Weedless Midwest finesse jigs

[JUNGLEJIM1]

I got this mold recently and poured and painted up a couple hundred. Got some crazy colors with the paints I have been mixing. Catching some good fish already even though it's early so colors aren't scaring the fish away. Rigging 3" power grubs and Keitech's weedless produced first 15" crappie of 2022 and a good wiper first day out along with some white bass and drum.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Looks like a really useful head design. Nice wide wiper ! Moving water?

Unusually warm Winter out your way? 3* and white here only a state away.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Weather here is a roller coaster. 35 yesterday and supposed to hit 65 today. Wiper was caught in moving water in the river, crappie out of the lake next to the river. Only thing consistent with the weather here is the wind, seems like it's always 10-15 mph but that's March.

 

[hookup]

Nice work on the jig heads .... and they work!

I just got the lesson on the difference between the wiper (hybrid) and striper. Can see it clearly in that fish

 

[skeetbum]

Good looking work Jim. Do you think they would hold up against a decent sized redfish? Salt is the only place that I fish that folks are beginning to use the mushroom and Ned rig. I’m looking into it a little. Don’t have enough time to use what I have but you know how we are. Thanks for posting them

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

The hook is strong and would hold a decent redfish. Went back two days ago and didn't get a bite on the weedlesse finesse rig but they were hammering a bunny spinner bait I had made the day before. Caught three and lost two and had several good strikes but didn't hook up. Biggest weighed 9 1/4 lbs. Getting closer to double digit fish. Going to try the spinner bait more today with a bigger 1/0 hook and add a stinger hook, missed too many strikes last trip.

 

[Hawnjigs]

If you're talking wipers enjoy it while you can as the pack/school will likely move off eventually or others may harvest them. One time I was getting lots of drop offs, sometimes multiples on the same cast using a 1/4 oz #1 hook Berkley Power Pogy.

So I trimmed off the plastic from the internal weighted head and pinned it onto a larger wide gap 32786 1/0 hook head and that held em much better.

Hopefully your wiper spot won't get YouTubed cuz after an out of state axle posted a vid of catching & killing the state record wiper (which I had C&R the previous year) that spot became a slaughterfest combat zone.

Have you upsized to wiper specific gear ?

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Still using 6# mono but started carrying a heavier rod with 20# braid to throw a whopper plopper since my son caught a nice one using it last trip. This river runs into the Mississippi River and when it's low it seems like the wipers fall back to the Mississippi and when it rains heavily they run back up river and I catch a few. I have several productive spots and bounce back and forth between them. Going to rain all day today so river will be on the rise soon.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Yah, my serious wiper rig is also 20# braid. Checking my records quite a few have broken off on 10# braid mostly because I couldn't hold em from running into bottom snags.

Yer lucky you can catch em daytime, my wiper opportunity is strictly at night.

 

[skeetbum]

My experience with stripers/wipers is limited so I’m learning all the time. Most common around here is to cast net Shad and catch lots. I’ve learned that they’re extra finicky when it comes to anything fake so I counted myself lucky when I got a few on a ghost looking husky jerk. Throwing it on a soft tipped medium action lightning rod and 4lb Nanofi, I thank God that the reel has a super smooth drag. My biggest so far is 18” and what a time I had with him. Had a couple of others that were over 15” that kinda gave me a little training before I got the big one. I wish I had a couple of places that I could find em predictably.