Smallmouth bass, like this one caught and released last fall by Jeff Knapp, can often be duped with natural hair jigs. Jeff Knapp/Special to the Eagle

Hair jigs, typically fashioned from deer hair, rabbit fur or marabou feathers, often excel in gamefish such as bass and walleyes in the cooling water of fall.

Here are four ways these versatile offerings can be presented:

Perhaps the most common application of a hair jig is via the classic 9 o’clock to 11 o’clock jigging motion. This retrieve allows one to tailor things to the attitude of the fish. An aggressive snap tends to propel the jig off the bottom with energy, which can inspire a reaction bite. Conversely, short hops lift the jig minimally, so one can crawl the bait slightly on-and-off bottom. Experimentation between these two extremes provides insight as to what fish respond to any given day.

Classic jigging excels in a variety of settings where bass and walleyes congregate, such as a rocky, mild current bank. In waters where they both exist, it’s common to catch walleyes and bass — smallmouth bass in particular — from the same areas. Another common situation is found where hard bottom humps, points and shoals, rich with food, attract bass and walleyes. Use 1/8 to 3/16 ounce jigs to provide just the right amount of feel. If there’s a mistake I see anglers make, it’s going with too heavy of a jig in this situation. A lighter jig provides a slower drop and forces an angler to slow down, which is often a good thing.

Like most late fall presentation options, fishing a hair jig can be a slow process. In cold water, fish don’t typically respond well to a fast moving bait. The drag, as I call it, counters this a bit.

As the name suggests, the drag is simply dragging the hair jig along the bottom, offering no particular action. The hair of the jig breathes from the movement, accentuated by light contact with the bottom. So how is this a better cover-the-water option? While dragging can be accomplished via casting – simply dragging it rather than jigging/hopping it – it lends itself well to being presented via a slow troll.

Visualize a sharp breaking dropoff along the edge of a sizable offshore hump. Since fish could be positioned along this break, part of the day’s strategy would be to check out this zone. By dropping the trolling motor and slowly dragging a hair jig behind, you are able to do so.

When dragging or slow-trolling a hair jig, it’s often necessary to bump up in weight. Creep along at around .3 to .5 mph, providing just enough line to tick bottom.

Vertical jigging is another well-accepted fall tactic. Depending on the available forage and habitat characteristics of the waterway being fished, both bass and walleyes can hold in deeper water, commonly 15 to 25 feet. I believe this also ties into the attitude of the fish. Actively feeding fish might be in shallower water, while less aggressive fish remain in deeper water.

This is a classic example of where vertical jigging shines. The fish might not bite a jig that moves horizontally through their zone. But put one in front of their nose, jigged up and down in front of them, and they might well respond.

When vertically jigging, I prefer a hair jig tied with deer hair, the classic “bucktail,” in white. While brown, black and olive green often excel when casting for bass in situations where crawfish are a primary food source, I expect fish in this situation to be accustomed to feeding on forage fish.

Work the bait with a slight upward snap, then allow it to fall back down on a semi-tight line as bites tend to occur on the fall. Let it hang a bit, rinse and repeat.

Understand that vertical jigging can be employed in combination with other tactics. You can cast and retrieve a jig down a dropoff, then vertically jig it under the boat before winding in for another cast.

Hovering is a bit of a spinoff of vertical jigging, and one I use when fishing over a specific piece of deeper cover like a brushpile, stump, rockpile, crib or bridge pier.

Take a brushpile for instance, one located in 20 feet of water. While you’re confident the wood holds some fish, any kind of jigging tactic will likely result in a snagged lure. By hovering a lure over the tips of the cover, you might lure a fish from the wood. Given its nature of appearing alive with no added movement, thanks to the breathability of the hair, a bucktail is ideal.

Hovering can be a painstaking approach, though you might be able to track fish movement via sonar to keep things interesting. It sometimes produces bigger fish (bass in particular) that respond to slower movements.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.