Swimming Deep for Big Fish is Nothing New

[Smalls21]

Bill, also what weight of ball head jig? do you go with the lightest you can possibly get away with like the Ned rig or a heavier jig to get it down quicker?

[abkeenan]

1 hour ago, Smalls21 said:

Bill, also what weight of ball head jig? do you go with the lightest you can possibly get away with like the Ned rig or a heavier jig to get it down quicker?

1/4oz has always been what I throw and I think what the majority of guys throw. Just a good all around weight to throw deep or shallow. If the wind kicks up can always bump it up to a 3/8oz.

[Ham]

75% of the time when I throw a grub, it's an 1/8 oz head.  It heavy wind or trying to stay down I will go to 1/4 oz. I have some 1/16 oz, but I've never seen a time they were of value. I have some 3/8 oz, but I don't remember ever using them. 

If I wasn't so cheap, I would try some of the fish head designs. I just throw ball heads. 2/0 sickle for my smaller 4 inch grubs maybe go up to 3/0 for Fat Alberts and some of the BIG 4 inch grubs

[Bill Babler]

6# Maxima.   I'm fishing it on a Squirrel Tail and use either a 1/4 ball head or a 3/8th. underspin.  When your trying to target fish 20 to 40 feet deep anything lighter is to light to get to them and to light to keep in the strike zone for the right amount of time. They are not hitting it on the fall as they would a flutter spoon, you have to swim it to get hit. Tried throwing it on a bait caster with 10 and it just did not work.  My partner threw it on 8 pound mono last weekend and did well with it.  I could out throw him but he still caught as many as I did.

I do have lots of the fish head jig hooks and they do not catch any more than the ball for me.

I've been throwing it on 6 pound Maxi for 20 plus years and never broke a fish off.  I'm now knocking on wood.

Good Luck

[Smalls21]

15 hours ago, Bill Babler said:

6# Maxima.   I'm fishing it on a Squirrel Tail and use either a 1/4 ball head or a 3/8th. underspin.  When your trying to target fish 20 to 40 feet deep anything lighter is to light to get to them and to light to keep in the strike zone for the right amount of time. They are not hitting it on the fall as they would a flutter spoon, you have to swim it to get hit. Tried throwing it on a bait caster with 10 and it just did not work.  My partner threw it on 8 pound mono last weekend and did well with it.  I could out throw him but he still caught as many as I did.

I do have lots of the fish head jig hooks and they do not catch any more than the ball for me.

I've been throwing it on 6 pound Maxi for 20 plus years and never broke a fish off.  I'm now knocking on wood.

Good Luck

thanks Bill!

[CadeWompus]

Man, this is great info.  Makes my heart start pounding just thinking about doing this 10 days from now.  How do conditions affect this bite?  Sun w/wind vs. no wind and also cloudy days?  It has seemed to me in the past that the fish suspend more with the sun and wind and are easier to catch doing this.