Hey guys I have a few questions on pitching jigs. I fish a lake with a lot of big flats and doesn’t have a lot of rocks on it. Does it work to pitch jigs up onto flats or do you need rocks? Thanks for the help guys
If it’s a big flat, I’d drag rather than pitch. Cover water, man! If you have some isolated rockpiles or clumps of weeds, then focus on pitching those as they’ll concentrate fish. But if the flat has little in the way of cover, then drag drag drag.
Just what Jason said, pitching is more focused and most times involves a target area, dragging is going to cover water. Lakes, like lake Menomin, having minimal cover and vast flats equates to roaming fish-here today and gone tomorrow. Tactics that cover water are going to put your bait in the face of more active fish. Dragging also works great along a piece of structure, well as down a longggggg current seam.
Good luck.
Jason when you say drag do you mean flat line a jig with bait and either drift down the break or use the bow mount to move down the break?
Long line-flat line, same thing and just what is it or the diff?
Lots of ways to drag a flat.
Drag a really light jig up on top and cover the flat itself.
Focus on the break where the flat ends.
Focus on the break where the basin begins.
Focus on the transition area between the top and bottom breaks.
You could use your bowmount to provide the speed and direction control, or if the wind is really honking, let the wind do the pushing and use a Drift Control drift sock or two to slow you down to the proper speed. Generally, whether I’m using the bowmount or drifting with the wind, I’m trying to target 0.5 – 0.8 mph for a drift speed at first, until the fish tell me differently.
For more dragging info, be sure to check out the of IDO-TV Draggin Jigs Episode, and for even more detailed instructional info, check out our new Mastering Jig Dragging DVD.
A little more, please. By dragging.. that’s all that you do? No hopping or lifting? Thanks.
jim/tweed
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A little more, please. By dragging.. that’s all that you do? No hopping or lifting? Thanks.
jim/tweed
Never, ever be afraid to vary your retrieve by lifting, hopping or whatever. Especially if what your currently doing isn’t working. But even if it is, leave one line in a rod holder and play around with another one. Compare your catch rates betweeen the two and see if you can figure out a retrieve that works best. It sure can’t hurt!
I agree with Joel, but often the best drag is just doing nothing but letting the boat do the work for you. If you use a light enough jig, you won’t feel the bottom, but the fish will see it and come up an hammer it.
The name dragging in this presentation refers to dragging the jig through the water column and not dragging it across the bottom. You shouldn’t or rarely should make bottom contact. If your rod tip is constantly jumping from bottom contact reel in a turn or two and watch the tip. Keep doing this until the rod tip is stable but the jig is relatively close to bottom. Not trying to confuse you but I know some people are thrown off by the name. My daughter drove me crazy until she got the fact that it wasn’t suppose to be constantly on the bottom. BFishN tackle made some money off that girl until she finally caught on 
Trolling = dragging. I’ve never heard the term “dragging” used anywhere except the river, but maybe I’m just out of the loop.
Most anglers on the river don’t impart any action when trolling/dragging jigs. That isn’t to say additional motion isn’t effective. Snap-jigging heavy jigs while trolling/dragging can be incredibly effective.
Good points John,
Many times, with dragging less is more. Since there really aren’t any rules, try different things and let the fish tell you. As Joe said, even put a rod in a holder, just remember to use a longer rod with a soft tip section.
With the less is more, many times you are merely letting the livebait or plastic (such as a ringworm) do its thing.
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