"Maximizing Your Success with Bladed Jig Fishing: Jaxson's Top Tips and Tricks Revealed!"

When you see a bladed jig it can be kind of hard to tell if it's in the spinnerbait category or the jig category! Actually, it first appeared in bass fishing as a chatter bait, but it really is just a jig shaped body with a hexagon shaped blade. Now the chatter bait and it's other bladed jig relatives are an immense success with B.A.S.S and F.L.W touring professionals.

Mo-Do Custom Bladed Jig - JACK HAMMER

Bladed jigs are best known for working around and through underwater grasses. Use this style of jig around vegetation in the same manner or presentation style as a Rat-L-Trap hard bait. Let the bladed jig get down into the vegetation, rip it out, reel a little, then allow it to fall back into or near the vegetation again, and repeat the 'ripping' action. This type of 'teasing' drives bass crazy and pulls them out of their cover inside the underwater vegetation.

Another technique, is speed reeling over grass flats which works very well for bladed jigs. It's important to retrieve the jig quickly and cast again as fast as possible. The goal is to have an many casts and retrieves in the shortest amount of time feasible.

Bladed jigs make an outstanding choice for throwing around lay downs in the pre-spawn season. When fishing mud or sand flats with little vegetation, get the jig as close to the bank as possible, reeling down the flats with a steady medium retrieve speed, working it around any logs and rocks that exist along the lures path. Again the goal is to have as many casts and retrieves as possible, but at a slower speed than when fishing the grass flats. This may be the best way to catch bass during the pre-spawn, hopping it along ledges and in and around logs and rocks, pulling up those deeper water fish.

Bedding Bass

You can also work bladed jigs along boat docks, but make sure to have a very erratic retrieve style. Present the jig parallel to the dock and retrieve it while jerking it and pausing just long enough to let it fall. Repeat this process for the entire length of the dock and repeat at least two more times before moving on.

Since bladed jigs fall faster than spinnerbaits, they can be worked deeper and it's faster descent rate triggers more reaction strikes, especially when it falls down ledges and across structure.

Color is always something to consider, as it can make all the difference between a slow day and a prolific day! Popular colors include white, chartreuse, chartreuse-white, brown, and black and blue. One of my favorite techniques, and one I highly recommend is adding a soft plastic craw with very active claws. If the appearance seems bulky when you look at it, switch to a paddle tailed worm that adds a longer profile or you're favorite swimbait.

Bladed Jigs with Craw Trailers

Now you've got to select the rod to perfectly deliver and present your bladed jig! I recommend using a 7 foot medium heavy or heavy action rod with a high speed baitcasting reel (6.3:1 to 8.1:1 gear ratio ranges). I personally use a Shimano baitcasting reel with the 8.1:1 gear ratio and love it! Throw on some 50-65 pound braid that let's you throw the jigs pretty far and the retrieve is incredibly smooth and quick, especially ripping through the grasses and weeds where those monster bass love to hide!

Water staining is also a factor, and bladed jigs work very well in stained to murky water, especially in the mud flats that almost always seem to be murky!

There you have it, these are some great tips and tricks I use to get those lunkers to respond while bladed jig fishing! Take note, this advice does work the best during the pre-spawn, but you can apply them most times of the year. Head to your local tackle shop or reach out to the guys at Tacklewarehosue.com and try these out for your self!

Tight lines everyone!