It’s officially June 1st. I think it’s safe to assume there are fishes on the ledges out on the TN River.   I’m no ledge fishing expert, but here is what I know:  You have to have multiple tools in your toolkit, once you locate a school of fish.  The fish get tuned into your bait after you hook 3-5 fish.  You have to switch it up to keep getting bit.

The hair jig is one of the oldest school baits you can throw these days. I fished round headed hair jigs with Uncle Josh Pork Frogs on the back on Bull Shoals lake in the late 80s/early 90s time frame.   I know they catch fish. I hammered fish on the hair jig.

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Scott Schauwecker and HogFarmer Baits are legit.  Scott sent me a bunch of his HogFarmer Umbrella Rigs.  Something I intend to show and share.  They are killer and are exactly what I like in umbrella rigs.  His hair jig came to my attention recently, and I took some time to cast it and feel it and film it.  Hair jigs have a different vortex.  They have a real glide to them as they fall thru the water.  They fall on a different plane than rubber/synthetic skirts.  The hair jig has a consistent size and shape vs. rubber that tends to ‘squid’ and distort.   It’s got a great shad/baitfish profile that just works. It pulses along as it swims.  The hair moves and pulses, but it’s far less dramatic than the swim of rubber skirts.  Hair has a natural flow in water that is more subtle and quiet, but nice and bulky and sleek.

HogFarmer Hair jigs are made with synthetic bear hair, krystal flash, and real bear hackle feathers.  The colors are legit.  Lemon Shad reminded me of a good TN River threadfin shad color, with the chartreuse stripe.  I like the 3/4 ounce. I would suggest he make a 1 and 1.5 ounce baits too!  I like ’em heavier than most.

Trailers/Customizations

Definitely you can cut the hair, thin it out, or create a tail.  I’m fairly certain a good trailers for a bait like this are: Keitech’s, BassTrix, Skinny Dippers, Big Hammers, Straight tailed Worms split down the center, Flukes, or Senkos.   The added bulk will give you more weight, more swim, more glide, etc.  The heavier your jig head, the better your trailer swims on the fall/sink.  Unless you are looking for glide, in which case, lighter tends to be better than heavier.

Stroking

Hell yes.  Rip this bait off the bottom and let it fall back.  That is the #1 application of the HogFarmer Hair Jig that I’d have in mind. I’d find a school of fish and use this as one of my tools to fire up the school, and show them something fresh and new.  I find switching from Big Hammer to Omega Remitz Football Jig to Magnum Speed Worms and then Umbrella Rigs of course.

Swimming

You should definitely swim a hair jig like you would any other swimbait you fish mid water column.  Whenever you find fish and need to show them something fresh or just explore how big a bait they’ll eat or really try to dial them in…Hair jigs are super old school.  The theme reminds me of “Ken’s Vortex” conversations.  The hair jig has a different footprint and vibration than rubber jigs and it swims and glides different.  It gets bit.