eyes for fish or fisherman

[bucktail]

I am curious to know how the members feel on the subject 
so do you think it matters if our jigs have eyes or not?
Sure they look better but does a walleye look over and say man if that  had red eyes I would slam it right now...
personally alot of my fishing jigs don't have eyes,so what's your opinion on this?

 

[Kdog]

Ive seen eye color make a difference and Ive seen days where eyes would not get a bite.Overall, I feel eyes make a difference but need to match the head size.

 

[AtticaFish]

I like the looks of them with eyes so tend to put eyes on most of what i make. Do the fish matter? haha.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Since I got to Nebraska in '14 the only eyes I've used are in my head.
Looks like an early Spring here and the wally bite is on. Best day cupla ago was 21 throwing Gulp! on blind, bald, & naked heads feet on the ground.
Dressed up painted heads with eyes are purty but I'd rather KISS and spend the do-it time getting wet.

 

[Pup]

I like eyes in terms of an overall tying pattern.  Would you think that a fish might be responsive to any change at a lures 'front end'?  It's a question we will never know the answer to, so might as well play your hunch...
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[bucktail]

Well said fellas more a less wanted a conversation thread ,I know Alot on this site is covered just looking back in the history
just nice to converse with a few members here and get to know your outlooks
thanks for responses

 

[joe]

personally alot of my fishing jigs don't have eyes,so what's your opinion on this?

Mine never do, either.  Then again, beads or dumbbell eyes kinda look like they might be perceived as eyes from a predator's POV.  A finished fly head?  Yeah, probably looks like an eye to some degree.  Typical jig has a hook eye that is round with a dark center, albeit in a strange place above the main offering.  In the right plane when viewed from the side on suspended jigs, look at one with that in mind and ponder the possibility.

Whether we intend it or not, they "eye" is probably present much of the time.  The addition  of a well placed, intentional eyes on an offering may just add a bit of realism if not a noticeable contrast to the color scheme.  Fish, so to speak, probably "fill in the blanks" perceptually on some aspects of our offerings and what may be suggested by them in the manner they're fished. 

Now you have me wanting to go back to those little dots of fabric paint and marker again.   It is kinda fun...

 

[bucktail]

I been thinking about this for yrs,as Alot of walleye fisherman that fish mainly same body of water come to me and explain what they want,rarely is it a pattern others have gave me ,one guy said"it's got to have a green eye with a red pupil"
I laughed ,he was convinced my green eye with black pupil just wasn't good enough,I told him bud I'm sure there is a tyer who will do that for you ,but being that way I'd only hear about each flaw the 2 dozen jigs had
he thought it was the eye that caught him all the fish,as I mainly use one solid color and no eyes,I think it's the way you present the jig ,color may matter some days ,when a predator fish such as walleye is hungry it matters for about one second ,they see it and commit or not in a instant

 

[duffy]

Don't know if it makes a difference or not. Have caught walleye on the bottom with a naked jig sitting in the rocks with nothing more than a nightcrawler floating above. Other times a splash of color helps. Theory has it that the eye triggers the predatory instinct to attack, (why your not suppose to look a wild animal in the eye) but color is another thing. Why does the color and eyes on a Zara Spook matter when most of it is floating on the surface? Only thing I can figure is it has something to do with light refraction and how a fish deciphers it.

 

[bigd]

Just saw this thread. I believe eyes are for fishermen as they are the ones with the wallets filled with cash. I grew up fishing bucktail jigs as basically the only lure we used with the occasional inline silver spinner. We never had eyes on them, they were only one color hair per jig. Caught lots of fish and saw lots of fish caught on them.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Few days ago pitching Gulp! jigs into the wally canal, an old guy showed up and was getting a few on tied jigs. Chatting, he mentioned that his son had dropped off some boxes of jig hooks so he had just completed 1,400 of his "doll flies" which are dead simple blind single color powder painted 1/4 ball heads tied with same color marabou & red thread. The gent appeared to have at least a decade on me, & I'm nipping at 70 so I bet experience has dictated his choice of KISSed bare essentials.

 

[hookup]

Fish are stupid, they don't care

Fish hit baits for two reasons - aggression or hunger

I add eyes on jigs for ascetics and because they look good

Always said if anything makes the angler more confident, they should do it. Same goes with eyes

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

In deep or dirty water I think a glow or fluorescent eye will produce better than baits without them. They may use other senses to help locate a bait but still need to see it before they eat it. I really, really like glow eyes, even put one on the front of shad dart heads calling them cyclops jigs. Bluegill, redear and crappie love them.

 

[Muskygary]

I know a couple of old timers who make plastic baits and jigheads for crappie. They put eyes on the ones they sell to help catch the fisherman! The ones they use are plain jigheads, no paint or eyes. One old timer (I'm 68 LOL) told me tail color is more important. He likes everything with a chartruse tail. (He does not fish solid chartruse baits)

 

[jiggerjohn]

A very popular and successful striper guide I met at the Outer Banks (NC) was amusing himself & a fellow guide one evening while tying white bucktail jigs for the next day's charter. The cause of their mirth was that, while drinking rather heavily, they decided to liven up the plain white jigs by painting big red "X"s on each side of the head as "eyes". Next day,and following days they made a striper killing on their secret X jigs! Shortly they had to supply to everybody at OBX,due to extreme demand!! Actually wouldn't have mattered a bit if they'd done realistic, detailed eyes, used single dots, blue triangles, or left the heads pure white as to the size of their catch -but ya couldn't convince the BUYERS that red Xs weren't the key !!

 

[hookup]

Speaking of stripers JJ, I occasional tie for a striper fisherman who posts pix of impressive fish

He wants no paint on the jig head believing that the color of lead is all he needs. His pix do not prove him wrong

 

[Hawnjigs]

Back at the wally canal yesterday was chatting with seasoned local Murray who gets darn good results with his home ties presented with well practiced skills. He showed me some of his jigs, his favorite being a gray head gray bucktail with 2 strands of flash tied Slim Jim style.  The painted head finish looks just like bare lead, except I think a raw lead head is actually shinier than the dull gray paint.

This is a different jig tier than cupla days ago Mr. 1,400 whom Murray mentioned as being Ray.  Guess the home brew jiggers all know each other.

Per famed walleye master Bill Binkelman's published recommendation, I got some PERFECT orange and troos painted heads from Russ, but have been doing well enuf with unpainted so haven't tried em yet.

Maybe, because its a human trait to appreciate colors, aesthetics matter even if the fish don't care.

 

[hookup]

I was taught that color only matters when it matters, but when it matters, it really matters

I'm sure eyes on jigs are that way too, but I've fished for so long without eyes, that when I started using them it was for me, not the fish