We’re seeing several anglers breakout a marabou hair jig hair jig today to combat the calm conditions. The attached photo is courtesy of smallmouth guru Ben Nowak, from a recent article I worked with him on breaking down this technique.
Fishing the marabou jig is a painfully slow pattern, but an extremely effective one when faced with calm, sunny conditions and heavily pressured fish. It’s a slow and steady retrieve deal, where you count the bait down and slow roll it back to the boat. If you see a fish come up behind the bait and begin to track it, Nowak recommends that you don’t vary your retrieve. Instead continue to slow roll the bait back to the boat and the bass will typically overtake the lure.
Typically, the color of choice is black, which resembles nothing in particular and everything at the same time. The dark color stands out against the bright background and helps these visual feeding smallmouth find the bait.
