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Of the Outdoors – Jig Fishing: The Ultimate Catching Tool
By Gary Howey
Hartington, Neb.
With all of the traveling I do, I have the opportunity to talk with a lot of anglers. At a recent in store promotion, I was talking with a group of fishermen talking about different fishing techniques.
When we started talking about jig fishing, two of them told me that they didn’t use them much because they fished for species other than walleyes.
After hearing this, I realized that I might have given some people the wrong idea that jigs were primarily walleye bait.
I quickly explained to them that jigs aren’t effective just on one particular species as they’ll catch all fish, from the smallest to the largest.
My personal opinion is that there isn’t more productive bait that an angler can use!
I was surprised to see how many people felt that the jig would work on only one particular species, that it’s a one-method or species bait!
Jigs are such a versatile tool, that they’ll catch anything that swims!
I’ve used them for walleyes, pike and bass on the Glacial Lakes of Nebraska, South Dakota, in western Minnesota’s lakes, on all of the Missouri River reservoirs as well as for panfish on big and small lakes, no matter what time of the year I was fishing.
Most anglers think that a jig needs to be jigged or hopped up and down and only used when fishing from a boat.
The truth is that they’ll work every where, making anglers fishing from a boat, shore or through the ice better fisherman. They can be used to take all species of fish when other baits wouldn’t even get a second look.
You can dress them with plastic bodies, Gulp, night crawlers, leeches and minnows or just fish them plain and they’ll produce!
They come in all sizes, shapes, colors and design. You can bulk them up with marabou, squirrel, buck tail or plastic. When fishing cold water, many anglers simply use a plain old jig tipped with a minnow or wax worm.
Smaller jigs can be used for panfish as well as your larger species. They can be worked up or down or jigged vertically, cast along the edge of the weeds or suspended under a slip bobber with a small minnow, making them a very effective method of taking both smaller and larger species of fish.
Walleye anglers use jigs from 1/32 up to 1/2 ounce. By rigging them with minnows, leeches or crawlers, they can entice walleyes that at times can be very finicky.
Fishermen looking for bass use a jig and pig (pork rind or plastic) to take both smallmouth and largemouth bass during the toughest of conditions.
The biggest thing anglers having trouble fishing jigs are doing wrong is that they’re using far too heavy of a line for the size jig that they’re using.
You want your jig to swim or drop naturally and if you’re using a line that is too heavy, a jig will not work correctly.
By using a lighter line or a lighter jig, your offering will appear more lifelike, it will sink quickly and you’ll be able to detect a lot more bites.
Another thing that’s confusing to anglers who don’t use jigs a lot is color!
There are hundreds of colors and color combinations of jigs out there and this can be terribly confusing.
My rule of thumb on jig color has a lot to do with how clear or dirty the water is.
If I’m fishing a section of the river or a lake with dirty or turbid water, I’ll go with a brighter color, a florescent jig that holds its color at deeper depths.
Fluorescents retain their color in low light situations and will appear brighter than your standard reds or yellows when fished deep or in stained water.
So when I’m fishing turbid water, I’ll tie on a fluorescent orange, green or chartreuse colored jig as I’m sure it will be more visible when it’s fished in low light conditions.
In clearer water, I’ll use more of a natural color, a shad, bluegill or perch color. I’ll still use a brighter florescent color if I’m fishing deep, but I feel that I don’t need to go to a bright jig when fishing in clear water.
The species you’re after will also make a difference when it comes to your choice of jig color and size!
If you’re after walleye or sauger, chartreuse and orange are preferred colors and anglers after theses species are more apt to throw these bright colors.
Bass fishermen prefer the black, purple and less gaudy colored jigs, while pan fishermen like to throw a white, pearl or pink colored jig.
There are days that one species of fish will prefer a certain color. This is especially true with walleyes, so I use multiple colored jigs.
There are days when walleyes will only bite on chartreuse and the next day it will be orange, so I give them a little of both. This gives me a better chance of having the colors that they’re attracted to on that day.
Chartreuse and orange, lime green and yellow, pink and white are some of the combinations I’ve used and had excellent luck, while fishing for walleyes.
It’s pretty simple really, give a fish a choice of colors and let him tell you which one he wants. By using multiple colored jig heads, I’ve got a better chance of getting a finicky fish to bite.
It also saves time and lets me work and catch active fish much more quickly.
If I were using a jig that was one color and the fish weren’t biting on that color, I would keep retying until I found the color they wanted. With a jig head or body that’s multi-colored, I’m cutting my searching time down big time!
Jigs are very versatile bait that can be used for any fish that swims. It can be cast, drug, jigged or suspended under a bobber, making it bait that can be used in so many ways, that if you’re not fishing with a jig, you’re missing the boat.
Gary Howey, Hartington, NE. is a former guide and tournament fishermen. For more information on the outdoors, Outdoorsmen Adventures TV, video clips and tips on how to better enjoy your next outdoor experience go to www.outdoorsmenadventures.com.
When we started talking about jig fishing, two of them told me that they didn’t use them much because they fished for species other than walleyes.
After hearing this, I realized that I might have given some people the wrong idea that jigs were primarily walleye bait.
I quickly explained to them that jigs aren’t effective just on one particular species as they’ll catch all fish, from the smallest to the largest.
My personal opinion is that there isn’t more productive bait that an angler can use!
I was surprised to see how many people felt that the jig would work on only one particular species, that it’s a one-method or species bait!
Jigs are such a versatile tool, that they’ll catch anything that swims!
I’ve used them for walleyes, pike and bass on the Glacial Lakes of Nebraska, South Dakota, in western Minnesota’s lakes, on all of the Missouri River reservoirs as well as for panfish on big and small lakes, no matter what time of the year I was fishing.
Most anglers think that a jig needs to be jigged or hopped up and down and only used when fishing from a boat.
The truth is that they’ll work every where, making anglers fishing from a boat, shore or through the ice better fisherman. They can be used to take all species of fish when other baits wouldn’t even get a second look.
You can dress them with plastic bodies, Gulp, night crawlers, leeches and minnows or just fish them plain and they’ll produce!
They come in all sizes, shapes, colors and design. You can bulk them up with marabou, squirrel, buck tail or plastic. When fishing cold water, many anglers simply use a plain old jig tipped with a minnow or wax worm.
Smaller jigs can be used for panfish as well as your larger species. They can be worked up or down or jigged vertically, cast along the edge of the weeds or suspended under a slip bobber with a small minnow, making them a very effective method of taking both smaller and larger species of fish.
Walleye anglers use jigs from 1/32 up to 1/2 ounce. By rigging them with minnows, leeches or crawlers, they can entice walleyes that at times can be very finicky.
Fishermen looking for bass use a jig and pig (pork rind or plastic) to take both smallmouth and largemouth bass during the toughest of conditions.
The biggest thing anglers having trouble fishing jigs are doing wrong is that they’re using far too heavy of a line for the size jig that they’re using.
You want your jig to swim or drop naturally and if you’re using a line that is too heavy, a jig will not work correctly.
By using a lighter line or a lighter jig, your offering will appear more lifelike, it will sink quickly and you’ll be able to detect a lot more bites.
Another thing that’s confusing to anglers who don’t use jigs a lot is color!
There are hundreds of colors and color combinations of jigs out there and this can be terribly confusing.
My rule of thumb on jig color has a lot to do with how clear or dirty the water is.
If I’m fishing a section of the river or a lake with dirty or turbid water, I’ll go with a brighter color, a florescent jig that holds its color at deeper depths.
Fluorescents retain their color in low light situations and will appear brighter than your standard reds or yellows when fished deep or in stained water.
So when I’m fishing turbid water, I’ll tie on a fluorescent orange, green or chartreuse colored jig as I’m sure it will be more visible when it’s fished in low light conditions.
In clearer water, I’ll use more of a natural color, a shad, bluegill or perch color. I’ll still use a brighter florescent color if I’m fishing deep, but I feel that I don’t need to go to a bright jig when fishing in clear water.
The species you’re after will also make a difference when it comes to your choice of jig color and size!
If you’re after walleye or sauger, chartreuse and orange are preferred colors and anglers after theses species are more apt to throw these bright colors.
Bass fishermen prefer the black, purple and less gaudy colored jigs, while pan fishermen like to throw a white, pearl or pink colored jig.
There are days that one species of fish will prefer a certain color. This is especially true with walleyes, so I use multiple colored jigs.
There are days when walleyes will only bite on chartreuse and the next day it will be orange, so I give them a little of both. This gives me a better chance of having the colors that they’re attracted to on that day.
Chartreuse and orange, lime green and yellow, pink and white are some of the combinations I’ve used and had excellent luck, while fishing for walleyes.
It’s pretty simple really, give a fish a choice of colors and let him tell you which one he wants. By using multiple colored jig heads, I’ve got a better chance of getting a finicky fish to bite.
It also saves time and lets me work and catch active fish much more quickly.
If I were using a jig that was one color and the fish weren’t biting on that color, I would keep retying until I found the color they wanted. With a jig head or body that’s multi-colored, I’m cutting my searching time down big time!
Jigs are very versatile bait that can be used for any fish that swims. It can be cast, drug, jigged or suspended under a bobber, making it bait that can be used in so many ways, that if you’re not fishing with a jig, you’re missing the boat.
Gary Howey, Hartington, NE. is a former guide and tournament fishermen. For more information on the outdoors, Outdoorsmen Adventures TV, video clips and tips on how to better enjoy your next outdoor experience go to www.outdoorsmenadventures.com.
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