Trout jigs

eddieb

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Mar 17, 2017
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Lenoir N.C.
Do any of you use the pony head jig for trout fishing , if so do you use hair or plastic , Trout like the spinner blades but do they like them on jigs.
 

Hawnjigs

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I've tried the pony head both tied and pinned with plastic and prefer Jigger John's propeller on shank Boolie jig for added metal flash. Past few years tho I've been mostly dispensing with added blades and the trout bite on plain ties or pins has been satisfactory.

Most consistent bite getter for bigger trout this year has been a 1/15 oz #2 hook head pinned with a 2-1/2" smelt color Gulp Minnow with 1/2" of the head end trimmed off. Available #s are way down and yesterday noticed a near total fish kill with dead trout sunken on the bottom of my favorite, and in fact only local river.
 

Bucho

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Kiel, Germany
I successfully tried the pony head, too, but as HJ writes - and as as you can see from my avatar - I and my customers find the propeller more practically appealing for trout. I would tie it with marabou, wooly bugger style or simply a bunch of marabou. That is personal taste more than anything else.
 

Hawnjigs

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Might mention that walleye at night found the pony head bite attractive with a high vis chartreuse rabbit tie.

The advantage of a pony head is the barb collar version can conveniently pin a soft plastic or Gulp tail whereas a Boolie jig requires a no collar bare hook shank to install a propeller and adapting for pinning requires glued beads, wrapped & sealed string, or? onto the shank to enhance grip.
 

Hawnjigs

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This year river trouting not as productive as the year before which was not as productive as the year before blah blah.

Altho 2" twitch softies remain effective 1" black & light gray mink ties on 1/16 #6 ball heads are better at sticking 10-12" dinks which are now appreciated since the bigger fish are few and far between. And, the tiny jigs will still entice bites from the hard to find biguns, yesterday lucky catches 7, 8, & 9#.

All released of course, likely future victims of meathead poachers. They trespass on private land and ignore the one fish 16" & over limit.

With few big fish around back to enjoying downsizing gear from 8# to 4# Power Pro red braid with 4# clear leader enabling farther casts and better handling on lighter line.

With an annoying amount of jig fouling broken drift weed bladed jigs are not an option & the bite on plain ties seems satisfactory.
 
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eddieb

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Mar 17, 2017
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Lenoir N.C.
I think I will try a few different colors since I have a mold I can make all I need , I like yellow and black with a gold blade then black with a silver blade , let you all know if any work.
 

Hawnjigs

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Eddie being over 1,000 miles separated I have no idea what works out your way. Altho blade jigs have produced nice catches in clean water conditions here I'm currently of the opinion that just a plain single tie mini fluff jig works just as well for enticing all sizes of trout.

Yesterday the same plain 1" 1/16 #6 black head black fur mink jig got around a dozen including 7, 9, & 10# chunks. Interesting that the big girl seriously didn't fight at all and pretty much just swam in to be unhooked and released in under half a minute. The reason being she appeared to be freshly spawned out with no energy left to put up a struggle and maybe knew the drill of being C&R from previous experience. A 10# has been around awhile and we likely might have met at least once before. Actually she might have been shy of 10 after dumping a pound or so of eggs.

Luckily while meathead poacher boot prints were all over the now fished out wide deep pools those 3 biguns were holding in less obvious narrow cuts against the opposite shore banks in sediment built up shallows & bars. It required 4 hours of searching along 3 miles of river to find em.

Please do follow up with your field test results.
 

eddieb

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Mar 17, 2017
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Lenoir N.C.
Sorry it took so long to get back to you guys,I did try the pony head on the stock trout, they seem to hit everything, the pony head worked but was not a supper bait, it has been awhile for me to go fishing I have had 2 strokes and it is taking some time to get back to my normal self, if I get to try more I will post.
 

Hawnjigs

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With so many different trout lure options available - jigs, cranks, spinners, whatever one like the looks of will likely catch fish for them. There's a saying the best lure is the one on the end of your line, so keep catching with them ponys, maybe try them for other species. Best wishes for your rehab and maybe implementing some diet-lifestyle changes to minimize future misfortunes.
 

Hawnjigs

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Start of the trout season here, been targeting stocker size 8-12" for the last few sessions due to lack of bigger fish at EZ access spots. Yesterday not expecting much tried my first ruff country hike bout 4 miles one way and was pleasantly surprised to C&R 8 chunkies 5-10#.

All bit the same 1/16 #6 2x hook red ball head with a simple short black mink fur tie on 5# Power Pro main with 4# tuff clear mono leader.

After 15 yrs of trout fishing trying mini cranks, bladed jigs, metal slabs, soft plastics including Gulp, and tied jigs I think the above mentioned 1/16 jig could be the "if you could pick just one lure" best choice.
 
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hookup

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After 15 yrs of trout fishing trying mini cranks, bladed jigs, metal slabs, soft plastics including Gulp, and tied jigs I think the above mentioned 1/16 jig could be the "if you could pick just one lure" best choice.

Years ago, when Charlie owned the business, CASE made a small black cricket. Very realistic. Fly line it with no weight or add a 1/64th ounce round ball and let the current work it. Fished for trout all over the country and they luved it
 

hookup

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Mostly fished for trout in the CA Sierras. Now I'm pretty much addicted to small mouth still. I'm sure the streams I use to fish still hold plenty of trout.
 

Jmkarls

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Apr 20, 2019
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For trout jigs around where I live, mostly black marabou and deer hair seem to be the ticket. I mostly tie walleye jigs and have found some of them only work for trout and seem to catch a lot of trout.
Two that work for trout are a small minnow style head tied with black marabou that is then tied with an outer layer of blue flash/tinselly material. That same body but with a wobble head jig does well on rivers. With the wobble head I also tie a crayfish pattern that catches trout everywhere.
I haven't caught many trout with the pony head style with a drop down blade, but that could be different anywhere.
 

Hawnjigs

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Jm, where are you located? What weight heads and what size hooks? Preferred hook brand & style?

I haven't tried blue flash but thinking about it that might mimic dragonflies, bluebottles, & certain minnows.
 

Jmkarls

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Jm, where are you located? What weight heads and what size hooks? Preferred hook brand & style?

I haven't tried blue flash but thinking about it that might mimic dragonflies, bluebottles, & certain minnows.
I'm in MT. For the weight of heads usually as light as I can get away with on lakes, for rivers the heavier wobble head seems best. I most often use cheaper eagle claw hooks. I seem to get them back more if I snag up. Usually size 1/0 or 2/0.

I'll see if I can find a picture of one to share.
 

Hawnjigs

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Wow, those are some big hook long tie(?) jigs you use for trout. Mine are #6 & #4 and only an inch long including the mink fur tie.

What weight wobble head do you prefer in rivers? Been taking advantage of the mild Winter?
 

Fatman

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Like EddieB I have the molds to make both kinds. I've used both fur and plastics when trying for trout, which for me is mostly on a pond and after the rivers got blown out by floods it's really hard to get a blade spinning in ankle deep water.
 

Jmkarls

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Wow, those are some big hook long tie(?) jigs you use for trout. Mine are #6 & #4 and only an inch long including the mink fur tie.

What weight wobble head do you prefer in rivers? Been taking advantage of the mild Winter?
 

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Jmkarls

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The wobble jig weights are mostly variable based on size of the river. I use the bigger ones in the big rivers and the smaller ones in smaller creeks. Maybe a 1/8 for the crawfish ones. Those catch a lot of different fish, but for sure a lot of trout like them.
 
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