jiggerjohn
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2010
- Messages
- 547
Back in the 80s& 90s, a few dedicated jig fishermen targetted muskies,pike, big walleyes& bass with "creatures" as trailers for their leadheads. Results with relatively sane spinning outfits (considering they were after muskies mainly!) were astounding(both numbers & size of muskies really upset the plug establishment!), and the actual working of the 6-10" soft plastics was quite stimulating! Creatures were fused plastics, limited in configuration only by the imaginations of their "welders", and went from old wide tailed Fliptail lizards to bodies with wired in big spin tails, to large Reaper/lizard combos, and eventually to really wide tailed "thumper" plastics.One very successful muskie guide in Wisconsin, Jim Dembiec, quietly continues this almost forgotten tradition with his BAT (big ass tails) home poured trailers.Jim's have a great twisting, flopping motion , throws off massive vibrations, and are tough enough for the most savage toothy fish! Yet they are thin, despite their wide ,easily visible profile, so don't require the heavy gear of modern muskie experts who insist on "pounder" plastics or vertical plastic jigs that go 6 to 11 ounces! This fall I'm going to try vertical jigging Jim's carefully conceived tails on Pymatuning reservoir for its big muskies & walleyes behind a special version of Red's woolie jig & Hawn's 1/2 oz Darthead ; since mine are coated with wild springing buffalo hair (thanks LRB !!!) I just call em "Beasts"!
