Work that jig

[Mack]

Whats your favorite way to work a jig, and what species?

 

[deathb4disco]

Whats your favorite way to work a jig, and what species?

A slow, steady "do nothing" retrieve popularized by the late, great Charlie Brewer. It works for everything.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Salty fish seem to like a bit more action - jittering, jerking, jumping, jiggling...

 

[hhawkins]

An easy reeling back with an occasional up and down with the rod.

 

[Mack]

I like what I see so far... keep it up everyone.

 

[Radtexan]

K.I.S.S.

Most of my jigging (at least for Crappie) is vertical fishing, and dead sticking,or at most a very subtle down drop is the ticket...Occasionally they want a slight swimming action

Less is better !!!

 

[moswampy]

dipping is my favorite or pitching one next to cover or on structure and tightlining it down looking and feeling for the bump. When dipping I'll give it a shake now and again and change where it is in the water column quickly then let it float slowly back when I know I am in the strike zone. Give a couple little twitches on the way down and those big slabs will hammer a jig.

 

[AtticaFish]

:exclamation: Favorite jigging catch & release fish... river smallmouth! Love fast ripping jigs in bursts through areas. The hits can be massive even from small fish.

:exclamation: Favorite jigging 'for the freezer' fish... hmmm..... Would be a toss up between yellow perch and gills. My most successfull action for them is the Brewer 'Do Nothing' method that DB4D mentioned - just has to be close to the bottom.

Majority of my fishing is cast/retrieve from shore or wading. Do fish from my kayak, but easier to drift/troll than to control the yak and truly vert. fish. With all the swimming motion of my fishing, i like to use more eye forward hook jigs. :jig:

 

[jiggerjohn]

Charlie Brewer convinced me to reel the jigs slow & steady (Charlie & I both wrote for the original Fishing Facts mag when he started expounding on "do-nothing" fishing, and I got to correspond with him, do shows, etc -a very dedicated,genuine guy!). But some of that steady retreiving involved reeling slower & slower,so the jig took an angled glide toward bottom ,while still moving forward. Recently with my own shank propeller jig ( Boolie), slow & steady works well, but a sudden stop & Straight down dive (little propeller still spins well) produces aggressive takes on tough days. Likewise, a straight UP retreive on dam faces or beside piers often yields nice bass!

 

[Jig Man]

When the crappie are shallow, I like to float my jig under a cork with a slow retrieve and an occasional pause. When vertical fishing, a very subtle raise of the rod tip, and occasionally swim it around. I also shoot docks, letting it drift toward the bottom then a slow retrieve...

 

[cadman]

I fish mostly bass. Soooooooooo I cast out wait about a minute (60 seconds) and slowly reel, stop let it sit for several seconds waiting for a bass to pick it up, and keep doing that until I get a fish. This is with bass jigs.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

For most species when I'm jig fishing slow and steady with a stop and drop works best for me. Trout like an erratic action and smallies like a short,fast hop at times. If the steady retrieve isn't working than it's time to experiment.

 

[upnort16]

The word "favorite" is difficult to me. So many fish, so many jigs and methods. One technique I favor is a 1/64th or 1/80th ounce plain round jig with custom made (by father-in-law) plastic tail. Cast into the blue green waters of Lake Michigan, countdown a few seconds and retrieve with a slow popping swimming effect for those oh so tasty yellow perch.

 

[Mack]

The word "favorite" is difficult to me. So many fish, so many jigs and methods. One technique I favor is a 1/64th or 1/80th ounce plain round jig with custom made (by father-in-law) plastic tail. Cast into the blue green waters of Lake Michigan, countdown a few seconds and retrieve with a slow popping swimming effect for those oh so tasty yellow perch.

Oh yeah?... I live about 5 minutes from lake michigan here in Ludington... where you from?

 

[upnort16]

Mack, I live in Kenosha Wisconsin, near the Racine, Kenosha county line about three blocks from the lake as the crow flies. Almost straight across the big pond from you. We have a five perch a day limit out of Lake Michigan, so basically, up at 5:00 a.m. on calm days, fish till seven, clean them, and get to work on time. Can always go "inland" after work to finish the daily bag of 25 panfish. What about Michigan rules? Someone said 50 perch a day? That's worth a weekend trip if the bite is on, hint hint.