Maurer285t
New member
Ok...just tied a few jigs for upcoming early spring panfishing. I'm just wondering... Do you always tip a jig or no? Does it matter the style of jig that you tip? Just curious, thank you!
Tip or not to tip...?
- Thread starter Maurer285t
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JUNGLEJIM1
Well-known member
It depends on the season and fish activity for me. Early cold water I like to tip with a crappie nibble or wiggler or waxworms. Later when the water is warmer fish are more active and I don't tip as much. Tough bites a little taste on the jig seems to make a difference.
Fin and Fur
New member
I'm always a fan of scent but rarely tip
90 percent of my Walleye/Saugeye fishing prespawn is tipped with a crawler piece. Later I will go with hair, then to hardbaits. Crappie rarely get tipped. Just nice little crappie patterns. Tried plastic for a while but seemed to do better on tied jigs.
Jig Man
Active member
Only tip if I have to... :jig:
Same here - "only tip if i have to" - but that means i end up taking bait (mainly waxworms or nightcrawlers) along if i have no idea where the fish are or what they are doing. A couple of the bait places here sell waxies in chew/snuff cans so they are nice and easy to just throw in a pocket and carry along if needed. If i go out for bass, never use bait. Crappie and Walleye, i do sometimes tip with meat but really make an effort to avoid it. I hate hate hate carrying around a bucket of minnows so rarely do. Bluegill and Yellow Perch get meat tips more often than not.
LedHed
Sponsor
I panfish mostly jigs tipped with crickets
For bass & panfish, I don't tip with bait. May use a leather trailer, but no scents or "bait-ish" additions to the material. Usually, I can't get the bite in extremes via downsizing the offering and fishing with methods which are conducive to very subtle bite detections.
When it comes to carp, drums, channel cats, bullheads, Redhorse (and any other suckers) I'll usually tip jigs with something like corn or a bit of crawler. I'll occasionally push pure fakes on 'em when possible and for kicks, but some species just plain work better with a bit of hook sweetening.
Really, one of the things I love about bass/panfish is that I don't need to bother with bait and all the trouble that goes along with it. Worth suffering it on some species due to necessity, but I hate to waste a good piece of crawler on a fish that will eagerly eat vise creations.
There's a bit of satisfaction one gets when successfully tricking fish bait-free in adverse conditions and it's even worth risking a potentially lower catch rate at times. For me, anyhow, but it does depend on the species. Sometimes 10 kernels in the water and a plain yellow chenille jig is all it takes to seduce ol' whiskers. I consider this to be "half baitfishing" as opposed to tipping. Mighty fun, too...and watch out for the carp!
When it comes to carp, drums, channel cats, bullheads, Redhorse (and any other suckers) I'll usually tip jigs with something like corn or a bit of crawler. I'll occasionally push pure fakes on 'em when possible and for kicks, but some species just plain work better with a bit of hook sweetening.
Really, one of the things I love about bass/panfish is that I don't need to bother with bait and all the trouble that goes along with it. Worth suffering it on some species due to necessity, but I hate to waste a good piece of crawler on a fish that will eagerly eat vise creations.
There's a bit of satisfaction one gets when successfully tricking fish bait-free in adverse conditions and it's even worth risking a potentially lower catch rate at times. For me, anyhow, but it does depend on the species. Sometimes 10 kernels in the water and a plain yellow chenille jig is all it takes to seduce ol' whiskers. I consider this to be "half baitfishing" as opposed to tipping. Mighty fun, too...and watch out for the carp!
duffy
Member
Did a little test one time with walleye. My wife used a plain non painted erie jig with a crawler gobbed on it while I tried the same jig and some others with plastics, grubs, worms, powerbait ect. She pretty much consistently got more bites but also had to re-bait more often as they would simply eat the tail end of the worm off. There were times all I would get was a light Tap Tap and that was it and in a few seconds they would nail hers and hang on. I've just gotten into tying this year so am anxious to try some of my creations. We can't use live bait in WA except for worms & insects (no minnows) and it would be nice to not worry if the baitshop has worms that day or not. Even on perch and crappie we seem to have better luck with a small tip of worm. Maybe I just need all the help I can get.
redear
Active member
I usually tip kiptail jigs when fishing under a bobber, like today, I fished a 1/80 kiptail under a tiny float, purple and gr, chart. kiptail with a crappie nibble in yellow chart. chroma glow, I caught 7 nice crappies and probably that many throwbacks too, the fish were real finicky and I guarantee I couldn't have caught them without the nibble, I usually don't go that small on the jig either but wasn't getting anywhere with the 1/32. It doesn't hurt to have several bottles of nibbles in the tackle bag.