Favorite Trout Jigs / Lures?

[Hawnjigs]

Man, I luv jigging for trout, speshly since my area has moving open water opportunity in Winter.  In the cold season their colors intensify, particularly red around the gills and midline stripe.  And altho they don't seem to jump as much in colder water,  what a beautiful sight to behold when they do !

I've only been specifically targeting and tying jigs for trout since 2010, but have been making up for lost time with a passion.  Evolved from 8-10" stockers to 12-15" holdovers to 16-20" chunkies no longer bothering with the previous been there done that stage, facilitated by continual off the beaten path exploration.

Anyway, my best choice jig now is a #4 or #2 hook #1 prop Boolie - black head, black or dark brown fur, Flashabou accents.  I like a 1/12 oz HU head version, my bud Jon prefers a 1/10 oz ball head and in fact he outfished me yesterday getting five 20"+ beauties.  Reposting a pic of the HU version.



OK, I've shown you mine, show me yours.

 

[AllenOK]

It's been years since I've caught a Trout. We moved recently, and about 1/2 mile (as the crow flies) from my new home is a Trout hole in a stocked lake. Unfortunately, I have to drive about 4 miles, launch, then paddle my kayak probably 2 miles to get to this hole. There's another lake about 10 miles away that gets stocked, and I've been told when/where/how to get them. Maybe this year I'll get after them.

There's one stream in my county that is stocked. Unfortunately, access is problematic, at best. It's almost completely bordered by private property. Even then, it's barely a trickle. Maybe 3' wide, and probably less than 6" deep....

Back in Oklahoma, my home lake was stocked with Trout in the Winter. Go-to lures Little Cleo's, Super-Dupers, and powerbait on a small treble. There was one gent using 1/80th oz jigs (or smaller), painted and tied with marabou, that he would cast with a fly rod and fish the jig under a strike indicator.

Last year, I bought a book on making and fishing in-line spinners for Steelhead, written by a gent that had lived in Michigan most of his life. I've made a couple of the ones he has listed. He had a formula to follow that was dictated by water temp, then available light. I need to get some more stuff so I can make more of the ones he had listed.

 

[hookup]

in-lines, super dupers, cast masters all work

Or best is a black gnat on 2# test thrown with a slip bopper on UL spinning gear

 

[Bucho]

For stocked bows, I`d always go with a boolie like the one Jigger John send me. When it comes to browns however, I find  the slip jig hands down the best lure I could think of. Following the "Haarwaschl" tradition, one of the very few homeshopped lures here that stood up against industrial merchandise, it is a bit modernized with soft finn racoon instead of coarse deer hair and a nice tin head instead of blunt lead. Although fairly large - about the size of a little finger-  the run-through desing allows the hook to be placed very far back and hooks the most careful nibbler.

The larger sandeel version for salt water has distinguished itself as a game changer in clear and warm water where a couple years ago folks used to leave seatroutfishing up to fly anglers altogether. The pics both show a 1/8th cavity tin head (2,5gr), the sandeel jig is fished up to 1/2oz cavity (10gr). The small head version however can be used with a 3/4-1oz bombarda casting bobber for extra range. 

 

[Bucho]

.... I like a 1/12 oz HU head version, my bud Jon prefers a 1/10 oz ball head and in fact he outfished me yesterday getting five 20"+ beauties. ...

I learned the hard way that banana underspins don´t work, you need a center balanced head or the jig will push into the blade.

I love your HU design (frankly I envie it) but its not balanced. If the tail hangs down, the prop might suffer from poor stream. Not an issue under fast retrieve, but I can imagine a center balanced head might give you an edge on cold water slow presentation.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Indeed, the reason there are so many jighead choices is that the one perfect do-it-all design might be physically impossible.

So, while a center balance head MIGHT be a better Boolie head choice for slow steady retrieves, the HU tie or plastic attachment + propeller spin will tend to resist tail dive and at effective retrieve speed the HU jigs swims level enuf. The upward plane HU seems to avoid bottom snags better than a ball head. Your wire thru heads, Bucho, offer similar performance advantages of a forward line attachment balance.

And, Jon's ball head Boolies do NOT always outfish my BooHUs.

Had to look up "Super Dupers", never tried one, but the designer appears to be a tech genius !

 

[Hawnjigs]

Live & learn. My previous go to black head-dark tie BoolHU pictured above was getting seriously outfished today by Jon's unpainted head 1/8 ball head white fur Boolie, so I switched to a white head-white tie BooHU and BLAM! first cast into the same area where the black got ignored got a nice 20" rainbow. Jon & I ended up bout even with maybe a half dozen each nice FAT bows 16-23".

Maybe, because there is abundant visible crawfish forage the trout were more inclined to go after a baitfish instead of bottom crawler color?

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Black or white are great colors for trout and if they aren't hitting one go to the other. I don't use blades much for them preferring them plain. My last two big trout over 24 inches were caught on a black jig and other was caught on a white. Both times the fish were visible and ignored the first color but as soon as I switched to the other color they bit on the first cast.

 

[Hawnjigs]

JJ1, congrats on those trophy size trout. How much did they weigh? Out here with abundant crawfish forage 24" would be 8-10# footballs.

Your last trouting post, you were getting smaller ones. What made the difference?

 

[Kdog]

Hawn do you have a mold for that jig head

 

[Hawnjigs]

Custom one of a kind.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Only weighed the 26 incher and it wasn't a football fish. Weighed 6.5 lbs. Summertime fish are usually on the thin side. I've seen shorter fish weigh over 10 at Lake Taneycomo here in Missouri. Don't know how accurate the scale was since it was a friends scale. Fishing one of Missouri trout parks which get stocked daily the trout are smaller as the season goes on. Season runs from March 1 to October 31. They do have a c&r season and that's the best time for the big ones since a lot of the fish leave the river and up to the spring branch since it's warmer than the river during the winter months.

 

[Hawnjigs]

6-1/2# is a CHUNK of a trout. Amazing that what sounds like pressured public water should have trophy size fish like that. What jigs are working for you?

My bud Jon & I have been exploring off the beaten path climibing up and down 20' steep banks with annoying stickers at the top fringe. In the past 10 days never saw another fisher person and we're getting a satisfying amount ot 16"+ rippers with an occasional 8#+ keeping it interesting.

The trout seem to bite most anything, in fact Jon's biggest 2 chunks today bit 2 different bright color chenille crappie jigs & tho landed both bent out the hooks. I've got a new favorite trout plastic - 2" Power Bait Ripple Shad which accounted for most of my trout since I started using them yesterday. With the PB head trimmed off, the 1-3/4" tail remainder is an ideal fit on a #2 NPBN hook HU jig head.

 

[Hawnjigs]

10 trout today 16"+ & best jig was 1/16 ball head Boolie - gold #0 prop #6 Sickle hook dark brown short mink over gold Flashabou undertie tail. Downsize version of the pictured BooHU. Back to basics.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Apparently trout aren't dummies and can recognize a lure that recently stung em and created a fight commotion. So, 2 days later returned to the area mentioned in the last post and the mentioned 1/16 #6 Sickle hook Boolie got ignored! Luckily, I was prepared with a totally different look, a twice the size 3" flat black Gulp Leech on a plain #2 hook 1/16 ball head. Ended up with 4 on that rig 2 of which were chunks estimated at 7 & 8#. Or who knows, in the excitement of the moment maybe I'm being generous with sight weighing but they were still an EZ 6 & 7#.

So, I'm learning by experience maybe there is no favorite trout jig for all occasions, maybe adapting to the situation having several alternatives may be key for optimal success. During the past 2 weeks "favorite trout jigs" of the day included 1/14 #4 white BooHU, 1/14 #2 BooHU head with 2" Power Bait Ripple Shad, 1/16 #6 dark color Boolie, and 3" Gulp Leech on a plain 1/16 #2 ball head. Today I'll return with another new look, a 2-1/2" pearl Gulp Minnow on a plain 1/15 #2 HU head.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

I've been using one particular jig combination this year that's been a killer for everything, including trout. This green color that I mixed myself catches fish everywhere I go. Fished the trout park for two days during the summer and caught 18 the first day using my go to colors. Tied a green head on the second day which had been working at local lakes for gills, redear, catfish and bass. Incredible day, probably caught close to 40 trout in just 3 hours. Some people were actually complaining about me sore lipping all the fish. 1/48 custom chub and 1/24 ballhead for when I want to go deeper, with a #10 Lil nasty hook. sculpin olive grizzly marabou and scented chenille that I dip in Spike it Crawlic formula worm dye. I really think the scent makes a huge difference.View attachment 4

 

[Hawnjigs]

You gotta wonder why trout (and other species) would consider a green color not found in nature motivating bite response.  My bud Jon's best big trout getter has been a crazy bou tail orange chenille GREEN head 1/16 crappie jig.  My last (short) session before a sandstorm blew me away the only jig that would stick (3) trout was the previously mentioned 3" Gulp black leech on a 1/16 #2 ball head, previously effective smaller tied jigs only got missed bumps.

Maybe scent DOES matter, considering Crawlic and Gulp results ?  Amazing the effective jig size difference in different areas,  mine 3" and JJ1's barely over 1".

 

[Bucho]

I've been using one particular jig combination this year that's been a killer for everything, including trout. This green color that I mixed myself catches fish everywhere I go.

Thanks for sharing! That green looks... unusual. Is it fluoresent? I use a "signature" fluo red thread for all my ties, mainly because one of my favorite sea trout streamers featured it and I beliefe in a dot of fluorescense no matter what.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

The green wasn't fluorescent when I got it but it is now with the additives I mixed in with it. I add UV Blast to almost all my non fluorescent paints and with the green I added some chartreuse as well. There is something fluorescent in all my ties as well and red thread is one of my favorites. I keep a flashlight that shows fluorescent color handy at my desk and I'm always checking colors.

 

[MtnFisher]

One of my favorites, both rabbit and marabou for extra pulsating action on Mustad 2x steelhead jigheads:

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