JIGS!

[32eml24]

Does anybody know if there is a company that actually makes a football head jig with a rattle??  I like the way a football head presents so much more but can't find any with rattles and I need them in muddy water...
Ethan

[markgoetsch]

Just add them to your favorite jig.  I think booya makes and sells rattles you just slide on the jig.

[redwing]

There are several companies that make the rattles that you can buy seperately.

[McCarter]

order from me and i will throw the rattle in no extra charge.  and, i will tie custom colors.  cant beat that with a bat!

McCarter himself

[thedude]

mccarter makes the best jigs. i would take him up on that.

[dashaver63]

I would definately take him up on that. Great colors and the rattles he put on mine were tied into the wire wrap. I've caught a bunch of fish on them and the rattles have stayed put. Solid construction and excellent hooks. I'm getting more for next season. (Just make sure he doesn't forget the weedguards) LOL

[play for keeps]

i agree with "thedude" the nemesis upskirt jigs are the only jigs i use anymore

[ROI Outdoors]

Does anybody know if there is a company that actually makes a football head jig with a rattle??  I like the way a football head presents so much more but can't find any with rattles and I need them in muddy water...
Ethan

Just use a super fluttering trailer like a rage craw or lobster craw - rattles are one of those majorly overrated items in the bass fishing world in my opinion.  If you want jigs for Lake Mac ask McCarter (Nemesis Baits) for some McCarter Magic, Pig Destroyer, PBJ, and some Black & Red skirt that I don't know the jazzy name for - they all caught fish on Sunday in the tourney.  I wouldn't go lighter than 1/2 ounce on a football and recommend some 3/4 ounce for Mac - Speed kills on dirty water........

[Durand Dan]

Rate of fall and water displacement(size) are the most effective combination to trigger strikes. A rattle has never made much difference with me.

[McCarter]

i dont throw rattles much in jigs either, but they definatly came into play last saturday on belleville.  no rattles = no bites.  rattles = bites.  dirtier water out there, the rattles were key.


McCarter himself

[32eml24]

Well and even if they don't help that much... do they hurt at all?  Most cranks we throw in clear water have rattles why not have them in a jig?  And in water that muddy, I want a bait that is easy for the bass to locate... a big profile, slow movement, and a rattle are all key in that situation.  Not to get off topic but did anybody see the Kentucky Lake tournament this year where KVD would switch from the rattling crank to the silent and turn the school back on?  Pretty cool to see..

[McCarter]

i dont think it hurts in most cases.  just stick with what you are confident in.  if you are confident in jigs with rattles, your not going to fish as hard if you throw a jig with no rattle.  your confidence will already be down.

[ROI Outdoors]

Well and even if they don't help that much... do they hurt at all?  Most cranks we throw in clear water have rattles why not have them in a jig?  And in water that muddy, I want a bait that is easy for the bass to locate... a big profile, slow movement, and a rattle are all key in that situation.  Not to get off topic but did anybody see the Kentucky Lake tournament this year where KVD would switch from the rattling crank to the silent and turn the school back on?  Pretty cool to see..

Rattles should be used as a secondary tactic when fish do not seem to be responding to baits without rattles - for me cranks without rattles have outproduced ones with rattles over the last few years and I think the reason for this is that rattles are not natural in most situations.  I would have to say the best rattle system is one that is easily removed, if the experts are right they conclude that rattles will hinder strikes more often than they elicite strikes.  Below is some insight I found on the sensitivity of the lateral line vs. the bass inner ear - the way I look at the rattle question is it's natural presentation; there isn't anything natural about them but they do have their time and place which from my experience is not very often. 

Bass use the lateral line system and ears to locate their prey, they have an inner ear similiar to that of humans.  The lateral line system is also an ear of sorts in that it detects vibrations. The inner ear detects sound by registering vibrations in the high frequency range of 500 to 3,000 hertz  a normal, useful range similar to that of humans (500 to 4,000 hertz). Just like the diver who can't tell where the outboard noise is coming from, the bass' inner ear suffers the same problem. The lateral line, however, detects low frequency noise (or vibrations) as low as 50 hertz. Noise in this low range is beyond "normal" human detection (the human ear can register 20 to 20,000 hertz, but we don't necessarily "hear" it) and hard for anglers to understand. The "noises" the lateral line "hears" are pressure waves. With this lateral line, bass detect the low frequency waves given off by swimming prey. 

All that said the one major benefit of rattles for jigs in when you deadstick - you can slowly shake your jig and call them in so to speak; but like the above citation says the inner ear cannot locate where the sound is coming from nearly as accurately as the lateral line can pick up vibrations.

Why don't we go out to Lake Mac together in the next few weeks and test the theory with cranks and jig with rattles and without rattles; I am curious myself and it is really the only way to know for sure.

[dashaver63]

I use rattles in almost all my jigs since water clarity is usually less than a foot or so. I also use either a Paca craw or a Berkley Chigger Craw. I like the combination of moving a lot of water when the bait is falling and then just shaking the jigs so the rattles sound without moving the jig, I think it helps the fish find the jig better in dirty water. I think it lets me keep the bait where the fish are longer without having to move the bait to attract a strike.

[32eml24]

Yeah dude let's do it maybe a 2 day thing one day with rattles, one without or something??  Obviously there are a lot of independent variables but heck it's an excuse to fish, right?

[chrisvmo]

If you want to learn how to throw a football head jig ROI is the jig master. I watched him get jiggy with it and cull our whole bag in 5 cast in a tourney on Big White fish. I was using the exact jig in the same spot and couldn't buy a bite. let me know when your going we can take my boat in exchange for another deep jig lesson.

[djkimmel]

I'll make a note of that for future football jig articles/video

[ROI Outdoors]

Went out to my favorite lake Sunday evening for a couple hours and got jiggy with it - those who can sacrafice less bites the pay-off is bigger fish.  Pic below shows an average jig fish from one of the best largemouth lake in Michigan.

[chrisvmo]

your always getting jiggy with it Ohhzinger.