Vertical jigging Master

[Fatman]

Really sorry I couldn't get back home to go to the show!!!!!!!!

 

[jiggerjohn]

I'm half frozen -they ain't kiddin about that wind chill factor! But some sun out to keep it from being completely unbearable, and had to test yet one more thought on Red's wool jig , with local trout hungry following ice out& recently cooperating so well. My son, Sean, was still upset that I spanked him the other day on trout numbers and dreamed up his special version of Red's Wool jig. He place a 1 1/2" black rabbit zonker on the bottom of his 1/32 oz jig,with the regular wool body , and some fabric strands on top. It looked amazing in water and the lad "took me to the cleaners" with 65 trout to my 50 rainbows, between 2-6 this afternoon! Yes, we got 115 trout, some very nice ones, on the Woolies (a lot of mine came on a similar model I'd tied to match Sean's with a black rabbit tail & white satin). I still think the trout wanted warm wool to keep their mouths WARM -if Red had given me enough wool ,I'd wrap myself in it about now!!

 

[papaperch]

I was always pleased when one my youngens out did the old man for a day or two. Course I never let on used to tell them if you make a habit of tanning Pa's britches like that I 'm gonna make up reasons for you to stay home.

Going to be fishing with my eldest son in South Carolina for the second week of the trip. He is actually a better jig fisherman than I am. All around fishing he has to take a backseat. But jigging seems to be his forte. He has no idea about Red's jigs. But I am going to let him fish with one to start out. I am going to fish a non-wool first to compare.

I have always loved using a float. My son never cared for them as he preferred the jig to everything else. From about 14 years old he used nothing else. Gonna be great heckling one another again.

 

[redear]

great report JJ!! you are killin me!! lol

 

[jiggerjohn]

Well, as of this rainy, cold morning my son & I have an actually , carefully counted tally of 409 rainbow trout (plus one carp!) over the past 5 days. (well, skipped one day,when conditions were just too miserable). ALL were on some version or other of Red's jig! We did adapt over the past coupla days a short 1 to 1 1/2 thin black zonker tail underneath and extending out from the hook rear, which seemed to make a big difference. Funny thing was yesterday, Sean, enthralled with his black bunny tail motion, got upset with the bit of slightly tangling white satin that he'd tied over his slick action black rabbit tail and removed it -IMMEDIATELY his hot bite stopped dead!! I stayed with my black & white "Skunk" and kept enjoying action! Live baiters across from us,tho, were getting VERY upset over our constant action, and we never had need to tip anything on the jigs to upset that neat swimming,sparkling action. Most hits were very near or directly on bottom,either following the initial drop or slow & steady retreived with pauses to keep the jig downstairs. Biggest trout were 2 really fat, dark holdovers of a bit over 20 ". I'm actually tired right now from this past week, tho never got bored from all those hits,leaps, and action!! Think I'll TIE a few more to relax!! (and Redear, not meaning to kill you with this report ;it's like I tell the post office when I mail some of Red's jigs to friends ,and they ask the usual : if the package contains "anything liquid, pershible, or hazardous?" and I tell them "only deadly to fish!!"

 

[Fatman]

JJ - add me to the list!!!!! You guys are all starting to hit the water and we're still stuck waiting!!!!!!! About a month left before the ice is off the ponds (don't know why they call em that cause they're small lakes to me) and we get to go!!!!!!!!

 

[redear]

went fishing yesterday for a couple hours in the pond bordering my property, water was stained pretty bad and the fish weren't biting very good but I did catch a few crappies on the wool jig, using a float and a crappie nibble on the hook. I jiggled the bobber to get the jig to dance. one thing I had trouble with is the flash and satin getting fouled around the hook bend. gonna have to figure out something there.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Redear, Try carrying an old ,used toothbrush (never your wife's current one,I've found!!!)to brush out the satin,while fishing -straightens it right out with a few gentle strokes. However, even with the satin seemingly tangled, our trout still went after the Woolie jig ;in fact,tho Red's jig looked amazing in action on the initial first few casts,balanced & dancing perfectly, only after a couple trout mangled & slobbered on it, did the now gunky, tangly jig begin to REALLY produce!!

 

[redear]

JJ thanks for the info!! I'm new at this wool jig thing.

 

[Fatman]

X2 good info

 

[Badgerloader]

I have been reading the comments on this link and am up to page 21 or so. I had a thought on my drive home from work about why these wool / material jigs are so effective. In my experience, I have found that crappies respond to jigs that drift / float down, rather than plunge. I do not deny that there is something particularily attractive about natural sheep's wool - it makes sense to me. In addition to any natural attraction that the wool imparts, the added boyancy provided is, I believe, a crappie trigger.
My opinion is based upon my own experience with kiptail jigs vs. feathered jigs. My skimpy tied feather jigs emulate "bugs" and are bluegill killers. While I do catch crappie on them, Bluegills are the primary quarry. When I switch to a kiptail jig, my crappie catch increases - due in my opinion to the kiptail boyancy causing the jig to "float" into the fishes view.
Steelhead fisherman in my area use "egg" flies that are essentially a chunk of bright colored yarn (orange, red etc.) on a hook. The steelheaders claim the "fuzzy" yarn gets tangled in the steelhead's teeth providing an extra few seconds to set the hook. Natural sheep wool is of an even finer denier that may "catch" in a crappies mouth enabling a skilled crappie guy to detect even light bites.
Just my $0.02.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Badg, Indeed, the Woolie does possess an almost neutral buoyancy on a swim, due to its retention of water. Plus Red's jig tends to maintain a horizontal position,even when dropping. Crappies love this, as do trout! From recent experiences with trout,the wool does tend to hang in their mouths for a hook set -can't ever recall having so many fish detected "holdin on" as I tightened line up after the initial drop to bottom. Another huge factor in favor of wool is the way it "sucks up" surrounding odors,such as the slime on caught fish or even nutrient filled bottom mud ; interestingly, ole Red rarely tips his jigs but stops in local bait shops to acquire a few dead or dying minnows floating in the dealer's bait well (often for free),secures them in a plastic bag, and merely rubs his wool jig against them every so often!

 

[ragged edge]

Well I've read this thread rwice now and was excited to try these out. So as luck would have it yesterday, the Navajo lady next door decided to have her sheep sheared. The guy doing the shearing was more than happy to give me all the wool I wanted. So I filled two gallon plastic bags and now to experiment

 

[jiggerjohn]

Ragged, Welcome to the "Wool Fools" fraternity!! I'm also about to hit the wool jackpot - Red phoned and tells me he has a nice whole black sheep skin that he has sheared big bundles from!! Plus, I have to get a bit more of that natural Reddish orange wool that he found up in Amish country around him. For some reason our cold water ,early season trout have been teeing off on that ginger colored stuff; yesterday my son & I took another 81 rainbow trout on these woolies,in less than 3 hours, and as of that catch our tally since ice-out last week is 527 ! I still have to think these ravenous rainbows are simply trying to keep warm with the wool!!

 

[redear]

JJ, what weight jig have you been throwing? and what weight line?

 

[jiggerjohn]

Redear, Last week I was throwing a 3# test very thin Tectan mono,left on the reel from last Fall,which,nevertheless, held up very well. Except,of course, my bad habit of not changing the knot after several fish -my biggest of the week was trout no 54 that particular day for me on the same knot & woolie jig -THAT one did cause me concern(but played him VERY cautiously). When I finally changed that knot,the jig plucked off with about 1/4 pound of pressure!! This line,tho, was superb for casting the 1/40th oz Red's woolie I was using (actually Hawn's jig "1/32" oz model, but in nonlead alloy,it weighs less).This week I got some new 4# test Ande TOURNAMENT (thin & doesn't overtest ) which was a little bit thicker than the Tectan,but still cast the small jigs well enough,even with the strong wind gusts that we experienced.My rod,tho, supplied plenty of spring for the light line -a 5'6" UL Norseman ESP model (which,by the way, offers a unique "sensor" handle that REALLY helped feel the very delicate takes in the cold water).

 

[redear]

JJ, thanks for that info!!

 

[Fatman]

Thanks JJ - I had heard about the "Tectan" line, but didn't have any reports on it.

 

[redear]

yeah, I had heard about the tectan too, I do use 2lb. line sometimes and it is great for small light jigs, it takes a special rod and reel combo to use it right though, in order to protect the kine as much as possible. I have a diawa 5 1/2 foot rod, a spinmatic x and it is a true ultra light, also have an older shimano symmetre 1000 on it. that little reel holds 225 yds of 2lb. line easily, can't remember what brand is on there now.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Recent Redwool catches by JiggerJohn & Son.

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