Jigs have been a staple in the bass angler’s tacklebox for decades, but what goes on the back of them is where this DeBAIT topic centers. As the years have gone by, there are two types of jig trailers anglers prefer: a chunk style or a swimming craw style. Generally a competitor who likes one does not throw the other.
Greg Hackney and Steve Kennedy have both proven over the course of their illustrious Bassmaster Elite Series careers that they are skilled jig fishermen, but their trailer preferences are quite different. Let’s break it down with two of the best in the world.
Chunk trailers
Steve Kennedy has honed his jig fishing skills in the clear waters of Lake Martin in eastern Alabama. There, he has learned several things about what a jig is supposed to imitate and the action required to get big bites.
“I learned this from another angler who fished at our level for a while, but I feel like I am imitating a bluegill more than I am a crawfish,” Kennedy explained. “And there is nothing wrong with imitating both. Green pumpkin is pretty universal. I’ve got a green pumpkin/blue jig and chunk tied on everywhere we go.
For that reason, in almost all scenarios, Kennedy will throw a chunk.
“You don’t really need the vibration; it is more of a sight deal,” he explained. “I tend to like bigger jigs, 5/8 ounce to 3/4 ounce, with up to 30-pound line. I like to fish for a reaction strike in that clear water. The craws, swimming tail type stuff works better in really dirty water because it helps the bass find it. But I don’t think it is necessary in clear and even stained water, especially if the bass is looking up.”
Throwing a chunk style trailer on his heavier jigs allows the jig to fall faster, increasing the likelihood he can make a big bass react.
“With a chunk, it increases the fall rate. Without the flapping tails, the jig sinks faster. It’s about covering water a lot of times. I’ll swim it up to something, drop it and then move it on. I’m not soaking it. Once they get a good look at it, they are either going to bite it or they aren’t. I really want to make them react.”
Kennedy will throw a chunk all year long. In most scenarios, he will start with a bigger chunk, but if he is on a lake with a lot of spotted bass like Lake Martin, he will use a junior size. He prefers to thread his chunk up the shank of the hook as opposed to leaving it in the middle of the bend.
“Typically, I thread it on the hook so it makes it a little more compact,” Kennedy said. “It just blends the skirt into the trailer better and does a really good job for me.”
He will also use a swim jig paired with a white chunk when targeting the shad spawn, a secret he has kept under his hat for some time now.
“It can look like a single large shad or two little shad following behind the skirt. So it can look like three little shad trying to spawn together. I’m shocked nobody else has picked up on it yet.”
Swimming craw trailers
Greg Hackney first learned how to fish a jig using pork as his trailer. The natural progression, for Hackney anyway, was to start using chunks when Zoom introduced them to the market.
“At first, that was the only trailer we used,” Hackney explained. “Then I went through a period of time where in the summertime I used a big Riverside craw, and in my mind, in the winter you needed to use pork. Then Zoom came out with the plastic chunks, and I started using the big flipping chunk, which basically looked like a piece of pork. Then I went to the rabbit ears.”
The rabbit ear chunk became his primary jig trailer for a long time, even after Strike King first came out with the Rage Craw. But as he fished in the summertime with his father, he realized he was missing out.
“In the summer, when it was hard to get jig bites, my daddy would consistently get jig bites in the summer on a Rage Craw. That was a long time ago,” Hackney said. “So, I made that change and it is the bite-gettingest jig trailer that has ever been made. Bar none. About 99% of the time, I’m throwing a Rage Craw as my trailer.”
“It is easy for me. Just match the color of the bait to the color of the jig you are using and roll on.”
No matter if it is 40-degree water or 100-degree water, Hackney finds the action of a Rage Craw to be most effective on the back of a jig. In 2024 alone, the four-time Elite Series champion won two Phoenix Boats Big Bass of the Tournament awards with bass that fell for the combination.
“I swim a jig with it, I flip it, I will drag it on the back of a Structure Jig,” the Gonzales, La. pro said. “The Rage Craw has such a natural action. When you are bumping it around slowly, it just has a lot of action and is more realistic. Obviously when it is falling, but I’m talking when it is on the bottom and you barely move it, because of the way the flanges are, it catches water, and it has a natural movement.”
As far as what he thinks a jig imitates, Hackey’s way of thinking isn’t that dissimilar to Kennedy, though.
“When I am fishing for bass that are eating crawfish, I typically don’t use a jig. More times than not when I am throwing a jig, it is for bass that are feeding on some type of sunfish.”
Hackney also likes to use a heavier jig. He finds the Rage Craw will slow down the rate of fall on those heavier jigs, which in turn makes him more efficient. With three different sizes, a small, regular and “lobster” size, he can make the jig fall as fast or slow as he needs to.
“If I put a Rage Craw on the back of a 1/2-ounce jig, it falls like a 1/2-ounce jig,” he explained. “One of my favorite deals is to put a 1/2-ounce jig with a lobster on the back. It just about floats the bait. The good thing about the bait is, there is never really any reason for me to fish anything lighter than a 1/2-ounce jig when I’m flipping. I just adjust the size of the Rage Craw.”
“If you put a bigger profile bait on a lighter jig, it actually gives it a much slower action. You would think that big trailer would have twice as much action, but only if you increase weight. Instead, it puts it in slow motion. The legs still work, but work like they are in slow motion. It is super subtle with a big profile.”
Hackney always makes sure to do one thing to all of his jigs before they hit the water for the first time.
“I make sure my skirt never touches the leg. I cut the skirt to where the legs are free.”
So there you have it. Now that you’ve heard both sides of the DeBAIT, it’s up to you to choose which type of trailer you want to put on your jig. Both are proven fish catchers but the key is choosing the one that gives you an edge. Whether you’ve tried both, swear by one or are trying a jig for the first time we want to hear your thoughts. Vote here for which side you’re on. Stay tuned for the next DeBAIT.
