jiggerjohn
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2010
- Messages
- 547
I've grown very tired of muddy waters ! It seems this year here in Western PA, that we've had more rain, high water levels, and MUD than ever! This made light jigging tough, though the nice fish calling vibrations of the bottom scratchers always got us a few. So I decided to search the net for a more reliable dirty water jigging technique (our rains don't seem to want to stop!). Eventually I found a remarkable husband & wife guiding team , Janie and Freddy Petty, who have worked the Gulf Coast of Texas for over a combined 80 years! Although they are saltwater captains, their method of Popping Cork jigging seems adaptable anywhere. Captain Freddie found that increasingly difficult redfish and seatrout could be lured out of the dingy Gulf waters (lots of dredging & pollution to soil their waters) with his special hand made, LOUD popping cork rig. As Capt. Janie described to me, " cast it for long distance,as the fish are very spooky, then pop the cork to get its loud click, and allow the jig to sink down the 18-24" of leader that is tied on. Fish get curious over the noise, come to investigate, and see the floundering, seemingly wounded little critter and suck it up! There website ( fishingwithpettys.com ) shows TONS of big fish caught with their exclusive use of this method.
So I asked Janie if this would work in freshwater. Encouraged by her extreme knowledge and cheerful advice, I set out to try their unique FP3 poppin cork and a small crappie jig in a local lake (yeah it was muddy from an all day and a half rain at the week's beginning). Several other bait guys had set up and I think during my entire stay I saw 2 separate individual each bring in 1 small fish. Yet I was taking nice crappies or big bluegill quite often from the murk ! It was just as Janie described to me -you'd get a nice "clack" (I could here it even after a long distance cast -and my wife says I'm almost deaf!), wait for the drift down of the jig, then pop again. Half of my hooked fish came during the followup pop, which seemed to set the hook instantly. Good thing as these wary fish took very gently - some nodded the cork ,but not many. But it's like Janie had warned, when my rig slightly tangled or I got the float out of position (not upright as it normally sits) -if it didn't POP, I didn't get a hit! Who'd a thought that hard pressured , shy fish would want more NOISE??!!
I'm wondering if more of our members have experimented with popping corks to deliver their jigs? This is a subject we should definately explore! As for me, this fall I'll be "poppin' my cork" !!
So I asked Janie if this would work in freshwater. Encouraged by her extreme knowledge and cheerful advice, I set out to try their unique FP3 poppin cork and a small crappie jig in a local lake (yeah it was muddy from an all day and a half rain at the week's beginning). Several other bait guys had set up and I think during my entire stay I saw 2 separate individual each bring in 1 small fish. Yet I was taking nice crappies or big bluegill quite often from the murk ! It was just as Janie described to me -you'd get a nice "clack" (I could here it even after a long distance cast -and my wife says I'm almost deaf!), wait for the drift down of the jig, then pop again. Half of my hooked fish came during the followup pop, which seemed to set the hook instantly. Good thing as these wary fish took very gently - some nodded the cork ,but not many. But it's like Janie had warned, when my rig slightly tangled or I got the float out of position (not upright as it normally sits) -if it didn't POP, I didn't get a hit! Who'd a thought that hard pressured , shy fish would want more NOISE??!!
I'm wondering if more of our members have experimented with popping corks to deliver their jigs? This is a subject we should definately explore! As for me, this fall I'll be "poppin' my cork" !!