jigging info

[NorthernLite]

Hey guys, I have just purchased some northland buck-shot dropper spoons and Im not sure on how to fish them. Is there a special way to jig them? Also I hear about using bright colors on cloudy days and darker colors on bright days, does this really help? Thanks NorthernLite...

[Eastwind]

There are probably people out there that can give you more detailed information than I can but here is what I can tell you. I always tip my jigging spoons with a half minnow. some days the front half works best and some days they just feel like a little tail. I keep jigging the bait sometimes short fast movement sometimes long and slow and sometimes a combo of both. They will often grab the bait on the drop so be ready to feel the fish as you start to lift the bait. I start roughly 6" to 12" off of the bottom and then jig it up from there drop etc. Watch for fish moving in on your flasher.

I have only had limited luck with the Buckshot spoons. You should also try Angel Eyes, Glo Devils, Acme Kastmasters in different colors. Gold is usually good on LOW but I've had luck on several other colors. As far as " Dark day dark lure and bright day bright lure" goes I just try lots of different colors and spoon styles until I find what they like that day. Good luck.

[NorthernLite]

Thanks for the advise EastWind, I'll try out some of those lures/tecniques when I come up to LOTW in a few weeks.

[coldmark]

Here's a post I saved from this website (or another). I can't remeber the author, wish I could give him credit. I'm in the same boat as you. A life-time tipup guy trying to learn to jig. Good luck...

With a jigging spoon you want to use a few different jigging techniques...

First, I like the standard lift-fall approach. This is your basic 1 foot snap followed by an instant descend

to where it started at. Then thats followed by a moment of pause. Throughout the sequence I'll also add some

shakes and jiggles when the spoon returns to its normal position.

Next, I like the drop-lift approach. This is your bottom feeding/hiding minnow. What you want to do is begin

with the spoon about a foot off bottom and let the spoon drop and smack the bottom. Then snap back to the

original position (about a foot off bottom). This imitates a minnow that is feeding on the bottom, or a minnow

that is diving into the mud to escape a predator. You will see a lot of walleyes grab that spoon as it hits bottom,

very cool.

And the last technique I like to use is the fleeing minnow. This is when I'll work a standard lift-fall

technique but when a fish appears I'll slowly work the spoon up and away from the fish as I continue to

shake the spoon. This will trigger those negative fish into biting and can also pull them bottom hugging

fish up too.

There are several other techniques for jigging spoons but those are a few of the basics ones that usually

get the job done. Every technique can be manipulated and altered any way you want. You will also want to

change your technique when a fish closes in but doesn't strike. If you are aggressively jigging the spoon

and a fish shows up but doesn't hit, you might want to slow things down. DON'T stop jigging though, thats

always a no-no. Keep the spoon moving but just slow the motions down. Also don't be afraid to come up with

your own technique, something off-the-wall. You never know, you might have the magic touch

[NorthernLite]

That was exactly what i needed, thanks.

[Eastwind]

Thanks also from me Coldmark. I was a lifetime bobber/tipup fisherman until I started fishing the open water in Ontario ten years ago. I mostly jig through the ice and in open water now and can always use some pointers. Another hint: small jigging spoons will out-fish the larger ones. with the Acme Kastmasters I use 1/16 oz to give you a point of reference. Good luck and thanks for the jigging techniques to try out.