I love this type of fishing, there is nothing to a fisherman than accomplishing a fish bite on an artificial. In this case call me purist if you like but adding scent or natural bait to an artificial is nothing more than BAIT FISHING! Don’t get me wrong I do bait fishing my self, but if I wanted to bait fish why spend all my money on specialized jigging equipment when I am going to put bait on my $$$$Jigs? You know what I mean? The greatness of catching a fish on a vertical jig is knowing that it was you that did it, not the scent, not the bait. It is the knowing that you worked the lure at the right speed, with the right action, and the right size/color jig. Many will dispute about color and it loosing it’s viewable pigmentation as it goes down in the water column until is nothing more than a shade of grey. Sure, it may look gray to fish but do you have the right shade of gray? OHow visible is the lure to these fish? What color are the predators really looking for? Well, that all depends on where you fish. All fishermen  know or should know that we have to match the hatch to entice a fish to bite an artificial lure and sometimes the bigger the lure the bigger the catch, but elephants eat peanuts too. If you are not familiar with the area you will fish ask what types of bait are running during that time of year and when you get to the water observe. Not only the water but all around you. You will know what worked and what didn’t. Another thing to consider is the combination of color and the available light. Sometimes you will hear that on a bright day you should use dark colors and on a dark day you should use bright colors and sometime the opposite? Don’t think of it too much, if everyone is using a light color during cloudy day and is not working then change it to a dark color jig and you will see what worked that day.  If you have your “it” color only then you need to change the size of jig or shape action. Try not to spend too much time using the same jig, change it up. Fish are fish and what I have learned from experience is that in many cases they go by reaction. This is where all those funky colors come in to play, put it in front of a fish and if you give it the right action they will eat it. And I do confess I do have my favorite colors too and those are (all with glow bellies if I can find them) Silver, Yellow, Glow, Pink, Green, and Blue. But I also carry a purple, gold, white, and a black just in case. In the dark of night  I like to use all glow or dark colors. I like the silhouette the dark colors make when approaching the light of the boat. Many predators use the dark water line as cover to get all those bait fish that get attracted by the boat lights. And also think of flashy jigs, all fish love the shiny reflection in them but I always run into toothy critters faster. I come to think of it as sardines letting loose their scales for cover.

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