Fifty yards down the bank, i pop a second fish around 3 pounds. We idle back and make a second pass and i catch a 7 and 5 pounder. We turn back for a third pass and dan sticks a fish over 6 pounds. okay, we’re done, we got 30 pounds, we win, nobody is gonna come close to this sack buddy!
That simple little change, from plastic jig trailers to pork, made all the difference between getting bit and not, here’s why. When the water temperatures in a big bass’ environment cool down, below 60 degrees, their whole metabolism and feeding habits change drastically. The bait fish that they have been feeding on all summer and fall, change too. everything in that bass’ world, slows down. Their forage preference, now turns to big, slow moving crawdads. That pork chunk, now adds greater buoyancy to your jig, and presents a profile and likeness of a crawdad, one that a big largemouth bass is gonna track down and eat.
In as much as a plastic craw trailer may look more like a crawdad to you and me, time tested experiences, consistently year after year, have proven to me that the bigger bass in the waters we fish, are more willing to trigger on the Jig-n-Pig combo than any other trailer during the winter months. Why this is, i don’t bother to diagnose or ask anymore. as a diehard jig fisherman, i just know and have the utmost confidence in using pork in cold water. Using pork, much like the jig itself, is thought of by most anglers today, as being some mystical tactic that requires years of experience and practice, to develop some
Issue 5 December 2011
special fish catching secret. There is no secret with pork, it’s as easy really, as just doing it.
The allure of using plastic craw and creature like trailers, is being misguided by the number articles, tournaments and tV shows we see of anglers having success with those bait trailers on their jigs. What most anglers don’t realize, is that these stories and events we see and hear about, are of professional anglers who understand and take advantage of plastic trailers in the spring, when pork is not as productive as the plastic trailers we have at our disposal. Hence, the popularity of plastic rises and that of pork dwindles. this is further seen in the number of companies that continue to make pork chunks today. anglers are favoring plastics, because this is what all the high profile anglers are using during periods other than winter. Plastic sales go up, pork sales are driven down, pork manufacturers are stepping aside. Supply and demand. No secret here, yet us “pork guys” know and continue using it with great success.
For me, there is no greater jig trailer in the winter next to pork. My clients and friends see this time and time again on trips with me. Many of them start out using plastics, like dan & i did that winter day in January. it’s not long into our day, when i get that first big bite using pork, that they become convinced, pork is king in the winter. don’t wait until all else fails and get on it too late, if it’s december in your neck of the woods, don’t leave home with your jig rods, without grabbing that jar of pork too. That Jig-N-Pig, will make you a jig fisherman fer life!
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