Making it weedless

A bait-keeper spring allows anglers to rig a soft-plastic bait weedless on a standard jighead.

Guide Allen Jernigan said that many times he gets far-enough up creeks looking for winter drum and speckled trout that he fishes water that features many layover trees, limbs and other potential snags. Fishing these places with an exposed hook point can lead to a multitude of snags, few fish caught and an overall frustrating experience. Jernigan said it isn’t necessary and can be remedied easily and quickly — without removing the jighead from the leader.

The first thing to do to make a jighead weedless is to stop threading the soft plastics onto the hook. He avoids this by adding a bait-keeper spring to the eye of the jighead and threading the bait onto it, then burying the point in the plastic the way a freshwater bass fishermen rigs a worm Texas-style.

Jernigan said the rig isn’t absolutely snag-free, but it works well. Hiding the hook point allows casting into the heavier cover of blowdowns and other structure where redfish hide. He occasionally misses trout when they bite very lightly, but that’s a trade-off he’s willing to make to be able to fish almost snag-free for reds.

About Jerry Dilsaver 1169 Articles
Jerry Dilsaver of Oak Island, N.C., a full-time freelance writer, is a columnist for Carolina Sportsman. He is a former SKA National Champion and USAA Angler of the Year.

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