Mastering The Jighead Minnow

Soft plastic lures on jigheads are a time-tested way to catch many fish species. Grubs, swimbaits, and many more soft plastic baits are perfect for a jighead and have been used for decades. Still, there is a renaissance now with minnow-style baits fished on a jighead thanks to the increasing popularity of forward-facing sonar. Today, for pro and everyday anglers alike, jighead minnow style baits have become such a critical lure that you’ll likely see one rigged on the deck of every boat. 

Two noted experts with the jighead minnow, Bass Pro Tour anglers Drew Gill and Matt Becker, know it has a time and place and how much the right set-ups can affect your success. They each share some insight on selecting the right soft bait, jighead, rod, and line, as well as some tricks they've learned to entice more following bass to bite, which will help even if you are not using your electronics.

Of Minnows and Jigheads

There are now countless soft plastic minnows to choose from, and each can serve a time and place, according to Becker and Drew. They each categorize them based on the style of fishing they are doing and body of water.

"I group them into styles; you have a standard size, which is going to be around 4 to 5 inches long like Big Bite Baits Scentsation Slim Minnow, and then bigger 6-inch baits like the Big Bite Baits Jerk Minnow that's for lakes where they're feeding on bigger forage," said Gill. "Then, your small ones are around 3 inches long that you can fish fast and work aggressively. I usually start with a 5-inch bait and can go up and down from there."

Becker also utilizes several bait sizes depending on the situation. "The 3-inch Yamamoto Scope Shad is a perfect snack size when they're eating those smaller threadfin shad, and they have a 4-inch size for times when the shad are a little bigger," he said. "Then, as you go up in size to other baits, you can start imitating bigger bait fish. I'll also go with a 6 or even 7-inch bait when I'm watching fish sitting around cover and need that drawing power for them to come get it."

Like soft plastics, both anglers agree that there is no perfect jighead or size. Each will often have multiple rigged and ready to go.

"It starts with the bait I plan on throwing because it has to have the right hook, weight, and action," said Becker. "There are so many good ones, like the tried and true Queen Tackle tungsten head, the Owner Range Roller, and the Austin Felix Dream Stroller with a welded loop to give the bait more rolling action. With weight sizes, I use everything from a ⅛-ounce to a ½-ounce depending on the situation and how deep the fish are."

Gill also mixes several sizes and styles for jigheads but says a standard round ball head is fine for many situations. "It's a head that can do everything moderately well in terms of getting the bait to roll, and it's also very accessible," Gill shared. "I'll use a round head, but also more specialized heads if I want to get a different action or need one with a hook that works for a specific bait."

Weight size varies based on the bait, according to Gill. "It depends on what I'm doing, but generally speaking, the heavier the head you use, the more action you lose from the bait," he said. "I try to go with as light as possible. But on the other hand, a light jighead sometimes doesn't give you enough speed and will rise too fast, so it's something you have to experiment with."

Rod and Line Choices

Two other critical parts of this style of fishing are choosing the right rod and line setups. Both Gill and Becker are very technical with these two pieces of the puzzle, and after much experimentation, they narrowed it down to the right spinning rod setups.

"I like two different rods depending on the size of the bait and what I'm doing, a flimsy one for a real whippy action from my bait and a longer rod to make longer casts," said Gill. "I like a 7-foot light Phenix Ultra MBX for my casting to short targets. For fish that are further away, I like a 7-foot, 6-inch Phenix K2 to reach those fish up to 100 feet away and still have the power to set the hook."

Becker has a similar strategy, going with multiple different rods. "I like a shorter rod, a 6-foot, 10-inch medium for my smaller baits, and a longer rod for those bigger baits," he said. "A 7-foot, 4-inch is good for working a bait with your rod tip up when trying to keep it above something and kind of let it float above the structure."
For line, Becker prefers 18 lb Seaguar PE-X8, a micro-thin braided line that cuts through the water and gives his bait better movement. He then mixes in different fluorocarbon lines as a short leader.

"Leader size is such an important topic, and I want the braid doing the work, so my leader is going to be 2 feet long or less to give the bait better action," he said. "That PE-X8 also casts extremely well, which is important when trying to bomb a bait out there. I start with 10 lb Tatsu for the leader and can go up or down. If I want the bait to stay higher, I'll go up to 12 or even 15 lb test, which I think is much heavier than people think."

Gill has taken it to the next level, analyzed many characteristics of different fluorocarbon leader materials, and uses several lines depending on the situation. "Line size is critical when talking about how it impacts your minnow because this type of fishing is all about your pace and the lift of the bait," he said. "The biggest thing to pay attention to, besides just the break strength on the line box, is the diameter of the line. I also took into account how much stretch a leader line has."

"For fishing deep water when you need to get to them quickly, I like a thin diameter line like 8 lb Seaguar Tatsu or Gold Label, but I'll also use a 15 or 17 lb leader when I want to target fish that are within 6 feet of the surface," said Gill. "There are other times when you want a line with a little stretch, like when making short casts to fish in shallow water. That's when I would use a softer line like 15 or 17 lb Fluoro Premier or InvizX because the stretch in those lines has shock absorption from hooksets; there isn't one leader line that does it all for me."

Lessons Learned

After giving a full breakdown of each piece of their gear for throwing a jighead minnow, each angler offered advice on getting more fish to bite.
Becker said that keeping the bait above the fish is critical, but retrieve speed is another puzzle piece. "There are two sides to it, either super-fast or super-slow for your best retrieve with the minnow," he began. "Some fish, you have to get it away from them as fast as possible to get their interest. For others, you'll have to float the bait above them to get them to react. So, it's just figuring it out based on the body of water when you are out there."

Gill has learned an immense amount about bass activity while watching them on his electronics, and one eye-opener was how they feed. Specifically, how important the surface is to them attacking forage.

"They are always going to use the surface to feed on whatever kind of baitfish they're trying to chase and eat," Gill said. "That's why if a bait drops below them, they don't want to go down and eat a minnow like a jig or worm. They look up when feeding on baitfish and often want to use the surface to attack, so they will come to the surface to bite your minnow if you can get them to see it and start tracking it."

Fishing a jighead with a fluke-style bait is an age-old technique that has been used for many species for many years, but it's more popular than ever, thanks to forward-facing sonar. It's a dominant force in professional bass fishing, and Gill and Becker are on the short list of top experts on this style of fishing.

JDM PEX8 Micro Braid is available in 200-meter spools (219 yards) and comes in 12, 16, 18, 21, 24, and 33 lb. tests. (This is a micro-thin braid- please check line diameter when selecting product).

Seaguar Smackdown Braid is available in high visibility Flash Green and low visibility Stealth Gray. It is available in 150- and 300-yard spools in sizes ranging from 10 to 65 lb tests.

Seaguar Gold Label Fluorocarbon leader is available in 25- and 50-yard spools in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 lb tests for freshwater use, complementing the 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 80 lb test leaders available for saltwater.

Seaguar Fluoro Premier Fluorocarbon Leader is available from 12 to 80 lb tests in 25- and 50-yard spools.

Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon mainline is available from 4- to 25-lb tests on 200- and 1,000-yard spools.