Can you fish too light??

[nutsaboutfishing]

I know with plastics and most fishing the rule is fish as light as you can for the conditions. With jigheads, can you fish too light??

What I mean is certain smaller SP have tails which wriggle as the sink, Zman Grubz and Berkley Grubs. If your jighead is too light then the SP won't sink fast enough and the tail won't wriggle, especially Zmans as they float anyhow. I currently use 1/24 jigheads a lot but I 've seen you can get 1/32 and even 1/50.

So  my question is if you go too light and the tail doesn't wriggle/wriggle much does this lessen the chance of catching fish??

 

richard

[seasponge]

You can fish too light for the conditions, but i don't think you can fish too light for the SP to work properly. Have a look at your SP working in the water. Have a play with it near the surface. It takes very little movement to make the curly tails work, and normally the less movement the better action.  

[big Neil]

59 minutes ago, nutsaboutfishing said:

I know with plastics and most fishing the rule is fish as light as you can for the conditions. With jigheads, can you fish too light??

What I mean is certain smaller SP have tails which wriggle as the sink, Zman Grubz and Berkley Grubs. If your jighead is too light then the SP won't sink fast enough and the tail won't wriggle, especially Zmans as they float anyhow. I currently use 1/24 jigheads a lot but I 've seen you can get 1/32 and even 1/50.

So  my question is if you go too light and the tail doesn't wriggle/wriggle much does this lessen the chance of catching fish??

 

richard

As mentioned above the action of the SP isn't really relevant to the weight of the jig head. But too light and (in current) it may not get to the bottom. That could definitely impact on the quantity of fish caught. BN

[Razzell]

Yes.

As Neil mentioned, getting it to the bottom in and holding in the current/wind is a primary concern, of course. However, if your species has a tendency to 'hit on the drop', you need to get the weight right. 

Speaking to Bream, in my experience they have two modes - 'that might be food', or 'that thing is in my space'. You can feel it in the hit - they hit relatively lightly for the former, and hard for the latter. 

With Bream, I fish action SPs when I think they might be territorial, rather than hungry. For example, in summer (when they're feeding a lot) I use the tiny gulp fish SPs, but in winter I use the grubs/crusteaz. Too heavy, they'll scream past their face and go out of the territory zone quickly. Too slow, and they won't trigger a strike. 

That's why hard bodies are so good for them, also - the action and lateral movement 'in their space' makes them hit. 

Just my experience with bream on SPs particularly, but weight of jig head is always of paramount interest to me. I very rarely go below 1/24.

Cheers,

Razz

 

[nutsaboutfishing]

3 hours ago, seasponge said:

You can fish too light for the conditions, but i don't think you can fish too light for the SP to work properly. Have a look at your SP working in the water. Have a play with it near the surface. It takes very little movement to make the curly tails work, and normally the less movement the better action.  

Thanks for the answer

[nutsaboutfishing]

2 hours ago, big Neil said:

As mentioned above the action of the SP isn't really relevant to the weight of the jig head. But too light and (in current) it may not get to the bottom. That could definitely impact on the quantity of fish caught. BN

thanks BN

[nutsaboutfishing]

1 hour ago, Razzell said:

Yes.

As Neil mentioned, getting it to the bottom in and holding in the current/wind is a primary concern, of course. However, if your species has a tendency to 'hit on the drop', you need to get the weight right. 

Speaking to Bream, in my experience they have two modes - 'that might be food', or 'that thing is in my space'. You can feel it in the hit - they hit relatively lightly for the former, and hard for the latter. 

With Bream, I fish action SPs when I think they might be territorial, rather than hungry. For example, in summer (when they're feeding a lot) I use the tiny gulp fish SPs, but in winter I use the grubs/crusteaz. Too heavy, they'll scream past their face and go out of the territory zone quickly. Too slow, and they won't trigger a strike. 

That's why hard bodies are so good for them, also - the action and lateral movement 'in their space' makes them hit. 

Just my experience with bream on SPs particularly, but weight of jig head is always of paramount interest to me. I very rarely go below 1/24.

Cheers,

Razz

 

Ta Razz,

             I was thinking about going 1/32 but will reconsider in light of your reply

[DerekD]

Hi Nuts,

I've been fishing SPs for over a decade and during that time I have tried really light but have found in my case it led to decreased casting distance (that one is obvious) and more importantly more birds nest because without a decent weight on the other end the line tends to go on the spool with less tension. I was using 4lb Fireline at the time which is a fused braid which fluffs up and has a tendency to grab line on the way out. These days with some of the fantastic small diameter woven braids that may be less of an issue. Due to the nature of the areas I fish most of the time I rarely bother dropping below 1/8th in jig weight. 1/16th is the lightest I'd go.

Just something to be aware of.

Regards.

Derek

[Pafisho08]

Hi

Check out Steve Morgan one of the Bream Tournament competitors they use unweighted worm hooks on a prawn lure with 

good success . But they are using v/light gear .

Bob

 

[BrassRoots]

I used a 1/40th hidden weight a little while ago with a 2" zman grub and found that the tail had no action on the drop. Just in case anyone was curious.