Being mindful of how quickly your bait moves through the water column can go a long way toward increasing both the number and quality of fish you catch. For sinking presentations, this comes down to fall rate. Extra hang time in the strike zone can be crucial for getting inactive or neutral-mood fish to bite. On the other hand, a fast drop can appeal to aggressive fish, trigger reaction strikes, and help you cover water more efficiently. Tinkering with weights Switching from one jig weight to one slightly heavier, or lighter, is an easy adjustment, and can make a presentation more potent. Consider fishing for springtime walleye in six to 12 feet of water. A 1 ⁄4-ounce jig with a plastic minnow can do a lot of damage when fish are on the chew. However, walleye in a neutral mood may prefer a slower-falling jig. Drop to 1 ⁄8 ounces or even 3 ⁄16 to unlock the bite. Upsizing weight also has its time and place. Using a heavier 1 ⁄2 instead of a 3 ⁄8-ounce tube jig, for instance, helps bypass unproductive water faster and keeps you in the strike zone of deep, bottom-dwelling smallmouth. The rapid drop can stimulate reaction strikes as well. The takeaway here is carrying an assortment of jig weights to have more options for tweaking drop-speed for all fish species. This logic applies, too, for weighted terminal tackle, like sinkers and weighted hooks, as there can be a significant difference in bites sometimes between an unweighted versus weighted fluke, stick-bait, or other soft-plastic. Bet on blades Whether adorned with live-bait or a soft plastic, a spin jig can outfish a plain jig now and then. Flash and vibration undeniably boost appeal, but what’s pertinent for this column is how the blade’s water resistance slows fall rate. Put all these attributes together and it’s easy to see why spin jigs are potent for all kinds of fish. Trailers alter sink rate Bass anglers know all too well how different soft-plastic trailer types and profiles change sink rate and action. Let the fish tell you what they prefer. Material matters A soft-bait’s ingredients impact its buoyancy. Salt adds weight to a plastic and makes it sink faster. At the other end of the spectrum are high-floating plastics, like those made of Z-Man’s ElaZtech or Rapala’s CrushCity Super TPE. Depending on the mood of the fish, it may be beneficial to use a sinking versus a floating plastic, or vice
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