10-11-2003, 05:47 PM
[cool]Hey, Don, hope you got what you needed out of the thread I started last April. PM me if you have any specific questions.
Since the bunny jig thread, I have been playing around with some other stuff for both deep mackin' and salt water jiggin'. Most of my newest experiments relate to my passion for Roadrunner jigs, in smaller sizes. I have not only acquired a mold to turn out large Roadrunners, but have played around with other molds to add spinner blades to tube jig heads and spear head rigs for large tubes and skirts.
Here are a few pics of some of my latest creations. I am working on two angles. One is for slow trolling or drifting...even using a "drop shot" rig to keep the jigs up off the bottom. The other is for finesse vertical presentations.
If you have good sonar, you can watch as those heavily fished macks will swim up to your lures and then reject them. Or, on a good day, you will both see and feel a taker. There are times when the fish respond best to a lot of flash and wiggle. Other days they shy away from anything but a "dead stick" presentation.
Having a range of sizes, colors and actions will let you experiment until you find what they vote for. Of course, that can change from hour to hour.
When the fish are aggressive, you can troll them up on several different spoons or large hardbaits. If they are not active, you need to tease them into yawning as your lure falls into their mouths.
That's where the bunny jig pros do best. They have perfected the almost motionless "cocked wrist" presentation...where they impart almost no action at all to the jig. The natural buoyance and pulsations of the wispy bunny fur is often all that is needed to entice a reluctant mack. Of course, some freshly filleted chub or sucker meat can help seal the deal. The point is, there are some big fish taken on the "know nothing" approach.
One technique that many pros have proven to their satisfaction is the horizontal jigging rig. Some spearhead jigs, and others, will ride only at a slight angle downward, when rigged with a tube or grub. But, by tieing a good knot, that wraps the line two or more times around the eye of the jig hook, for extra grip, you can make the jig ride close to horizontal by moving the tightened knot forward until you get the right level. You can check it beside the boat before sending it down. Then, you need to bring it up periodically...or after each hookset or hefty tug...to reset the level if necessary. I have seen days when the fish would munch a horizontal jig, but would not even sample a vertical or angled presentation.
I have just started playing with styrofoam inserts, to provide extra buoyancy for unbalanced jig rigs. The concept of level, or even floating tails, works well on largemouths and other species.
Just a few more ideas. Hope there is something there you can pick up on to add to your bag of tricks. You need all you can get when up against those wily macks.
[signature]
Since the bunny jig thread, I have been playing around with some other stuff for both deep mackin' and salt water jiggin'. Most of my newest experiments relate to my passion for Roadrunner jigs, in smaller sizes. I have not only acquired a mold to turn out large Roadrunners, but have played around with other molds to add spinner blades to tube jig heads and spear head rigs for large tubes and skirts.
Here are a few pics of some of my latest creations. I am working on two angles. One is for slow trolling or drifting...even using a "drop shot" rig to keep the jigs up off the bottom. The other is for finesse vertical presentations.
If you have good sonar, you can watch as those heavily fished macks will swim up to your lures and then reject them. Or, on a good day, you will both see and feel a taker. There are times when the fish respond best to a lot of flash and wiggle. Other days they shy away from anything but a "dead stick" presentation.
Having a range of sizes, colors and actions will let you experiment until you find what they vote for. Of course, that can change from hour to hour.
When the fish are aggressive, you can troll them up on several different spoons or large hardbaits. If they are not active, you need to tease them into yawning as your lure falls into their mouths.
That's where the bunny jig pros do best. They have perfected the almost motionless "cocked wrist" presentation...where they impart almost no action at all to the jig. The natural buoyance and pulsations of the wispy bunny fur is often all that is needed to entice a reluctant mack. Of course, some freshly filleted chub or sucker meat can help seal the deal. The point is, there are some big fish taken on the "know nothing" approach.
One technique that many pros have proven to their satisfaction is the horizontal jigging rig. Some spearhead jigs, and others, will ride only at a slight angle downward, when rigged with a tube or grub. But, by tieing a good knot, that wraps the line two or more times around the eye of the jig hook, for extra grip, you can make the jig ride close to horizontal by moving the tightened knot forward until you get the right level. You can check it beside the boat before sending it down. Then, you need to bring it up periodically...or after each hookset or hefty tug...to reset the level if necessary. I have seen days when the fish would munch a horizontal jig, but would not even sample a vertical or angled presentation.
I have just started playing with styrofoam inserts, to provide extra buoyancy for unbalanced jig rigs. The concept of level, or even floating tails, works well on largemouths and other species.
Just a few more ideas. Hope there is something there you can pick up on to add to your bag of tricks. You need all you can get when up against those wily macks.
[signature]