Outdoor writer/broadcaster Wade Bourne has covered sportfishing for more than 30 years in national magazines, radio and TV.

Football jigs are the perfect tool for efficiently covering more water and catching lots of hungry, summertime bass.

Football jigs are so-named because of their shape: round in the middle and pointed on both ends like…. a football! This bait’s eye is front and center, while the hook extends out back center of the body with the point turned up. This jig is typically dressed with a soft plastic craw worm or critter lure.

The football jig’s forte is working deep structure to catch summertime bass. After they finish spawning, most bass in a given lake migrate back to the main lake where they will orient to submerged points and islands; channel ledges; shell beds; roadbeds, creek/river junctions, etc. Here they will hold, oftentimes in large schools, and feed on shad that happen along past these spots.

This is where the football jig comes in. This bait mimics a crawfish – another favorite bass food. With a football jig, you can make long casts, and the bait will fall quickly to the bottom. Then you can drag (not hop!) the jig across the structure so it stirs up a silt trail, just like a crawfish! Any bass that sees this bait scooting along bottom is likely to attack it.

Experts with football jigs prefer long rods (7 feet is a popular length) with a medium-heavy or heavy action and strong line. Vicious braided line is good for this presentation; but be sure to use at least 40 lb. test (braid is better at transmitting sensitive jig bites). When it comes to jig size, ¾ oz. is a good choice since it falls to bottom faster and stays there easier than lighter jigs. This allows you to cover more water faster and find bass more efficiently.

When casting a football jig across a likely structure, be alert for “ticks” or “thumps” as the bait is falling. Many times a bass will engulf it as it drops. But if the bait hits bottom, then reel up slack line, and again, drag it across bottom back to the rodtip (drag with rodtip, then reel; drag, reel, etc). Do not lift the bait off bottom during the retrieve.

When a bite is detected, reel up slack line, set the hook sharply, and play the bass in. Then drop a marker float as a reference for a repeat cast to the same spot. When a school of bass is located, many times several can be caught both with the football jig and with follow-up baits (crankbaits, slow-roll spinnerbaits, jigging spoons) when the jig bite slacks off.