By David A. Brown
Special to BassFan
Ask Keith Combs his favorite way to catch bass and he’ll say cranking every time. But ask him about his most dependable, bread-and-butter program and he's going to point to a jig.
More accurately, the jig family. Never one to be caught unprepared to adapt and adjust to whatever a given fishery may present, he keeps a selection of jigs handy. In his view, there’s no one jig for every situation, but there’s almost always one for any situation.
“There’s very rarely a tournament that I fish any time of the year when I don’t have a jig tied on,” Combs said.
To that point, Combs shared some of his jig insights.
Flipping/Pitching: A 1/2-ounce Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover Jig with a Strike King Rage Craw is his go-to for a broad range of habitats he commonly faces in a tournament scenario.
“It’s a pretty all-purpose jig; I can punch grass, I can fish wood, docks and things like that,” Combs said. “Sometimes, when I’ll pitch it to the bottom, I'll let it go to the bottom, pop it once and then swim it back. So you can do a lot with that jig and trailer.
“I let water temperature determine the speed at which I fish this jig. If it’s cold, I’ll have to fish it slow and let it sit in a place longer, but sometimes in warmer weather, I’ll switch to a heavier jig for a faster fall.
Cluttered Room: Dragging jigs puts a lot of big fish in his boat, but different bottom compositions require different approaches. When he’s fishing areas littered with wood, brush and other ensnaring elements, Combs throws a 3/4-ounce Strike King Denny Brauer Structure Jig.
Trailer choice comes down to desired action. For cold water or a particularly tough bite, the subtlety of a Strike King Menace proves convincing. Warmer, more aggressive times call for the active waving he gets from the Rage Craw.
Combs trims the skirts on his jigs so they fall now lower than a half-inch below the hook bend.
Smooth Sailing: For a clean bottom, Combs goes with a 1/2- to 3/4-ounce Strike King Tour Grade Football Jig. The same trailer logic applies here, but he likes to mix up the presentations. Because he’ll only throw a football head where entangling structure is no concern, Combs often works in some aggressive presentation elements.
“Especially in the warmer months, when I’m fishing a river ledge, I may never drag it; I may pop it really aggressively and almost use it like a crankbait to get a reaction bite,” Combs said. “This is different from stroking a jig where I’m moving the rod 5 feet so that jig is making a 5-, 6-, 7-foot hop off the bottom.
“When I’m popping it, I may just hold the rod up, pop it a foot or 6 inches and let it settle to the bottom; maybe pop it up twice and mix it up.”
Hopping or stroking, Combs said, affords him an additional layer of attraction to stimulate lethargic fish. These are also effective options for tempting pressured fish that are suspending off the bottom.
On the Move: When he’s searching for active fish around wood, pad stems or other shallow cover, Combs favors a Strike King Tour Grade Heavy Cover Swim Jig for its beefy hook. He’ll use a 1/4- to 1/2-ounce model based on depth and intended retrieve speed and he’ll fit it with a Rage Craw trailer.
A very effective tool for locating unseen bed fish, the swim jig is one of Combs’ most versatile baits. He’ll use this tool to serve particular scenarios — always with the confidence that the narrow head design will smoothy traverse just about any cover.
“We don’t have another bait as efficient as a swim jig,” Combs said. “I comes through everything. You can skip-cast it under a dock, you can reel it, you can hop it, you can fish it at different depths. That’s why that bait is so good.”
Combs prefers pens over liquid dyes for adding color to jig trailers.
Shake It Up: While a vibrating jig tends to be too much trouble around wood, Combs trusts it for much of his submerged grass work — particularly, during the pre-spawn. Catching the hydrilla and popping it free has consistently proven effective for staging fish.
For this, Combs rigs a 3/8- to 1/2-ounce Strike King Pure Poison vibrating jig with a Blade Minnow trailer. Beyond the pre-spawn grass deal, he uses this enticing rig to hunt dock perimeters and trace riprap.
“I kind of use the swim jig and vibrating jig together,” Combs said. "Very seldom do I have a vibrating jig tied on without a swim jig. I mix it up between the two and keep it honest.”
Modifications
To optimize his jig performance, Combs employs a handful of enhancements.
> When using a Rage Craw, he removes the first segment for a better fit.
> Regardless of trailer choice, Combs will take a couple of extra seconds to carefully thread it onto his jig to ensure proper positioning with no bends or bunches.
> Jig skirt length influences the overall profile and Combs prefers his to extend no more than a half-inch below the hook bend. Gathering all the fibers and pinching them against the hook helps him neatly trim the skirt.
> Combs also trims his weed-guard fibers to within 1/4 inch of the hook point.
> If he’s fishing a clean bottom where snag risks are minimal, Comb finds that removing his weed guard promotes hook-up success.
> If fish are playing hard to get, he’ll dye the tips of his trailer chartreuse. (Combs prefers the spill-proof neatness of dye pens over dips.)
