I've grown very tired of muddy waters ! It seems this year here in Western PA, that we've had more rain, high water levels, and MUD than ever! This made light jigging tough, though the nice fish calling vibrations of the bottom scratchers always got us a few. So I decided to search the net for a more reliable dirty water jigging technique (our rains don't seem to want to stop!). Eventually I found a remarkable husband & wife guiding team , Janie and Freddy Petty, who have worked the Gulf Coast of Texas for over a combined 80 years! Although they are saltwater captains, their method of Popping Cork jigging seems adaptable anywhere. Captain Freddie found that increasingly difficult redfish and seatrout could be lured out of the dingy Gulf waters (lots of dredging & pollution to soil their waters) with his special hand made, LOUD popping cork rig. As Capt. Janie described to me, " cast it for long distance,as the fish are very spooky, then pop the cork to get its loud click, and allow the jig to sink down the 18-24" of leader that is tied on. Fish get curious over the noise, come to investigate, and see the floundering, seemingly wounded little critter and suck it up! There website ( fishingwithpettys.com  ) shows TONS of big fish caught with their exclusive use of this method.

So I asked Janie if this would work in freshwater. Encouraged by her extreme knowledge and cheerful advice, I set out to try their unique FP3 poppin cork and a small crappie jig in a local lake (yeah it was muddy from an all day and a half rain at the week's beginning). Several other bait guys had set up and I think during my entire stay I saw 2 separate individual each bring in  1 small fish. Yet I was taking nice crappies or big bluegill quite often from the murk ! It was just as Janie described to me -you'd get a nice "clack" (I could here it even after a long distance cast  -and my wife says I'm almost deaf!), wait for the drift down of the jig, then pop again. Half of my hooked fish came during the followup pop, which seemed to set the hook instantly. Good thing as these wary fish took very gently - some nodded the cork ,but not many.  But it's like Janie had warned, when my rig slightly tangled or I got the float out of position (not upright as it normally sits) -if it didn't POP, I didn't get a hit! Who'd a thought that hard pressured , shy fish would want more NOISE??!!

I'm wondering if more of our members have experimented with popping corks to deliver their jigs? This is a subject we should definately explore! As for me, this fall I'll be "poppin' my cork" !!

Just ordereed 4 colors of this new auto air paint for airbrushing

May be an interesting addition

Quote from Jigger John many years ago.

I'm a stubborn guy when it comes to diverting from tried & true to adopt new ideas or stuff.  Such it was with using chartreuse because it just didn't look like anything resembling natural prey that a predator might eat.  Well, 360* later its now my fave color for nite jigging softies.

In particular, catfish find chartreuse Gulp irresistible, noticeably outfishing my fave natural colors pearl and opening night Powerbait minnows.  Wipers seem less particular but troos certainly gets bit at least as well as the aforementioned natural colors.  Jon got his (unreported) state record wiper on a 2" stub cut from a Gulp troos "Sinking Minnow" which more closely resembles a 5" Senko.

Any comments on chartreuse or other favorite color ?

Spring Walleye bite is finally over,  No one has been doing much catching,  So a buddy that knows the lake well and is in a position to fish it daily jas been playing with vibes and jiggin raps,  Vibes are working a bit as are hopkins spoons but the venerable jigging rap is starting to work but only on shorts... he said the bigger fish are still laying low or coming up and grabbing a shad or two and foing back to sleep. Jis expeience twlls him that one area always holds bigger walleye and usually he begins to catch them weeks ahead of anywhere else. Yes its a secret spot location he will not share.  
Anyhow, I painted a chartruese orange and white jigging rap for him last spring.  He decided conditions were right for the color combo.. ties it on and on his second lift caught a fish,,,,  big fish.  After a long battle fish started to jump and imaginge his surprise... Fish was a Muskie.  He was able to get it along side the boat retrieve his lure and reelease for another day.  he estimated 48 - 50 inches.

Moral of the story always be prepared.  He needed a camera and tape measure xould have got some kinda state  pin or patch for that one.

My daughter had some candy that came in a heart box with fur around it. 

   

I saved the fur and cut into strips and then tied a jig. I’m rather happy with my results. 

   
   
   

It also caught my PB crappie on local lake maybe of all time. The crappie was 13.5” long. Don’t know weight though.
   

Sorry, still don't have an image capture device but its not hard to picture this jig in your mind.  1/16 ball head #4 2x hook with 5 BB size clear glass w/ luster surface glass seed beads(not round) + 1 same size fluoro salmon red plastic bead super glued onto hook shank from head to bend.  Designed specifically to mimic fresh shad spawn fry same size at 1" total length.  Worked last year for a few 2-3# wipers and early this morning (still dark) got 4 small wipers bout a pound to pound & a half + a keeper 19-1/2" wally while the brief bite lasted.  With ZERO inherent action not exactly inspiring confidence based on appearance nonetheless triggers bites with brisk twitch dart tekneek.

Had to buy a pack of 1,000 from Hobby Lobby so be glad to send some glass beads if anyone wants to try.

Well I finally decided to buy a new vise. After lots of thought I ended up getting a Peak Vise. I think I will be happy with it. I had been tying on an AA vise and it was working but seems lately the hooks are falling out more and more. I can’t wait to use it and see what rotary can do for me.

Had very little success lately chasing flatfish with my own boat so I was happy to follow the invitaiton of a friend who knows every single boulder in the outer kiel firth. We had 7 nice cod in the 60-70cm range which is a very satisfying size over here. Its been a while since I harvested so much filet from 3 fish alone. My friend used soft plastics, I went with a 1oz cav. shad spoon tin.








BTW I know which side my bread is buttered on but I like attitude of that cap. I talked to my insurance guy on the phone the other day who is (for my taste) an almost annoyingly kind and sensitive person. He said he had gotten into an argument with a left/green neighbour about Autobahn speed limit. He first tried to justify his freedom-loving standpoint with the milage of his brand new car, but then she went like "yeah but at only 110km/h, you would have...( even higher). You don`t have kids, right?", indicating selfishness and lack of responsibility for the future. She was unaware that he and his wife had given up after multiple miscarriages. This climate thing is getting nasty over here, the tone is becoming rougher.

Love the drop shot technique for all species. What I don't care for is the cost. While researching I came across this Thailand guy tying a great drop shot rig using any kind of straight shank hook. So easy I perfected it after several mishaps. 

Step One Run line thru eye of hook



Step Two Make a Single Loop and Let it lie



Step 3 Pick up hook so it is in between your two hands with the two top lines



Once in position twist the hook 6-8 times around the two top lines only. The bottom third line is used in final step. The knot should resemble the above pic after the 6-8 turns

Kind of nurse the knot slowly into position ensuring an equal amount on turns on each side of hook.

Final step pull the bottom line until knots are tight on each side of the eye of the hook see pic below




Tied these with yellow power pro to aid in visual. Real rigs that I use are tied with mono. I also plunge in pail of water to keep line from weakening itself the water acts as a lubricant. Below is one of my actual ties that I use



I use these rigs all year. Thru the ice I downsize the hooks weight and line. The open water rigs I use 10 and 12 # fluorocarbon with size 8 to size 1 hooks mostly light wire aberdeens. Winter rigs I tie with 7 lb fluorocarbon split shot as weight and  12 ,10 ,and size 8 hooks. I do prefer the Owner hooks for ice fishing. I tie so bottom hook would be 10 to 12 inches off bottom top hook is anywhere from 12 to 16 above bottom hook. 

I can't think of a species native to Ohio that I have not caught on a drop shot rig.

Over the years and many experiments later. This has proved to be the most tangle free set up for vertical jigging any blade bait. Simple wire closed loop one end and either spring or wire crimp over the other.  Walleyes don't seem to care much about the extra hardware. If anything it seems to help at end of day. More then likely due to tangle free operation. If lure worked correctly initial 12 inch lift to get attention. Then series of subtle 3 inch lifts. Set up will be trouble free.