How I Fish The Hairy Cricket Jig For Big Redear and Bluegills

I have been getting a lot of feedback from anglers that purchased my Hairy Cricket Jig and that's great. I want to address some of the questions here in my store's blog. 

This post will be covering how I fish the Hairy Cricket Jig. 

My favorite way to fish the Hairy Cricket is the lift and fall presentation. This tactic is a great way to cover a lot of water. Keep in mind that my main target is big Redear or Shellcrackers. The Shellcracker feed down so I like to keep my bait on the bottom for the most part. I do use a bobber at times and I will touch on that in another paragraph.

I like to put a split-shot about a foot above the Hairy Cricket Jig and make casts to likely Redear Shellcracker spawning or feeding grounds. For more information on the habitat of the Shellcracker please see my extensive article on my website here Fishing for Shellcrackers

With this setup you can make a cast and lift the jig off the bottom a foot or so and let it fall. The Redear will respond to this presentation and come to investigate. I have had people fishing with me only use a hook and a worm and the Hairy Cricket Jig with a small piece of worm outperformed them every time. I believe it is the buggy looking Hairy Cricket that gets the attention of Shellcrackers and big Bluegills. The small piece of worm seals the deal. The jig works by itself as well. I use a yarn body also to let the angler add scent. The yarn will hold the scent longer and works great.

I have clients all over the country and get feedback about how they love the Hairy Cricket Jig because they fish highly pressured canals or ponds and it works when other baits won't.

NOTE: Once fish are located I will remove the split-shot to fish the area slow and cover it all. I think the slower fall of the jig without the split-shot gets more bites. I just can't fish that slow when I am searching for Redear and Bluegills since they can be scattered with pockets of fish here and there.

Working the jig on the bottom works great for Redear because they feed on the bottom. However, bedded bluegills can't stand anything to enter their bed and when bedded may not come up to eat a bait above them unless it is close to them. 

Fishing the Hairy Cricket Jig With a Bobber 

Redear feed down and Bluegills, like most or all predatory fish feed up. So, it stands to reason that when fishing for Redear on the bottom is best and unless bluegills are bedded then a bobber works best for bluegills. The exception to the rule of fishing on the bottom for Redear Shellcrackers is when I fish cover like brushpiles and stake beds.  The bobber set to a depth a few inches from the bottom will help keep the hangups down and will get a Redear when they are in there. For Bluegills set the bait a little bit more above the bottom as they look up to find their food.

NOTE: I put a small bobber in my pocket with my split-shot sinkers to make changing presentation easier and quicker. I grab the small bobber and attach it when I get to some cover then remove it to move on down the bank. I cover a lot of water. I have never really been the relaxing angler sitting back with a chilly one waiting for a bite, I go to find the bite. Nothing wrong with the relaxing I just don't do it often.