Dancing a jig with the jig | News, Sports, Jobs - Morning Journal News
We were heading back to the dock after a couple hours of decent fishing when Dennis remarked that he still had never caught fish using a jig. I was surprised as jigs have always worked well for me, but his remark got me thinking about how to use a jig.
First of all Dennis and I had been mostly trolling and jigs are usually not the best lure for trolling; they just do not have enough built-in action.
The exception is the Road Runner jig which has a fish attracting spinner blade under the jig head. Barb and I have caught fish trolling Road Runners, especially on Kentucky Lake. With other jigs the angler needs to impart some action.
To get action with jigs without spinner blades I twitch the jig to tease the fish. It's sort of like teasing a kitten with a small ball of yarn. I guess you could say that I dance a jig with the jig, and it has worked well for me over the years.
Depending on the fish and the day I sometimes bounce the jig along the bottom, or even work it like a minnow beneath a bobber. Either way I twitch the rod to give action.
I also add something on the jig to make it even more appealing to a fish. This can be a soft plastic lure with a twitchy tail like a Curly Tail. I also often tie up my jigs with feathers that will flash and twitch with short rod movements. While most feathers will work, marabou feathers seem to provide plenty of action and a product called Flashabou will give the jig some flash. These products are sometimes available locally, but if not I order from a firm called Netcraft. Netcraft is available online.
While I was thinking about fishing with jigs a reader messaged me that he wanted to learn how to make jigs. I have always been hesitant to go into describing jig production since melting lead can be dangerous, and the vapor can cause all sorts of health problems.
So think about this before you begin, and you might be better off just buying your jig heads already made. You can still add feathers and color. You can even buy them made out of other metals instead of lead. There are even some lakes where lead lures or even sinkers are not allowed. So keep this in mind when fishing with any tackle.
However, if you decide to go ahead and cast your own jigs Netcraft offers many sizes and styles of molds. Each size will require a specific jig hook and the sizes will be marked on the mold.
The next step is paint, and I use powder paint almost exclusively. Here again you need heat and I use a heat gun to warm the jig which I then dip into the powder while holding it with forceps. A second heating from the heat gun and the jig is ready to go, unless of course you are a nut like me. My jigs are then cured by spending 15 minutes in a toaster oven.
Powder painted jigs are almost impervious to chipping, but you can also use hobby paints, or even nail polish. In fact, nail polish comes in so many exotic colors that you might even find one that works best on your lake or stream. Some of the nail polish that ladies use is about as tough as powder paint. They call one brand of polish, "Hard as nails," for a reason.
Used properly jigs are a valuable lure for catching fish, and maybe Dennis and I need to rethink our methods. I sure have enough jigs made up to allow us to try a large variety of colors and sizes. The next time we go out I might just anchor over a brush pile and let Dennis finally catch something on a jig.
He just needs to make it dance a jig in front of a fish.
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