jigging technique...

[minnesotatuff]

a lot of people including myself have not been having very good luck catching anything lately. yet, there are still reports of people catching fish. what are they doing different? ive tried barely moving & still to agressive 2 foot sweeps with jigging rapalas. for the most part, ive moved them slowly... the last time i caught one with a jig was about a month ago already. that one i just happened to be talking to my fishing buddy on the walkie-talkie and wasnt sure what i was doing when he hit. usually i have 100% concentration on the fl-8... with the camera, i watch my jig all day to see how fish react... still, i must be doing something wrong? usually i use jigging rapalas, but do switch off between colors and throw an occassional rattle spoon or perch spoon down also. i guess a lot of people are in the same situation. for the ones still catching them...my hats off to you! good job!!!

regards,

minnesotatuff

[monstermoose78]

move until ya find some active ones or if ya go fishing with with someone who knows where they have been biting.

[The Yeti]

Find an active school. Aggresively jig a rattle spoon very close to the bottom and it will drive them nuts. It seems like this time of year, you have to tick them off and force a bite

[lilman]

Spoons

Without a doubt, the jigging spoon is the most often used go to lure for walleyes through the ice. They come in a variety of sizes, countless shapes, and virtually every color in the rainbow. Picking the right spoon can be a challenge, but when you learn the actions of each spoon, you can go successfully pick the right spoon for the right situation.

Spoons can be broken down into three basic categories; illusion or flashers, aggressive or super action spoons and finally neutral or straight spoons. Each of these spoons has distinctly different actions, shape characteristics and most certainly times where one style will out produce the others.

Neutral or straight spoons are spoons that produce some action to them, but how much they have, is up to the angler using that spoon. This is a great all around spoon to use, most notably; Bay De Noc’s Swedish Pimple fits this category perfectly. The straight spoons produce is a tight wobbling action that works an area a little larger then your hole. A standard lift and fall is a great technique to employ with straight spoons, mixing in jiggles, shakes and nods. These spoons are not entirely straight; the slight bend causes the spoon to flutter very fast back down to a tight line.

Illusion spoons are the most recognized spoon on the market today. These spoons rely solely on the angler to add the action and to make the spoon flash and shimmer. Northland’s Buck shot spoon or a castmaster are the main lures in this area. These lures have caught millions of eyes through the ice through out the Midwest. They can be fished heavy, and work great when a hot bite is happening, they get to the strike zone fast.

Your probably wondering why they are called illusions. The spoon shape and size does not imitate anything a walleye would naturally eat. It’s up to the angler to make these spoons work. A majority of your hits I believe are mostly caused by getting the walleye so curious; it wants to sample it, to see what it is. The key to working a flasher is to shake it, hop, jiggle, and roll and pound it into the bottom, work it aggressively, keep the spoon moving more then it is sitting. Try to keep the walleye to not get a real good look, let it sit only briefly, usually this is when they inhale it.

Without a doubt, my favorite category of spoons has to be the super action spoons. They are a little less known to most anglers, but they are very hot on the ice! Slender Spoons fits this category to a T. A little lesser known aggressive spoon would be a Phoebe’s. Super action spoons cover a lot of water underneath your feet, sometimes up to ten feet in diameter. Super action spoons have a very distinct bend in the spoon, which produces a wild fluttering action that imitates a crippled minnow or perch struggling to not fall down to the bottom. This action drives the walleyes absolutely nuts! Work this lure with three foot snaps and then let it fall on a slack line. What this does, is the spoon wobbles up a few feet, pauses at the top for a second, then starts a slow wide wobble all the way back down. Try that three or four times, then let it sit for a few seconds then repeat. The hits you get on these spoons are absolutely hellacious.

The most important part to using a spoon to its full potential lies literally in your hands! A good, quality graphite rod with a stiff tip is essential, stiff tips really snaps the lure when you jig, and a crisp, clear snap is what you’re looking for. Tips that are mushy will absorb a lot of the jigging motion and will deaden your action on the spoon.

Now that you understand the three main types of spoons, when and where do I use each one? Every situation is different, but basically neutral or straight spoons really excel when the fish are in a negative or lazy mood. They are not looking to really pick up a meal but they won’t pass up one right in front of their face, that’s where the tight action really is a solid choice to use.

For positive fish, try using a flasher or illusion spoon, it gets down to the bottom fast and maximizes your time down in the strike zone the longest. I can work these very aggressively with a lift fall and pounding it into the bottom or very slowly by shaking it in place. This is also a great choice to use when hole hopping.

When you’re looking to pick out the aggressive fish out of a school or weed out the smaller ones and just chase the big fish, switching over to a super action spoon, say a ¼ oz Phoebes or 5/16th Custom Jigs and Spins Slender spoon will do that with ease. With three to four foot snaps and then letting it fall down and repeating. This is a great cull lure to use.

With all the different sizes, shapes and actions of spoons, picking out successful ones, can be intimidating, but by looking at the shape, you can understand the action that the spoon will be putting out before you even buy it! Take a kid fishing and practice (CPR, Catch, Photo, Release!)

Chris Wallace

[blue_healer_guy]

mnstuff, was up last weekend and this is strickly talking perch. I HAD to use a marmooska with a waxie to catch perch. The key to the marmooska is that it is a side jig, meaning I HAD to hook the the waxie 1 time through the head which made the rest of the worm flutter when you jigged it. That's the only thing I could catch one on. If I didn't have a camera watching this, I wouldn't have caught a fish. Now walleyes, nothing I did worked. They hated me ! When just 1 fish nearby, almost impossible, but if there were a school that came through the fish were more aggressive.

[minnesotatuff]

thanks chris,

that was the most indetail description ive ever read. sometimes i feel like such a beginner...

now im just waiting until the next time i can give it a try.

regards,

minnesotatuff

[minnesotatuff]

mj,

the only really killer rig i have for perch is an ultra lite shakespeare rod and 2# seagar line using a black tear drop with a white diagonal stripe and chrome on the bottom side. i hook a wax worm thru the head and the whole thing flutters like a minnow. ive caught walleyes, crappies, trout, northerns & sunfish on it too. the problem with it is if you are fishing in deeper water it takes forever to get down there. i havent used it with a sweedish pimple or something like that above it for weight/attraction because i want the action i get with the light setup. i didnt use it the last couple of times up because i didnt want to keep pulling it away from the smaller perch and having to wait so long for it to get down. could of been thinking the ol "bigger bait, bigger fish"?...haha

thanks for your contribution.

regards,

minnesotatuff