Finicky Rainbows

[Hawnjigs]

Best trouting resource right now here in the Midwest plains is a 40 mile power plant cooling water source canal which gets escapees from the managed for stocked trout reservoir origin.  For whatever reasons, the canal provides very fertile habitat for brisk moving water weeds, crawdads, baitfish, and bug hatches, so trout therein thrive.  At least every 5 years, federal regulations mandate a complete drain down and maintenance, and in that time the canal resident trout get very large,  with our state record 16# caught  within.  Unfortunately, nothing survives the drain, and cycle has to start over.  Last Fall was the scheduled drain, but an additional emergency drain for a current check structure repair is currently underway.  During normal flow, the current is too brisk and water too deep for my finesse jigging style, but with the water low and dropping fish are aggregating in deeper pools, and in just a year the residents have grown surprisingly large & fat.

So, with the down "stream" reservoir inlet wiper bite done due to the reduced water flow, lucky that the trout up "stream" are now accessible. Bite won't last for more than a few days before the water is gone, but today was optimal at one of the pools I found yesterday driving along the canal searching. Not a lot of #s after only a year, but got 4 of those 18-20" wild jumping drag rippers. The water was choked with drifting hair weeds so Boolies were out, and trout cranks were ignored along with bright colored shad darts both useful for somewhat minimizing weed hangs.  All 4 trout bit some of the first jigs I tied for them well over 10 years ago, 1/16 de-collared round heads from before I got my no collar ball head molds, painted with black nail polish and tied freehand (no vise!) with only low grade black marabou fedders.

Noteworty that all my fancy fur & flash stuff didn't work and the most primitive all black ones I have did.

 

[Jig Man]

Interesting, and a good read... congrats on the catch.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Last nite tied up some updated black head - black tie jigs with crosscut rabbit on slightly heavier Hooksup heads and today got serious and walked down about a mile beyond a no vehicles barrier to access off the beaten path canal. 14 fat trouties 15-20". All released, but too bad they are doomed.

So, in the quest for the perfect jig don't overlook plain & simple.

 

[Bucho]

I would be very happy to get a good look at them. I got the picture of a simple leech pattern but would love to learn more details.

Shame to let those fish go to waste, perfect hot smoke material. Then again, harvesting such a mess of fish isn`t exactly my idea of trout angling either.

 

[Hawnjigs]

The updated jigs are pure function rather than an appearance pattern. Consider that the fish are "finicky", meaning if they see me they either will swim away or won't bite. Consider also that flash and bright colors elicited cautionary avoidance response rather than bite stimulus. So, best solution was the the most non-threatening appearance possible while still resembling forage meaning all black. The heavier 1/15 oz. Hooksup heads were needed for better control in breezy conditions than the actual weight 1/24 oz. 1/16 de-collared round heads and the original light wire #6 hooks were bending out so were upgraded to #4 heavy wire.

So yah, if one wanted to label appearance a leech would be closest, tho the intent was more generic moving food source. Sorry, still don't have an image recording device.

Would have kept a few, but my smoker is still stuck in the house until my home repair guy fixes my back door. Not a simple project as the perimeter foundation in that area has settled dropping one side of the door framing considerably more than the other.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Update: while most of the canal has drained too shallow to hold fish judging by sighting, I would guess a lot of the trout made it down "stream" where the water backs up due to releasing very slowly at the canal terminus at the reservoir inlet. Not big #s anymore as the fish are still spread out over at least 5 miles of canal without any signifcant holding structure and water too murky to sight fish due to lack of flowage. Still getting 3-4 nice ones per session by perseverent search casting, with a change.

The formerly successful all black rabbit fur jig bite completely died, so switched to a flashy white pearl 2" Gulp! twister w/ propeller and 2-1/2" Gulp minnow w/out to get back in bizness. I guess one can't depend on just one jig or lure all the time.

 

[hookup]

The simple black jigs sounds like a black fly or black gnat

One of the best trout jig/fly's I've thrown for slime rockets all over the country

 

[Hawnjigs]

Dunno if the trout are more aggressive as Winter approaches but Jon & I have been getting some best available fatties with tied Boolies, no need for Gulp! tails. The water is less murky tho not exactly clear and dead weeds breakoff have mostly been washed down canal tho still a lesser fouling problem.

I haven't noticed a difference in bite preference for different ties we've used as follows:
1. 1/8 unpainted ball head nickel prop natural skrat pearl Flashabou
2. 1/12 unpainted Hooksup head same tie as above
3. 1/12 orange Hooksup off white mink red Flashabou
4. 1/14 unpainted Hooksup chartreuse prop orange rabbit gold Flashabou
4. 1/14 black Hooksup brass prop brown mink gold Flashabou

Simple black jig would probably work just as well, maybe better, but Boolies seem good enuf.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Dark colors have been tearing up the bows here, averaging over 25 the past several trips with size up to 16 inches. Simple 1/24 ties with #6 hook. Either bunny or marabou tail with a couple wraps of palmer chenille tied in at collar. Heads are black or gold. Black is the best but olive is working well too. Brisk winds out of the southwest concentrate them in north corner of lake. Simple ties but awesome results.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Nice to have open water trouting available, as the cooler weather seems to dial up the bite. 25 per session sounds fun, and 16" is a decent tug.

For best tie color, I would choose black or dark brown also. Collar flash from a propeller or chenille I think adds to bite attraction. Worked for me today, decided to tuff out 35* weather the only above freezing window for at least a week, and was rewarded by best of season #s at 16 and largest trout at about 7#. First 15 bit the same black head dark brown mink 1/12 oz Hooksup Boolie (aka BooHU) and when that jig was retired with a bent out hook 2/3 of the black finish was worn off along with practically all of the mink fur fibers. Luckily, a few remnant strands of gold Flashabou undertie + brass propeller shiny attraction continued to provoke strikes. After that hook bent out, tried an orange rabbit BooHU with no takers, and switching to a black rabbit BooHU with no Flashabou got the surprise 7#.

I, and maybe JJ1, would suggest that anyone with open water holding trout that this may be a good time to explore that resource..

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Snowed here this morning and temps dropping. Window is almost closed here with temps in single digits for the low in a few days. It's fun when you are getting bites almost every cast, really stacked up in that corner.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Yup, our states adjoin so weather patterns are similar. Right now and forecast a week ahead here is HIGHS in the 20s w/ single digit lows + snow so still water will likely cap. Next warm spell tho, the moving water canal should still be fish-able so JJ1 maybe you have some flowing water that might be open too? Regardless, Spring ice off at your corner the trout could be heftier.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Jon & I stung a dozen nice bows the day before yesterday on flashy Boolies so when we went back yesterday we got skunked with Boolies. I went back today and the Plan B plain black rabbit finicky jig scored 6 fatties 18-20".

 

[Hawnjigs]

OK, a last comment on tweaking jig appearance/colors for bigger trout. It appears that two appearance extremes both had their days:
1. Max bling Boolie - shiny unpainted head, nickel propeller, flash color shifting pearl Flashabou tie, white thread, no fur or fedders
2. Plain Jane drab - black head, black rabbit tied with black thread, no prop or flash fibers

Recently returned to my usual in between combo Boolie go-to: black head, dark mink overtie, red thread, gold Flashabou undertie tail, polished brass prop for a satisfying river trouting session. All versions tied on 1/14 oz tin or 1/12 oz alloy Hooksup heads, #2 Gamakatsu 604 hooks, #1 Hagen's propeller blades

Conclusion: these three are all I NEED for trouting relative to my area conditions and gear preferences. Anything else is just for fun.