The dog days of summer are upon us and that means jig-worming deep water weed lines is the order of the day. Finding irregularities along these weed lines are key locations that these deep water fish relate to and there are times, certain small areas will have numbers of large fish.
Setting up on the shallower sides of these weed lines has been key lately. The larger fish seem to be cruising the outer edges or just tucked inside of the weeds in their ambush locations. Casting the jig-worm out to the deeper water and slowly work it back to the weed line and if you don’t get bit, keep working it into the weeds as they may be further in.
Using the Northland Nature Jig 1/8oz and an Impulse Nightcrawler worm with the open hook allowed for easier hooksets. The better fish were definitely using the deep water, 12-15 feet, as if you fished the shallower side in 8 feet of water, the size went dramatically down.
The key location was an indent in the contours that when coming out of deep water, allowed the fish to come shallow to feed and then drop back off to the deeper water as a retreat. Seemed to be like a funnel or highway that they were using and there was also some small rock and sand there as well.
Conditions were cloudy skies and a light breeze and this seemed to keep the fish active and was a much more productive day. Was trying the Carolina rig for quite a while, but the jig-worm was what they wanted. By working these deeper weed lines, you are fishing for fish that don’t see a lot of pressure and that puts the bite more in your favor.