jiggerjohn
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2010
- Messages
- 547
Last week renowned jig tier Paul Jensen (you often see his rabbit tail masterpieces on In-Fisherman covers) emailed to ask me about the "trash bag strips" that I'd once written about as actionized, easily obtained jig trailers ; seems Paul had fond memories of success using these by themselves on a bare jighead after reading the story during his high school years (I must be getting old(!!!) -but told Paul that the story he read must've been even earlier than mine, if any of our senior readers ever locates that great article from an early Outdoor Life-please let me know!). So,mulling that over while tying, it gave me an inspiration -what if I cut a strip of ultra-thin satin fabric,doubled it over, pinned the jig hook thru the skinny ribbon, and fished it behind a woolie??Man oh man(!), in the kitchen sink a 6" strip of skinny black fabric (3"tails while doubled over) had a much better slow snake-like action and natural,slinky swim than did any plastic bag!! I'd often considered that Ohio's long defunct "Cat Claw Double Tail" (unlike others had PARALLEL or vertical sitting twin twisters) was the best soft plastic I'd ever used in its 2" size, &absolutely murdered huge bluegills, bass, and even pike on the St Lawrence River down deep on weed edges. Well, this "FAB TAIL" looks every bit as seductive, in the same parallel tail type motion!! Also, to enhance the look & action,I frayed the last 1/2" of each twin tail which gave a tiny extra flutter back there and really looks like a swishing tail-piece! When in shortened form, behind a robust dark woolie, the dang thing looked more like a crawfish than a crawfish does!! Of course,I've yet to show these to actual fish, but it certainly will give me a mission for the coming season! (don't ask for a picture; just cut a 6" strip by 1/4" wide,pin it thru its center on a small jig, and check in your sink or bathtub!)
