Field Guide

Hair Jig

Cold-water finesse jig — marabou breathes at a dead stop when nothing else moves.

Also called: marabou jig, feather jig, Tennessee hair jig

Confidence

Situational

Belews · Summer

WinterSpringFall1/16 oz3/32 oz1/8 ozFloat-N-Fly

Gear

Rod

Finesse Spinning — 6'10–7'2" ML / Fast (7'6"+ for float-n-fly)

Reel

Spinning · 2500-size

Line

6–8 lb Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon straight through, or 10 lb Sufix 832 moss-green braid → 6–8 lb Advance Fluoro leader

60-Second Refresher

Fish rock: Bluff walls, bluff ends, channel-swing banks, riprap, chunk-rock points, hard-bottom flats. Winter bass and their forage live on rock.

Slow down, then slower: Slow drags of a few inches with long pauses. The marabou pulses in place while the jig sits on the rock.

Two retrieves only: Drag on the bottom, or a dead-slow steady swim just off bottom / mid-column. That's it.

Sweep-set: Bites feel like the bait got heavy or the line ticks and swims sideways. Sweep with steady pressure — the light wire is sticky sharp. Loosen the drag a click.

Plastic keeper trick: Slide a small finesse-worm tip or tiny paddle tail onto the wire keeper — adds casting weight for the 1/16 oz head and lifts the tail. Keep it subtle.

When to Throw

Good Water

Cold water (surface temps in the high 30s to mid 50s), late fall through early spring, clear or lightly stained water, bass pinned tight to rock, post-frontal bluebird lockjaw, heavily pressured fish, and forward-facing sonar situations where fish chase down and commit.

Bad Water

Warm water above the mid 50s, dirty water, heavy shallow cover that eats light-wire hooks, and any time bass are actively chasing faster-moving baits — this is a slow-hands presentation.

Marabou Hair Jig

The core cold-water finesse jig

Outkast Fighter Fly Marabou Jig (formerly Feider Fly)

Hand-tied marabou on Outkast's Money Jig head with a light-wire Gamakatsu hook and wire bait keeper. 1/16 oz for shallowest / lightest fall, 3/32 oz as the all-around, 1/8 oz for wind, current, or deeper rock. Black is the default and covers most days — a lot of hair-jig anglers never tie on anything else.

Fighter Fly 3/32 oz

Black

Default all-around cold water

Silhouettes cleanly in cold clear water

Fighter Fly 1/16 oz

Black

Shallowest rock, slowest fall, ultra-finesse

Add a plastic tip for casting weight

Fighter Fly 1/8 oz

Black · Brown/Orange

Wind, current, 20 ft+ rock

Keeps contact with bottom

Fighter Fly

Brown · Brown/Orange

Winter crawfish on rock

Match the forage

Fighter Fly

Shad

Bass on shad balls off bluffs

Baitfish situations

Sticker shock: Hand-tied jigs aren't cheap, and rock eats jigs. Keep drag-retrieve casts short of the gnarliest boulder fields and lean on the swimming retrieve when the bottom gets grabby.

Float-N-Fly

Coldest-water variation for suspended bass over bluffs

Outkast Float N Fly Hair Jig under a fixed float

Rig a 1/16–1/8 oz hair jig under a fixed float on an 8–12 ft leader, long enough to hang the jig at the depth suspended fish are holding. Cast, let everything settle, and shake the rod tip so the float quivers in place without moving forward. The float telegraphs the jig's dance below and slides under when a bass eats. A 7'6"+ spinning rod makes the long leader manageable.

Common mistake — Retrieving the float across the surface. The rig is meant to sit still — the shake is a vibration, not a pull. If the float is moving forward, you're fishing it wrong.

Retrieve Modes

Slow drag · dead-slow swim · shake in place

Two primary retrieves plus the float-n-fly shake. Pick the one that matches what fish are doing.

Slow Drag

Drag

Bass pinned to bottom on rock

Move a few inches, long pause, repeat. Marabou works during the pause.

Dead-Slow Swim

Swim

Suspended fish off bluffs · fish seen on FFS

Slowest speed that keeps it moving. Just off bottom or mid-column.

Float-N-Fly Shake

Shake

Suspended winter bass, water in the 40s

Shake the tip in place — float quivers, jig dances below the float.

Where to Throw Each

Bluff Walls & Bluff Ends

Vertical rock dropping into deep water — the classic winter address for suspended and bottom-hugging fish.

Channel-Swing Banks

Where the creek or river channel swings tight against a rocky bank. Fish stack on the current-facing side.

Chunk-Rock Points

Main-lake and secondary points with basketball-sized rock. Winter crawfish live here.

Riprap

Bridge and causeway rock — reliable winter warm-water and forage magnets.

Hard-Bottom Flats Near Deep Water

Rock or gravel flats adjacent to a channel edge. Fish slide up to feed and back off.

Cheat Sheet

Default cold-water day

3/32 oz Fighter Fly Black, slow-drag on rock with long pauses.

1/16 oz won't cast far enough

Add a small finesse-worm tip on the wire keeper for casting weight.

Wind, current, or 20 ft+ rock

Step up to 1/8 oz to keep bottom contact.

Winter crawfish on rock

Brown or Brown/Orange, drag retrieve, feel every rock.

Bass following shad off bluffs

Shad color, dead-slow swim just off bottom or mid-column.

Suspended fish 8–12 ft down, water in the 40s

Float-N-Fly — fixed float, long leader, shake in place.

Bites feel mushy

Sweep-set — don't snap. Loosen the drag a click.

Rock is eating jigs

Switch to the swimming retrieve and back off the gnarliest boulders.

Shop the recommended gear, lures, and trailers

4 hand-picked items for this technique

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