Years ago, it didn’t take long for a young Hunter Freeman of West Monroe to discover the artificial lure that consistently puts bass in the boat in January.
A jig from Bryant’s Custom Jigs has been Freeman’s go-to bait from his outstanding collegiate bass fishing days at Louisiana-Monroe to his current spot on the FLW Pro Tour.
He’s looking forward to fishing with his favorite jig combination in January.
“I really like a ½-ounce Bryant’s Custom jig. It’s just always a staple,” he said. “It’s a versatile bait. It can catch a big one in 2 foot of water or 25 foot.”
He loves to flip it offshore because it doesn’t get snagged as much, especially around heavy cover.
“I love fishing in the wintertime,” he said. “It’s so exciting. There’s always a wad of big fish to be found. The jig can be used to get a big bite out of a bunch of fish.”
Great features
Freeman, 24, favors a black/blue model with some purple in the strands. His second color choice is green pumpkin. He fishes it with a Zee Bait soft-plastic trailer, the Bamboo Bomber.
Freeman still relies on sage advice from a bass angler a long time ago. The man told him, “Ya gotta tease ’em.”
So he soaks the Bryant’s Custom jig to this day, every time he’s out in January, even February.
“I drag it until I hit a piece of cover. I’ll put it in one spot and give it some twitches,” he said.
The jig has a vertical line tie plus a lot more features that impress Freeman. Each jig is hand-poured, sanded, chemically washed and cleaned, powder painted and baked during a three-day process. Each one is armed with a Trokar hook of appropriate size: 3/0 for ¼- and 3/8-ounce, 4/0 for ½-ounce, and 5/0 for a ¾-ounce model. The weed guards are fastened with epoxy and silicone skirts are wrapped with hand-tied copper wire.
Freeman fishes the jig tied to 17-pound fluorocarbon line with a 7-foot-3 Falcon Amistad rod and a reel with a fast retrieve.
