I fish docks all year long; my home lakes are covered with ‘em. Without any question in my mind, the best way to catch more dock bass is by learning to put your baits in places other anglers cannot reach. If you’re simply making the “easy” casts, your catch rate can and will suffer.
Making the more difficult casts depends heavily upon your jig selection. I’ve spent years testing different skipping jigs and the Strike King Tour Grape Skipping Jig is one of my favorites for this application thus far.
Here’s why I say that.
Head shape plays a big role
The flat-sided head shape of the Strike King Tour Grade Skipping Jig makes it almost as easy to skip as a weightless worm. It doesn’t catch a bunch of water upon initial impact. Instead, it glides across the water smoothly which greatly reduces any backlashes you might otherwise get.
Think back to being a kid: When you wanted to skip a rock, you wouldn’t choose an ugly, jagged rock to throw across the creek. You’d always look for those smooth river rocks because they’d have a lot less resistance and skip much farther. The head design of this jig is strikingly similar to those river rocks.
It’s important to note, however, that your trailer selection remains a big part of your skipping success—even with this jig. I look for a wide and flat soft plastic without many appendages. In other terms, I want surface area. I have been using this jig with a Strike King Rage Bug and Rage Tail DB Structure Bug with outstanding results.
The keeper is a major plus
After hours of repeated skip casts, your trailer will take a beating. It will start to slide down the hook and once the plastic is wallowed out, your only option is to rig another soft plastic trailer. Failure to do so will make skipping nearly impossible and make your jig appear much less natural to the bass.
The Strike King Tour Grade Skipping Jig is built with a molded screw keeper which keeps your trailer in place for hours on end. All you have to do is screw the head of the trailer onto the keeper and it sits perfectly on the shank of the hook, allowing for a streamline profile and excellent skipping.
Instead of going through a pack of soft plastics during a day of dock skipping, I’m able to use just two or three baits. I’m not constantly adjusting the trailer before each skip and the plastic never gets wallowed out. You’ll spend less money on plastics and you can focus more on the next cast instead of fixing your trailer.
It’s not just for docks
I’ve actually been surprised by how well this jig comes through other types of cover, as well. I fish a lot of heavy laydowns and grass lines throughout the year and I’ve had very few hang-ups or snags while testing this jig.
If you’re focusing on shallow water, I don’t think there’s a need to have multiple jigs rigged for the day. This jig really is an all-purpose tool that will cover your bases for any type of skinny-water fishing.
I have put it in brush piles, laydowns, thick grass and rock piles and it certainly holds its own. You don’t have to be afraid of the thick stuff.
The hook has some meat to it
If I’m not using 65-pound braided line, I’m using stout 20 to 25-pound fluorocarbon and a big rod to skip jigs. I set the hook harder than many anglers, which means I need a hook that will stand up to the abuse.
You won’t have to temper your hooksets with this hook, which is a big deal. You can drop the rod and lay the wood to ‘em if necessary. The fish will get in the boat.
The hook is also thin and sharp enough to facilitate a “leaning” hookset. If you fish a jig long enough, you’ll get your fair share of bites when your rod is out of position. Without ample time to drop your rod, you often have to lean back to salvage the situation. You can do that with this jig and have a pretty impressive hookup ratio.
Final impressions
If you skip a lot of jigs, I’d definitely recommend giving this one a test run. I think you’ll agree with my assessment and you’ll be able to put it in places you previously couldn’t.
The Strike King Tour Grade Skipping Jig is available at these online retailer partners:
