New Jig working out

[papaperch]

Been trying to imitate this kind of minnow I see when night fishing. Been trying to net one for closer exam. But they are too leery and quick for old guy like me. Anyway they give off a slight transluscent type glow in while pausing in my floating light .

I believe they are some type of shiner. Every time I have camera ready none show up. They don't run in schools just individuals. They don't pack around the light like shad but hang around the edge of light. The fish love them which is maybe why they are so leery. Watched crappie , walleye and white bass chase them like crazy.

Anyway been having some success on my attempts to imitate them. Walleye crappie and white bass fall for them pretty regular. Have to say most of the walleye have been undersized though. That is under 15 inch.
All sizes of white bass and crappie on them though. Fish have shown no preference either way on the two different types roadrunner or minnow head. Another surprise to me anyway, no distinct preference on the size of the lure. The bigger 1/4 ouncers were tied with walleye in mind.
But the crappie and white bass both jump all over them.

Fishing under bridge at night in 22 foot of water. Light suspended under surface 2 foot down. Lights up about a 16 foot circle in a green aura. I fish one rod fairly close to light about 10 foot down. The other is a 12 ' rod that I jig and dead stick right on edge of light. The 12 footer gets most of the action. One other thing I don't use clip when fishing just tie in with small loop knot. Seems to me even moves better without clip.

The jig is just Reds wool jig tied on roadrunner or minnow head. Opaque flash material to try to imitate that odd minnow's appearance.



Probably should do video from boat when fishing to get better idea.

 

[Jig Man]

Good lookin jigs, not sure but are you talkin about glass minnows? We have them here and are excellent bait. I catch them with a cast net...

 

[papaperch]

As a follow up. went out last night and it was weird. fish were very very picky. My jigs were ignored. Right off the bat I lost a 6 or 7 pound walleye right at the surface just as I was getting the net. Haven't caught a walleye that size there forever. 20-21 inch been biggest at this spot.

All fish wanted was minnows. Which are a pain to use right now even at night. Hard to keep alive on hook. Lake temperatures being so warm.

anyway took short video of mystery minnow. They move around like scared hummingbirds. Only managed 15 keeper crappie all night. About twice that many shorties. Bad night for this place. Maybe full moon problem ?



The mystery minnow is two to four inches long. Extremely flashy when they zoom thru the light. The shad which are thousands of are a little deeper and harder to see.

 

[AtticaFish]

The jigs do look great! Funny how we sometimes come full circle from the whimsical/crazy multi color patterns back to the KISS patterns. White w/ red neck is one of those we should never be without. White w/ bright orange neck is another very simple pattern that has been good to me over the past 6 months or so. I like the flashy tails too.

Not sure what the minnows are either, but i see something very similar to those in a reservoir i fish...... they constantly dart around and only seem to move in quick bursts, always staying just below the surface. Same reservoir has some kind of much larger fish that roam the shoreline after dark and i have never been able to identify them, but they simply look like over grown shiners. Look to be maybe 12"-14" or so long. Makes me think they are the grown up version of these minnows. They cruise the shore in small groups of 5 or 6 fish and pass by pretty quickly..... but they have the same herky/jerky bursts of movement as those little minnows.

 

[Kdog]

Looking at the minnow, reminds me of alewife. When I am lookng for info, this site has been helpful http://fish.photoshelter.com/gallery/Minnows-Shiners-Chubs-and-Darters-Collection/G0000v3PcLPVmUOI/

 

[Hawnjigs]

Papa, your ties look as good as any to imitate shiny baitfish. Is the live bait only bite normal as maybe the weather warms?

Out my way, the Lake Mac walleye/wiper lure bite has steadily declined since late Spring - first tied jigs stopped working and Gulp! worked for awhile, now neither get bit. Yesterday morning the water appeared to be churning from a school of feeding white bass, but I got zero hits.

 

[AllenOK]

AF, you might be seeing mature Golden Shiners. They get about 12" long. I've caught one on a fly rod once.

 

[papaperch]

Hawn- Can't say for sure but jigs have been working up until that night. Luckily this was not the first time I tried them. If it was I probably would have written them off. Usually the warm weather does NOT affect the jig bite. In fact usually it seems to help.

I mentioned the full moon. My paternal grandfather had an aversion to fishing at night when a full moon was out. Claimed it scattered the fish too much. He preferred dark of the moon or as they call it waning moon. I never could find anything factual about it. But his success at night fishing was hard to argue with.

What does amaze me on a great night. With millions of minnows literally in arms length of my boat. That I can catch fish on anything jig or minnow. Minnows have been so thick some nights over the years. That if you missed a fish you would snag a minnow. So thick they blot out a fishfinder and make them useless.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Back in Hawaii I noticed night fishing off a lighted pier that dark moon fishing was indeed better. We guessed that indeed a big moon scattered both baitfish and predators away from the attraction of the pier lights.

Apparently, walleye follow a seasonal maybe water temp related migratory pattern away from the main spawning area dam rocks in Lake McConaughy as Summer progresses. But, there still appears to be large wiper feeding behavior present with only live baiters getting bit. I'll keep pitching jigs as this full moon wanes to see if a lure bite restarts.

A logical pattern explaining predator aversion to jigs or lures will probably remain elusive.

I haven't noticed much baitfish diversity here - only gizzard shad and alewives present which seem to scatter along shoreline rather than tight school at night. The last dam walleye I cleaned 3 weeks ago had a cupla 4" shad in its belly. A small wiper I cleaned a few days ago from a reservoir outlet 40 miles distant appeared to have ingested recent drum spawn in the 1-2" size range.

I expected a newbie learning curve moving here, and skunks are an effective learning experience.