Vertical jigging Master

[Fatman]

That would be great!!

 

[StumpHunter]

Fatman so far the satin on all the jigs I have fished with ends up being a knot or wrapped around the hook.

 

[Fatman]

I haven't found out about that yet!!! I wonder if that's the reason for the longer satin strips past the end of the wool??

 

[jiggerjohn]

Red & I tie these jigs with the hook point down in the vice, and the satin tends to be pushed down away from the point by a goodly chunk of expanding wool. Also this positioning places the satin in the lower midline of the jig while swimming. Of course the longer satin tails, about 3/4" beyond the hook bend (on my ties), also keeps em fluttering aways back from any potential hook ensnarlment.

 

[Fatman]

Great info JJ!!!!!! Thanks!!!

 

[jiggerjohn]

Well, today,ole Red will be starting the Buffalo Outdoors show (Hamburg,NY ?) with about 5000 jigs remaining after Niles,Ohio ! He promised to hack me off some nice dark brown/black wool off a hide he has currently hanging in raw form, after he returns from this final show (then he says ,it's all fishin & little time for tying or selling-unless ya spot him out on the lake!). Of extreme interest was some orange/reddish wool that he recently gave me -small clump. This stuff has a very nice translucence & holds water very well - he obtained it from local Amish friends, and it really makes some neat looking small jigs. This color, got me to thinkin of the mostly Southern tactic of fishing freshwater shrimp for bluegill, so did a little research. On a side online search I came across the "Sawyer Killer Bug" -apparently the greatest grayling (and rainbow trout) fly of all time, developed in the 1930s out of little more than a simple natural WOOL body, with a type of wool that had a natural shrimp type color tone to it, overlaying a bit of copper flash/wire. As I wait for remaining snow to melt after yesterday's big ,final (I hope!) dump, I think I'll make some of Red's bugs in the new light reddish wool,copper flash, and some orange satin on 1/64 oz heads -look out trout & bluegill !

 

[Fatman]

Man I wish I could get home for this weekend!!!!!!!!! JJ yes Hamburg, Erie County Fairgrounds!!

The Sawyer Killer Bug is a great fly!!!!! Trying to copy the material is the PITA!!!!!!!!!! It's called Chadwicks 477!!! and even half a card will fetch a high price on ebay!!!!!!!!!!!

That orange color sounds good!!!!!!! The kids at my wifes school have sheep and it's coming up on shearing time, she's going to see if the kids will cough some up!!!

 

[papaperch]

The orange idea sounds excellent JJ. I tie a jig that has done fairly well for me with lots of orange. On the one I tie I am trying to imitate the " ruby red " minnow. Which is a color variant of the fathead minnow. Trout fisherman in PA use it often but seems like it is commonly available in early spring. On the minnow itself I have good success on walleye , crappie and yellow perch.

I agree though about the bluegill bug you are scheming on. Bet it would make a good ice fishing lure also.

Wonder how many pages this post is going to get before AF just gives Red's Wools their own forum. LOL

 

[Hawnjigs]

Since everyone seems onboard with Red's pattern a forum topic heading for wool fools might be appropriate.

Myself, after 50 years of tying jigs with anything including used mop strings and my own hair think wool is a "can't miss". Thanks for sharing, Red and JJ2, tho I hope no one dunks wool at my vacation destination this year before I get there.

 

[AtticaFish]

This is a very entertaining thread for sure, my hat is tipped to Jiggerjohn & Red, as well as all those contributing. After about the first week of the thread, i was trying to think of a way to consolidate the information into a more 'bite sized' article that i could post here - http://www.jigcraft.com/articles.html - but not even sure where i would start at attempting that now.

 

[Fatman]

Maybe a question/answer type?? But again where to start!!

 

[jiggerjohn]

I love it when I lose count - tho' probably not the best confession from a former math teacher! Figgered I got somewhere between 30 - 50 rainbow trout this morning in a section that was still iced over yesterday. You could say the take was rather sheepish -all on wool ! Started with a simple wool boolie and got a few,but the bite was just as it touched down on bottom on the drop, and hard to feel -missed a bunch. Then I put on Red's jig, made of a 1/32 oz Hawn's roundhead, with blue satin over the wool. I used a tactic I'd written up years ago for the original Fishing Facts mag, which I named "jiggling". That is, I'd let Red's bug slowly drift toward bottom, then employ very delicate twitches thru the rod -almost as if I was vertical jigging from a boat. Still didn't get any hard taps, just sense when my jiggle felt a bit "stuck" that I'd lift into another trout! I'm sure the satin & flashing were given plenty of trout exciting action, but my jiggle was mostly to detect those ultra delicate takes in very cold water! Another neat thing with the wool jigs -tho I didn't tip the lures, one landed trout was bleeding slightly & I rubbed the wool up against it -sucked th blood right in & the wool clump glowed bright red! Right after several trout came quickly to net! Later, I poked myself with the hook and had a trickle of blood -wiped it with the wool, and two trout on the next two casts, including biggest of the day! (fortunately I always carry about 5 pints of this red liquid tipping with me!!!)

 

[Fatman]

Great reprot JJ!!!!!!!! White head?? white wool?? got trout season coming up and the water will be really cold that might just help me out!!!

 

[jiggerjohn]

Hi Fatman, Yep, used the raw white (oatmeal color wool -except when blood smeared! ) sheepskin as the center base, with silver flashabou, and white with blue satin surrounding. The 1/32 oz round jighead was the basic uncolored, bright tin that Hawnjigs makes, and which I use 99% of the time. The big factor is to attempt to get the jig slowly sinking straight down ,while very GENTLY shakin the rod tip in about 1" movements or less. All the while "listen" for any halting ticks -might be a snag, tho today, 75% of the time it was a tactful trout!

 

[redear]

very good report!!

 

[Fatman]

Thanks JJ - I'll have to clearcoat some plain heads to get the basic silver, the rest of the stuff I have. Thanks again for all the help!!!!!!!!!

 

[jiggerjohn]

I wanted to test Red's jig directly against our all time best, the 1/32 oz Boolie with rabbit tail, so dragged my half awake 31 yr old son over to the lake at about 11 am. Cold & windy, but Red's jig (same blue & white satin that was so good yesterday) drew 4 strikes on the first 4 casts, landing 2 rainbows. We actually finished at 330 with NINETY trout! Red's jig, with the slow twitching retreive near bottom produced 59 rainbows to Sean's 31. I think the cold water was better served with the slow "jiggling" retreive of Red's woolie, as trout seemed to be able to hone in on it easier. To be fair, I think Sean actually had more hits, but hard to get the steel into them. Both of us had many, many hits that we couldn't quite set into. A lot of trout grabbed on the initial drop, just as bottom was reached, on both lure types. And both lures featured small sickle hooks, which stung them ALL in the forward section of their upper lips for 100% safe release. All-in-all, a pretty good day for it being so cold outside, and more proof that trout, as well as crappies ,perch, and bass love WOOL !!

 

[Fatman]

Another great report can't wait to get out and try mine!!!!!!!!!

 

[redear]

great report JJ!!

 

[jiggerjohn]

One thing I noticed in the trout take over the past couple of days on Red's jigs -their toughness. Yesterday , when I finally lost my first blue/white satin model after the 40 th leaping trout (yep, I was a bit lax in retying the 3# test ultra thin Tectan mono!) I had noticed it was still in remarkably good condition & still exhibited its killer action! The follow up Red & white model held up just as well, even tho both lures had been drug over near shore rocks,weeds, and brush (which also didn't do my line too much good!). Maybe this jig TOUGHNESS is yet another reason why Red insists that a wool jig with outfish non wool types by a 10 to 1 margin. Heck, a skimpy marabou jig woulda been trashed after the first couple of trout! And considering the low average take at this hard fished local lake, Red's woolie woulda outfished others by at least 20 to 1 !

By the way, Red is now back from the Buffalo show, where he sold a goodly bunch more of his jigs. He tells me he's tired, but resting well and just chomping at the bit to get after Pymatuning's crappies in about 3 weeks ( northern, snow-belt lake needs warming). What does he do to "rest up"? -yesterday he tied another 50 jigs!!