Throwing The Bull
The Bull Nose Jig that is. One of the most commonly asked questions we get about this awesome little jig is which of our baits makes the best trailer for it. This of course is a loaded question with many variables because the conditions in fishing change day in and day out (kind of like "what color do you like best?"). So there's no one single best answer for that loaded question other than "The one that's working best that day". That being said, I'll give you my simple formula for how I decide which trailer I'm going to start with when I hit the water.
The 2 things I take into consideration are:
(1) The size of the profile I want to show the fish.
(2) The rate of fall that will trigger the most strikes. I also know that if I rig 2 rods up with different size profiles and fall rates, it'll help me narrow down what the fish are responding best to more quickly.
Here are some simple guidelines.
Small profile/medium fall = Craw D'oeuvre on a 3/8 oz. Bull Nose
Small profile/fast fall = Craw D'oeuvre on a 1/2 oz. Bull Nose
Small stocky profile/medium fall = 3.5" Texas-Rig Jig on a 3/8 oz. Bull Nose
Small stocky profile/fast fall = 3.5" Texas-Rig Jig on a 1/2 oz. Bull Nose
*A Bull Nose tipped with a 3.5" Texas-Rig Jig will fall just slightly slower than a Bull Nose tipped with a Craw D'oeuvre as the TRJ is just a little more stockier than the Craw D.
Medium streamline profile/medium fall =Trimmed Bully Grass Devil on a 3/8 oz. Bull Nose
Medium streamline profile/fast fall =Trimmed Bully Grass Devil on a 1/2 oz. Bull Nose
Large profile/slow-medium fall =Trimmed Conviction Craw on a 3/8 oz. Bull Nose
Large profile/ medium-fast fall =Trimmed Conviction Craw on a 1/2 oz. Bull Nose
Large Profile/slow fall = Diesel Craw on a 3/8 oz. Bull Nose
Large profile/medium fall = Diesel Craw on a 1/2 oz. Bull Nose
As for trimming these baits before rigging them on the jig, for the Conviction Craw and Bully Grass Devil I generally snip about 3/4" off the baits to get the exact profile I'm looking for. For the Diesel Craw I snip about 1/2", for the 3.5" Texas-Rig Jig I'll either just snip the skirt off or just leave the skirt on (leave the skirt on if you want an extra bulkier profile). As for the Craw D'oeuvre, I just rig it right onto the jig because the little Craw D is compact enough. Unless of course the water temps are below 45 degrees, then I'll snip about a 1/2" off it and trim the jig skirt down on the jig as well for a real down sized presentation.
Well that's it! Our recipe for rigging up our Creature baits on the Bull Nose Jigs is now on the table. So the next time you feel like "gettin' jiggy with it", use these guidelines as a reference when you're rigging up your jig rods to do some flippin' or pitchin' and be prepared to have your drag tested the next time you hit the water.
