly hatches and dark moons then any other baits. In the last 20 years, I have caught many smallmouth over 6 pounds on Lake Pickwick at night using custom hand tied marabou jigs. I do modify mine to include a few strands of silicone. Believe it or not my most productive pattern at night is a 3/32 Midwest finnese head with black marabou and two strands of pink silicone down each side. On my jigs that I tie, I incorporate a small chenile ball about a 1/4 inch from the lead head. The reason why I do this is because it makes the marabou flare out and keeps the material from being so compressed. Like you, I also use a small piece of plastic threaded on the hook to give the light jig just a little more weight during a long cast. For the most part, small hair jigs are great during cold water periods but don't kid yourself......they get smashed in the hot summer months as well. Thanks for your channel and the knowledge you share with us viewers. If you ever get a chance to come to north Alabama, I highly recommend you try fishing lake Pickwick. I honestly believe there is a world record in this lake.....it's that good.
The man ties a mean hair jig! 🔥
Thanks brother!
Nice video. The Float & Fly is also a nasty winter time tactic with a really light hair jig.
Yes! Caleb and Alex were trying to get that bite going on Dale, but it never materialized. That’s a cool technique, I’ve never really fished
@@brnowak_fishing One and the same really, the float let's you know where the fish was when it bit and helps slow you down though.
Fantastic advice and insights. Thanks!!
Just watching these vids for fun, I’m fl we use flair hawks for giant snook and reds at the inlets and spillways, seems lots of people sleep on hair jigs when it was one of the first lures invented and still around to this day cuz it’s that effective and slow bottom bumping is the ultimate technique with it, you ain’t catching snags you aren’t doing it right
HOT TIPS" THANX 4 POSTING!
Thanks for those inputs Ben! I will give that a go come spring. Last year I did play with hair jigs and pulled a ton of bass both smallmouth and largemouth with it. As much as black as been the main producer, I came to another conclusion that by having the head of the jig contrasting the hairs I had even better success. Like a brown head with black hair. That slow crawl just above bottom paid off but didn't went all the way to dead sticking it.
The slow crawl is deadly too but for me I’m normally targeting less than 10’ with that. I just can’t confidently fish it much deeper with a steady retrieve. I’ll have to mess with opposing head/hair colors
I had a friend tell me about the Marabou jig when it was still a secret years back. I had an outing where there were over 10 boats prespawn fishing a river mouth. Didn't see any of them hook up so when a couple boats left I squeezed in. Started pulling them every cast from my kayak! It didn't even matter what direction I casted, it was like they were everywhere but only wanted the hair jig lol.. Maybe I'm doing something wrong or maybe the fish have adapted but the bite seemed to have slowed down over the past few years.
Yeah I definitely think the fish are getting a little smarter to it, but that’s a crazy story. I think there’s also a period when most anglers are trying to bed fish or near spawning areas where you can throw that marabou jig and crush fish when other boats aren’t focused on that bite. The closest thing I can compare it to is a big Swimbait - the fish are so curious and it draws them from long distances
Always great video content. Far more largemouth than smallies here where I now reside in NC but I have no doubt the largemouth will also eat a hair jig. I caught some nice ones up north on them.
I definitely need to fish a hair jig more this year for my smallmouth! Awesome video!
Thanks man! If you’re ever up in Michigan, let’s try to get together!
@@brnowak_fishing absolutely!
Bro, I am going to use this technique this spring!! Thanks for sharing
Thanks brother. Hopefully you smash some bigs on it
@@brnowak_fishing I will let you know for sure. Planning on spending more time in the bay this year chasing brown ones as soon as the weather warms up!!
Thanks for the info! I have been wanting to try hair jigs.
Thanks for watching Chris! I hope you smash some on a hair jig this year
Awesome video Benjamin !! 👍👍
It’s like dynamite when they won’t touch anything else. Did well in the UP last weekend on these. Thanks for sharing!
Thx for the video I'll give this a try in early spring👍
Let me know when you catch some on it :-)
Would you still go with 7’6” ML and 3/32oz on a bigger lake like St Clair? Does it mainly depend on wind and maximizing casting distance?
The rod for me won’t change, but on st Clair or the Great Lakes I may go up to 1/8 or possibly even 3/16 if I’m fishing ~15-20 and it’s windy. For me it’s about getting that bait near bottom and being able to just barely feel contact
Thanks for the video. The juice is definitely out.
In this video you talk about only dragging the jig 3-6" at a time with no added action. But, In the on the water video it looks like you guys are bumping it a bit. Did I see that correctly?
Did you guys try this at Dale Hollow?
I saw Matt Stefan show how he uses a marabou fly rigged as a drop shot which allows the fly to stay at a consistent depth at any rate of reeling. I'll be trying that this year too.
Absolutely! We tend to shake the slack occasionally, especially when we’re fishing around perch grass or short grasses to keep the bait from digging in. I’m sure with that light of a jig it also bounces the bait a bit too. The main retrieve we use on hard bottoms does tend to be just slow slow drags though with some deadstick mixed in
@@brnowak_fishing Gotcha. Did you all try this on Dale Hollow?
@@smalliehound no, we thought about it, but we really just wanted to go down and throw a ARig and jig. I probably had 2 or 3 rods out most of the trip
@@brnowak_fishing I'm debating whether to go to DH soon or save the days for an "ice out" trip Traverse City area. Hearing you talk about it got me intrigued.
@@smalliehound I would save the days and go up to TC area. Dale is probably going to be good here in about 2 weeks, but nothing beats early spring up here
What water temperature are you talking about? Thanks.
Typically this is a cooler water technique (early spring/mid fall - below 50°), but it can work really anytime fish are extremely tough but you know where they’re stacked up. We’ve caught them mid summer on this a few times as well
Wait you designed the tactical elite?! super awesome! I bought one earlier this year and caught my PB smallmouth on a hair jig on that rod in a 7' 6" medium light! 4 lb 14 oz hawg out of fort peck montana
I got the opportunity to help design the 7’6 ML Elite blank for the hair jig specifically. It was an incredible opportunity and process. Congrats on a beast of a fish!
I’ve got a 7’ 6” St Croix Premiere ML rod. I’m thinking it’s too Whippy. Any thoughts?
That was part of the problem I had with some other rods was the tip was whippy so it took away from casting distance. I'm sure it'll work, but if you cast it and the tip wants to "bounce" on the cast, it may be taking away from casting distance
Very good tips thanks you
Thanks Jose!!!
Good job 👍👍🙏
Great info Ben. I will certainly be trying this technique out next time I’m able to get out- thanks so much for sharing!🙂👍🏻
Btw- you looked very comfortable in your bare feet in your last interview-lol!😂
Thanks Bob!
Hahah yes, laid back just chatting 😂 feet out with no cares in the world lol
this should be around 5mins.
The juice is out
I figured we sat on it long enough…time to give up a little bit of the sneaky :-)