Vertical jigging Master

[Fatman]

Thanks for the info on that JJ - I've got some tiny willow leaf blades I'll have to make one with that blade also. I'll try and get them made up and posted tonight.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Here's what JiggerJohns "lake" looks like and spinner jig catch.
Yes, not exactly Spring conditions, and JJ2 has threatened to go groundhog hunting. Well, Punxsatawny Phil is already in trouble.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pa-groundhogs-handler-taking-blame-forecast-18806150#.UVNUcVceqds

View attachment 2

View attachment 3

 

[Fatman]

Very nice

 

[redear]

JJ, you are really inspiring me with your woolie spin, just when I think you have run out of ideas ya hoist another hog up for a photo!! lol keep doing this as it is what keeps me going, while working 7 days in a row. thanks for all your sharing.

 

[ragged edge]

Hawn, do you think he will leave any for seed?...........lol

 

[Fatman]

Here ya go JJ - tiny 00 willows, and indiana bldes. size 0 colorados on a bit bigger ones. Figured I was making a few to post so I just made up a bunch of them.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Fatman, those look really nice! I especially like the tiny willow models,as these seem to function so well with Red's jigs. I noticed yesterday that If I kept the satin cut relatively short that on a slow forward retreive (in between drops,where the majority of strikes are still coming) the willow blades sink down & back a bit to virtually yield a tail spin type of look. Of course that harness is easy for me to finger grab when a trout comes to shore,and this bait tends to lightly lip hook curious rainbows for easy release! I noted too that even when a thoroughly attacked satin skirt (over wool,of course!) gets slimed & tangled that the overhead, easy turning willow blades keeps the whole jig shaking, looking then even more like a solid, striped minnow body (as opposed to having widely flared fibers looking like a hula skirt). Currently,therefore, I'm trying to figger a way to PRE tangle & slime my satin, to start the hot bite immediately!!

 

[Fatman]

Thanks JJ - Well If you have a few fish in the basket put a jig between them and rub the slime off!! LOL The willows do work well.

 

[Hawnjigs]

JJ2 claims to be abiding by the C&R only rule until PA trout season officially opens on April 1. I think he also prefers the flavor of panfish so might not keep much or any trout after the warmwater bite commences.

Hey Fatman, you got some skills!

 

[Fatman]

Thanks Hawn - been making spinners, beetles and other wire stuff for a long time.

 

[redear]

nice spinners Doug!

 

[Fatman]

Thanks redear!!!

 

[jiggerjohn]

Guys, Another experiment-gone-right for use with Red's jigs that has produced very well for the past 3 days: Seeing how son Sean sometimes tops my Woolies with his Banshee (bunny zonker tail and sheep body),I was playing with an ATTACHABLE bunny tail to instantly clip on when I wanted that extra leech like action,dark color, and a bit more length. Pinning on a thicker piece of rabbit fur over the hook point gave just a bit too much bulk, and the new, thinner 1/12" zonker strips are too narrow to pin(of course you can tie them on initially,but I wanted something to CLIP on and remove at will). So I cut a 1 1/4" zonker from the 1/12" material, folded a 1/4" section over,holdin it hide-to-hide,then simply lashed it with thread & a bobbin. I dab a drop of nail polish on the wrapping & trim the longish excess forward hair from around the newly formed little loop. It still stays thickly furried around the orifice,but slides neatly over a small sickle hook and the hair around that loop seems to entangle slightly with wool of a Red's jig, so it stays there without flinging off ! I've used mine (black or purple strips) for quite a while this past week & caught/released a goodly bunch of trout, yet have not lost a single "bunhole" (as I've named 'em) !! Then,if the bite turns more subtle I can instantly remove this fur tailed donut, to reuse later! Think this bunny tipping can work on the back end of any jig,where a differant action ,or a more steady swimming retrieve might be called for.

 

[Fatman]

Great info JJ

 

[redear]

that sounds interesting too JJ!

 

[jiggerjohn]

Visited Red today -always SO inspiring & educational!! Especially with temps today above 70,sunny, and calm, to know great fishing is just about here! Red showed me some prime early season bays with some boaters already out there -heck, I was ready to wet WADE the 40* water to try for some!! Crappies,are hitting in some scattered locations,but the real bite is not quite ready just yet.We went back to Red's place(where,of course we had tied a few of his wool/satin jigs earlier!) & I took a few moments to finally cast into his homemade , back porch lake! I thought it might be tricky with him ,family, and friends having cast his woolies in there for years-figgered fish would all be wise by now! After all, he used to tie a fresh jig,run to his porch and test to see if a fish would quickly grab it (they usually did!). Yet on my first cast I hooked a fast charging largemouth, second cast another bass after two missed ones during that same retreive, third cast more bass, differant direction cast for a perch, then another perch,some pecks & misses(as was the case on almost very cast!), then a quick batch of crappies around a bush extending out from shore! I coulda contentedly fished there right till dark, but had to get home (2 hours south) by 5 . Red asked me why I hadn't hooked anything big, calmly stating the best fish from the pond last season was an 18 1/2 incher ; I admitted that was certainly a good largemouth,till Red informed me it was an 18 1/2" CRAPPIE (I think that exceeds a LOT of state records!!)!! He also mentioned about some BIG perch in there, and that his lake's resident 50++ " muskie happily thins out the excess small perch :I asked if he had ever hooked the muskie-"3 times," chirped Red,but the monster simply sprinted the length of the lake ,mostly spooled him (small kid's panfish outfits that were on hand for jig testing) and snapped him off. What secret, huge plug did he use to coerce the wise ole muskie to take??- yep, his small, regular crappie-sized woolie!

 

[Fatman]

That would be cool to have that kind of testing pond right at your house!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great report!!!

 

[jiggerjohn]

When I was up to his place the other day, Red & I were discussing a Musky jig construction, because I'd mentioned the increasingly more popular huge vertical-worked musky soft plastic lure ,the Bondy bait, and the tremendous catches on it in the Detroit river by creator Jon Bondy. Of course I personally don't want to use an 11 ounce lure!! Red suggested we could form a long wool body on a lengthy shanked jighook and wrap a few layers of wool (moving up the hook shaft as we stacked these layers) to provide a base to spread out "muskie materials". Musta been dreaming about it because I woke up this morning with an idear - took one of Hawnjig's bigger hooked HUs (1/6 oz) with the longer spiral neck and put on black wool, moved up and tied white wool,further up some more offwhite, then a clump of orange wool as the collar. Then some loose flash, finishing with THIN clumps of black buffalo hair(thanks MaryLou!!!) around the wool. Wow,does it look cool -my UGLIEST jig ever(and that's saying sumpthin' !!!)!! Yet the thin long strands of buffalo, tho wiry, will have great action in water, something I wasn't able to do with it on jigs before,because you had to tie too thickly in order to form a suffiently bulky jig(for pike/muskies) with it. Then, as if fate had deemed it, an 8" by 1" section of mink just appeared out of the stuff I was rooting thru(my tying station would absolutely scare the neat freaks and well organized tiers!!) -the perfect,wide,very nice sheened fur piece but not too much hair like rabbit would yield, as the tai(with a stinger hook pinned in)l! I'll fish this "Shee-Beast" vertically on 5# power pro & a slightly stiffer than my normal UL rod,but only for a minute at a spot before leaving to go crappie fishing at a new position (don't want to get "handcuffed" with muskie fishing, but since Pym has some well over 50", might just pay off in a great picture sometime!!

 

[redear]

go get'em JJ!! thanks for the fishin story too.

 

[Fatman]

JJ - Sounds like alot of hair on that jig!!!! but would be fun!!!