Vertical jigging Master

[Hawnjigs]

Jigger John

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Dra

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Sean

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Jigger John

 

[Fatman]

JJ - Great report and Outstanding Pics!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's definately the way to end the season!!!!! But if your guys weather turns like ours this weekend you might be out fishing in the rain. Unless I missed it have you posted a pic of your jig yet???

 

[jiggerjohn]

Fatman, I've been waiting to get hold of one of Red's actual longer model walleye jigs, which I think a lot of our jig tying fraternity will enjoy seeing! Along with that I'll post one of my Red Bool Chubs on a 1/14 0z Hawn's HU head, and the 1/24 wool topped Boolie that has been so good to me lately!! Stay tuned...

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Those are some really nice trout,stockers they put in around here are a lot smaller than those fish.

 

[Fatman]

Looking forward to it!!!!!! Thanks

 

[deathb4disco]

I've been meaning to go back and read through the entire thread, but I just wanted to toss something out. I think our culture is very biased towards casting. The bass pros constantly fire out casts, and the casting motion explains at least 50% of the appeal of fly fishing (IMO, anyway.)

OTOH, a good chunk of Europe and Asia do a LOT of vertical fishing (as do US ice fishermen.) It's a great method to put fish in the boat.

 

[redear]

thanks jiggerjohn!!! that was a heck of a post and story!

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

I tied up one jig strictly with white satin fibers with a couple strands of red thread trailing behind on a 1/32 #6 sickle. I fished it and while swimming it near the top just below the surface checking it's action a decent bass,maybe 3lbs. came out from under the dock and ate it. It got back under the dock and broke off. Only one I had. Today with winds gusting over 50 mph I think it might be time to tie up some more. From one little I did see it has great action in the water.

 

[Fatman]

Nice report Jim

 

[jiggerjohn]

Jungle, Good going on that quick bass take on the satin- strand jig ! While we were discussing the bright white of these fabric fibers, Red mentioned that when down in Florida, his version of their famous , effective "glass minnow" fly , using mainly the white satin tails was all you needed to take practically every inshore salty specie!

 

[papaperch]

Material for my " wooly " Reds jigs finally got here. I think Junglejim is really on to something as to the reason why these work so well. I used clear cure goo to seal my heads and the satin and wool really glowed underneath the UV light. I then experimented with my underwater night light for summertime fishing. OMG these things just jump out at ya.

Cannot wait to try these some early spring night. While crappies have good night vision it isn't as good as say a walleyes at night. But the crappies should have no trouble seeing these.

Will post some pix of the few I tied. A big thank you to Jiggerjohn and of course Red himself for being so free with the info and advice. Since I live fairly close to Pymatuning ( 60 miles ) perhaps I could treat you two to some breakfast at some local greasy spoon up there. Nothing like 3 oldtimers trying to out lie one another LOL.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Papaperch, yep we could certainly have a great gab session on jigs & jiggin ! Maybe even earlier, at the Niles sports show this winter, where Red will be tyin & speaking! Of course, you'll definately want to get up to Pym in Spring -as Red says, on a good Spring day, 200+ crappies is very doable!! In Spring, at night, the walleyes are everywhere up there, and you're right; these extra bright jigs are easy targets for those eyes-even wading in certain areas!

But got to thinkin today while watching the snow come down (and waiting for the world to end-which sure seemed like it with my open water season at the end for a while!!!), that we could certainly fine tune our vertical jigging and use of woolie type jigs by ice fishing this winter (hmmm,thinkin of that bitter cold,maybe I'd rather the earth did blow up-at least I'd be warm!!)!But to that end I was playing with a new ice type vertical jig earlier this Fall (open water, straight up&down work) called a Wilo Min-o by Wadesblades.com, and found a small ball of wool around its small rear hook looked & worked terrifically, adding a bit of action,fuzziness, & chewyness to the metal jig's extremely well painted UV enhanced finish.Hmmm, most ice jigs have short,small hooks, where a nublet of wool would supply a very efficent, easy to tie dressing!

 

[papaperch]

Here are some of my attempts to imitate Red's fish slayer. I also tied some more closely emulating Red's ties. But since we already know what his looks like. Tried some black satin threads also to imitate lateral line but the black does not glow like the white satin. Anyway,,,,,,,,

 

[LedHed]

Awesome tyes papa & JJ

 

[Fatman]

Great looking ties!!!!!!!!!

 

[redear]

nice jigs papapearch!! where did you get your wool? or rather, is it wapsi sculpin wool?

 

[jiggerjohn]

I had a nice ,long, enjoyable discussion with Red by telephone yesterday, covering a broad range of his fishing experiences. Hopefully will get up to tie with him this week, and to get some more photos. Of interest was the fact that all his crappie jigs & flies are an attempt to accurately recreate the bright EMERALD SHINER minnow appearance IN WATER (Red is VERY insistent that the above water or "dry" look of jigs is nowhere near the significance of what you may want to capture in an underwater scenerio. This is why he constantly tests his ties right on his tying bench in a water container, and establish the "wet" look that is his actual goal in tying!). We also got into tipping jigs with minnows for big perch ( Pymatuning has a huge population of 12 to 15" perch!) ; Red maintains that the tasty yellow panfish will quickly inhale a jig when it first touches down,but the hit & rejection is so subtle that at times is impossible to detect. But a small minnow will have them holding on long enough for the hook set. But,ever resourceful, Red will often just take out a small ziplock bag of freshly dead minnows, and merely shake his jig around in the bag to acquire an odor - he says the wool will hang onto this natural scent for quite a few casts, before a rerub is necessary !

 

[Fatman]

JJ - This thread just keeps getting more interesting!!!!!!!!!! If you get a chance I'd like to see Red's reaction to some of the jigs that have been tied here.

I will definately agree with Red's assessment of yellow perch and jigs, but instead of minnows we've always used a piece from the throat area of another perch.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Fatman, As Ya know,ole Red doesn't dabble on the computer, so maybe if I think of it, I'll take some of the pics up to him. Although yesterday, he did mention he'd always be happy to appraise any jig that any tier would mail to him. I know that some of his subtle hints have certainly improved a few of my own models!!

 

[redear]

jiggerjohn, thanks for bringing all this info to us!! and tell red we really appreciate it and are enjoying the attributes of wool jigs because of him.