The early bass season is a very entertaining time of the year. I enjoy chasing the shallow water fish and watching their acrobatics as they try desperately to spit the hook with no place to go but airborne. However, my favorite time of the year to target bass is in July and August when the fish are congregated on the deep weed line.

The migration to the deep weed line starts to take place in June. It coincides with the end of the spawning run for bass and other bait fish. Once the food moves deep, the bass follow.

It takes time for the deep weeds to develop on many lakes I fish. I find that the deep weeds don’t really get established until mid June. If the weeds aren’t present, neither are the fish.

Quality weeds and bass fishing go hand in hand. Bass love to hide in the weeds and use this cover as a mid day loafing site as well as a place to ambush unsuspecting prey.

There are many ways to target these fish in deeper water. The type of weed cover and angler preference has a lot to do with what is being utilized. The most popular presentations include the Texas rig, weedless jigs, deep cranks and of course, the jig worm.

The jig worm has been my bass lure of choice for many years. It is the presentation I always start with when working deep weeds.

One of the reasons I like the jig worm has to do with the open hook. There is no question that an exposed, open hook increases my hooking percentage over weedless jigs or Texas rigs.

There are times that the hook does foul with weeds. This issue can be reduced by using jigs that have an eye forward design. This keeps the weeds from sliding down the line and getting caught in the crease that is formed between the eye and the line on a typical round head jig.

Being hung in the weeds occasionally isn’t all bad. Having your jig and plastic dancing in the weeds and then popping free actually can be a triggering mechanism. Many times a strike will come right after I rip through some weeds.

Jerry Northern
Jerry Carlson/Bass are not the only fish that are attracted to jig worms. This northern made the mistake of trying to eat one!
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I typically use 1/8 or 3/16 ounce jigs. If I am fishing really deep, I may occasionally tie on a 1/4 ounce jig. Most of the time, I like the slow, tantalizing drop. Having some type of bait keeper is helpful.

The plastic trailer I prefer is a PowerBait Shaky Worm. I have tried other plastics but theShaky Worm has always done well for me. As for line, I use either FireLine or mono, depending on water clarity and weed structure.

There is one last aspect of the jig worm that needs mentioning. This lure attracts many other fish species including crappie, walleye and northern. It is definitely not just for bass.

There are a lot of different presentations that I use on my bass outings. However, I always start the day with a jig worm.

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