Red's Jigs revisited

[redman]

Getting to be fall and time for the crappies to start in with the big time fall bite. I have been tying up jigs to fill in missing spaces and to add to the arsenal. In going back thru the threads I came across the Vertical Jigging Master thread http://www.jigcraft.com/jigcraft/showthread.php?tid=4512&highlight=red's+jigs .

My question is how many of you are still tying and using Red's satin jigs and how are they working out for you? For me there are two patterns that seem to work very well on Caddo lake. A black wool body with a white satin belly and a red and white wool body with a white satin belly. I have to say that they work as well as any of my other jigs but the Electric Chicken Flash Ducks have been my big producer this year. The Gray Ghost, Red's Black and White, Black and Chartreuse Kiptail thread neck, and Black and Red Kiptail thread neck all tied on a 1/24 oz. Redman's head with a #4 or #6 sickle hook and in that order.

The Sating jigs were such a simple and neat jig. Am not thinking it would be the wonder jigs as there is always one that comes out every so often that seems to be the end all jig. So far I have found out that I need about five patterns for the crappies on this lake if thy are not hitting one they will one of the others.

Let's hear your opinions on the satin jigs and the ones that seem to be your go to and big producers. I want to start a thread about what is the best plastic to use but lets get the hand tied jigs out of the way first.

Redman

 

[jiggerjohn]

Hi Redman ! Of course,I'm still using satin jigs-it's about all I use anymore,due to effectiveness on crappies,trout, bass, bluegills, drum, cats, and carp. Early next month,I'll even take satin boolies to the ocean ( Outer Banks) for sea trout,flounder, drum, and stripers (our small satin "D-Bugs" were the only thing that worked-even among seasoned locals, last year!).

My best producer has been orange dyed wool with a thin overcoat of white/gold satin and a pinch of bright golden orange satin over top -looks like a goldfish. Second is our old killer -white satin base with light blue satin over that. Most all are tied on a Hawnjig 1/28 roundhead with no 6 or 8 vmc hook.Sometimes keith's 1/14 flat HU head is used on straight retrieves or for scratching deeper sandy bottoms.

This year, I've employed my "Boolie" tie a lot with a satin/wool tail to great effect, but altered it to use only teeny size 0 gold propellers (ya don't need much to activate satin fibers!), calling the lure a "Bool-Flicker". It's been very deadly.

Another trick that Red discovered this year - a bright white cotton batting material as a base for satin overlays is as water absorbent as wool, but yields a much more vibrant look in water. Crappies seem to love it and it's easier to work with than wool!

 

[redman]

JJ wondered if and when we get around to that cotton batting material. I also experimented with it and found it worked very well. Must admit that I do like working with the wool better. Cotton Batting I have not even tried to dye yet. It is cheap and available about any where. Should be able to get some shiny colors out of it.

Guess that by the responses that a majority of the tiers have abandon this little gem. It is not the end all jig by any means but is a very simple and easy jig to tie and fish. Most of the action is already built into it. It does however have some limitations but they far out weigh the benefits. I have been working on a version of the wool and satin in a Gray Ghost Pattern. More of a lighter gray with a lot of silvery satin to imitate the shad that the crappies gorge on in the fall. We will see in the next few weeks if it works and if there is any refinements that it will need. I also made a hybrid cross of a wool and satin with a thread neck that I really like and has some good action and is a producer for sure.

I am finding out the the simpler the jig the better it produces. some of my old patterns are standards but do not produce as well as the Flash Ducks, Wool and Satin, or the Thread necks. Seems that out side the pony heads that most of the rest of my jigs take about three minutes a piece to tie. Funny but the old Gray Ghost is the only one that I tie that has a tail.


Redman

 

[StumpHunter]

Redman I still tie some of these. I like the way they look in the water and like to use them around docks. I like the wool and don't use any cotton in my jigs.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Mornin' Redman ! Yep, I agree, the satin woolies are a quick & basic tie -ole Red always says he'd better be able to tie 100 in an afternoon, or it isn't worth his time! Even my 9 yr old grandson,Dra, can bang out his own unique version that we call "D-Bugs" (these are 1/32 oz models,featuring the wool on the outside as a collar such as in muddler minnow streamers) within 3-5 minutes ;these d-bugs, by the way, have proved so effective that we generally start fishing with them, and even ole Red, trying to keep it low key, borrows these inch long d-bugs frequently out on the water!

Your Gray Ghost pattern sounds terrific. Some years back, before learning of wool& satin, I tied most all my jigs with dull gray rabbit strips and either gray or white thin placement of calf tail on top (gold flashabou strands -4 of them- running out the back). Caught a ton of fish on those gray ones-such that I thought (and read from others) that they may be the ultimate jig color! I'll bet with your tying experience that your satin Gray Ghost will be a beauty and a real killer! Would LOVE to see one!!

Another thing that we discovered this year is that a few strands of very-ultra-thin "Angel Hair", that is tied to extend 1/2"-3/4" beyond the satin strands is dynamite on these small jigs.This flash material in blue or gold seems more active than wider flashabou, with the subtle shaking retrieve that I have so much success with!

 

[Fatman]

Only tackle craft I've done since Jun 2013 is powdered some heads - doing more fishing but winter is coming!! Have some really nice wool I got at the flea market this summer that I'm going to be tying up.

 

[redman]

Doug the Flo. Pink and Chartreuse in a Electric Chicken pattern is a good one here. I tie it with a white satin belly and a few strands of silver satin. Not quite as good as a Flash Duck but dang near.

Yes the cold weather it is a coming and that is when the crappies go on the rampage down here. Cold front is headed in our direction and will give us some rain this weekend but will cool down the lake and that is the important thing. Next Wednesday should be the first good day that I have. Boat cleaned ,batteries charged, Jigs and rods ready lets go. Good to hear that you are out this year and on the water. Now with the cold weather you can get in some shop time and be ready for next spring. Please just keep that snow north of the mason /dixon line.

With any luck we will be having a big old fresh Slab dinner late next week. Good luck to you all. Sounds like it is getting to be prime time for all us fisherpeople.

Redman

 

[jiggerjohn]

OHHHH,Redman, Please don't talk snow so early!(and it's supposed to drop to 34* tonight up here!!) Tho' my best trout fishing with woolie satin jigs always seems to be when flurries are falling on the waters! (I always figgered that trout enjoyed the wool bodies to keep their mouths warm!!!). And our late Fall perch run at Pymatuning reservoir is best just as we begin having snow warnings in late Nov ! Again, a daily coolerful of 10-14 inch perch is expected in shallow bays on white,blue, or green shaded satin woolies!

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

I still fish them and they work. Only problem is the woolies get wrapped together pretty easy and are a pain to separate if you store a bunch in one compartment. I think fish get their teeth hung in them and are hooked better and that's a plus for sure.

 

[Fatman]

When you guys talk cotton batting are you talking the flat stuff that's used in quilts??? and if how are you tying it in - my sister in law has some and it might be worth trying.

Last night it was 24 degrees here - and last week White Face mountain in New York was getting snow. The next two days we're supposed to have temps to 75 degrees and nights of 55-60!! Weather is weird this year.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Yeah, the "batting" is the white fluffy, easy to pull apart, material that is under sheets in bedding. A nice little girl at JoAnn's Fabrics explained this to me, as she directed me to huge rolls of the stuff. At first, Red's wife brought some of this material home to him and from experiences with it this year, he likes it at least as much as wool for his jigs.When I researched it, "batting" can be composed of cotton,polyester, and/or wool ;singly or in a blend,each material holds water very well.Tying is easy with batting -ya just pull out a chunk,stretch it to a longish shape, then tie its middle to the neck of the jig and fluff each half to extend beyond the hook bend. Easy to tie satin on either side or around the batting base for that robust look.

 

[Fatman]

Thanks for the info

 

[jiggerjohn]

Fatman, Another idea that I tested - if you want to try the "cotton batting" concept at no cost, simply grab a cotton swab from yer medicine cabinet, pluck off the cotton ball from ONE end (both ends gives ya too much material for a small jig), stretch it out, tie it at the center, then tie satin or natural fibers on each side. You'll have a neat little jig with the water sucking cotton doing almost as good as wool at absorbtion and spreading out the satin fibers! Guys=please no complaints to me,if you try this and yer wife complains of yer fast diminishing cotton swab boxes!!

 

[goodtimesfishing]

Jiggerjohn- if red likes using the batting just as well as wool, it sounds like the properties of the wool(lanolin,smell,ect)is not so important? Sounds like it's really just the satin that is making these jigs so attractive to the fish???
I did finally get around to pulling some fibers/threads from some satin material I have.....amazing the amount of uv!

 

[jiggerjohn]

Goodtimes, Well, I'm never sure that the subtle properties of raw wool are NOT a factor -if nothing else,I like the little springy strands of wool that stick out everywhere.like little "legs" ! And I love colored wool as a jig/fly "collar"("pushes" water) as in the famous deerhair collar on the muddler minnow streamer fly.But there's no denying the vivid color of satin, with its limp, easily activated action, and ability to imitate or exaggerate the hues of any minnow or critter.And cotton, as in batting or from cotton swabs, soaks up water as well as wool and spreads the satin apart at the center (twin tails) to increase the squirming motion.

 

[moswampy]

I spent the last day or so reading the back thread on this. Will start looking for a source for some wool vs cotton. Worked with some craft fur instead to see some action tomorrow.

View attachment 3


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[redman]

moswampy Nice looking jig!!! I am finding that a bit of satin on jigs sure adds to there effectiveness. Red's jigs are effective in that they are quite simple and believe that the sometimes we want and think that the more complex a jig is the better it will work. When in reality a fish may have only a part of a second to see and and have the instinct to strike at a jig thinking that it is a quick snack. In my years of doing jig crafting and fishing I find that the KISS method is the most effective. Simple material simple patterns.

Redman

 

[jiggerjohn]

Mos, Very nice looking jig! Tho I always prefer the satin fibers to craft fur,due to the satin's extreme limpness and better action during the"jiggle" while retrieving. Then ,again, I've been recently tying saltwater bucktails with white/silver satin overtop -bucktail supplies bulk/silouette, with the satin aiding in color/flash and twitchy action. Plus ,in hoping to hit the Fall frog migration, I've used a bulky chunk of green dyed raw wool for the body, a gliding jig head (Hawn's 1/14 oz HU), and closely positioned green satin on each side of the wool for "frog legs"; on a jiggle retreive the legs even appear to kick!(I also use just a bit of pure white cotton to yield a frog belly!).

 

[jiggerjohn]

As a PS to my above note, I have to agree 100% with Redman's above comment (and friend Keith of Hawnjigs) about the KISS concept!! I ran over today to a really tough local little lake at a bad time (mid day with bright post front sky) to test actions on some of the wool/satin frog jigs that I wrote about. These featured unpainted heads, quickly formed wool balls(about half the size of a golf ball) as a body, and hurriedly thrown on green satin strands on each side. These uglies(even worse than my normal ties!) can be whomped together in under 2 minutes each, yet looked really "froggy" in the water with kicking.swimming "legs", and bass went nuts over them ! As Redman mentioned, bass only have a very small opportunity to see & grab a good meal in the wild !

 

[AtticaFish]

Talk of golf ball froggy jigs has a similarity to something i have been using lately as well. No flash in mine though. Took a big hunk of some kind of chartreuse synthetic material (wirey like wool, but synthetic) that was gifted to me and doubled it over on the shank and then shaped it into a tapered ball, almost egg shaped. Then tied a long, dark colored rabbit strip 'leg' to each side. No flash at all in this. Keeping those rabbit strips separated with the ball of material makes them kick un-believably with a slow bottom nicking retrieve. Had a hell-ay-shous take from a walleye while i was bass fishing the other day, then fumbled the net and lost it right at shore.