ice to open water....

[Maurer285t]

Do any of you fishermen out there use your ice fishing jigs in early spring? I'd say roughly 2-3 weeks after the ice has melted...?? I've tried jigging some right off the side of our boat last year and had no luck....any tips for me?? Here in PA we still have 15 inches of ice...it'll take awhile to melt away.

 

[AtticaFish]

I use my ice style jigs and spoons throughout the year for bluegill mainly, and do get some crappie and yellow perch on them as well. Just about any of my jigs under 1/16 i use on the ice and then put that box in my main tackle bag at the end of ice season. 1/24 down to 1/64 kip tail jigs (slooooow fall) can be pretty lethal on crappies during the spring and then i use a little bigger jigs if targeting crappies in to the summer....... but i suck at finding them after the spawn unless i get out after dark.

If my mission is bluegill, 1/32 kip tail jigs are usually the first jig on the end of my line and they come from my ice box.

 

[Maurer285t]

kip tails....? i just looked them up on google images...they don't seem to hard to make...i'll tie some in the next few weeks when i have time and i'll try them...do you tip them with waxies like you would for ice fishing or just a bare hook works??

 

[plateboater]

I use customjigs.com spoons year round. I generally spider rig right our of ice. I will run 1/32, 1/16, 1/8 and 1/4 with either minnows, maggots , bare hook or jig with plastics till I determine what they want

 

[Jay Wirth]

I dont usually. I do use the same heads but have hair tails for open water. I do make a Pro Football ice jig that is very populare with a few bait shops in FL, Saint Cloud area where the NY snow birds fish holes in the lilly pads jist like we do on the ice. I have had a mold made to accept a larger hook as these guys tip with a minnow. Great big crappie - so Im told...

 

[LedHed]

Not a big ice jig user but don't see why they couldn't be used all year - especially out here.

15" - WOW!!!!!!

 

[AtticaFish]

Some days it does take tipping them with waxworms, other days not. Just depends how aggressive the fish are and how hungry i am. I will say to try and tie in the kip/calf tail pretty thin and sparse on smaller head sizes. It is a lot easier to tie that way and always seem to do a little better with them.

Last i was out there was 12" of ice to cut through..... still building ice here too.

 

[quivira kid]

I caught my 50 fish limit of crappie twice in the middle of August this last year using a spring bobber rod, flasher, and a Custom Jigs and Spins size 10 pink diamond jig and black Northland ice plastic.... Absolute blast jigging over lights at night! (Mayfly hatch. Thump that jig on the bottom, then bring it up a couple cranks and wiggle the crap out of it. Looks like a mayfly nymph coming out of the mud.)


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