Proper jigging tecnique

[Norco]

Whats the best way to fish a jig in shallow water (3-12 ft) Do I troll and jig or cast and jig?? I bought all these fireball jigs and round head jigs but can never seem to catch. I just bought a boat and am used to shore fishing. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[united jigsticker]

The shallower the water, the lighter the jig you would need in order to achieve a slower fall and present the bait to the fish in a manner that will give them enough chance to see, and react.

Also, especially early in the year like this, fish, Crappies and Walleyes in particular, are far less aggresive towards a free falling jig.

Some tips are to leave plenty of slack when the jig is falling so that it falls sraight down. A pendulim motion is hard for the fish to negotiate and catch. Count your jig down, one thousand one, one thousand two, etc...Watch for the line to twitch, snap, or "swim" to the side.

In depths of 8 feet or more this will be important so that you can "time" your fish. i.e. The fish always hits at one thousand ten...Then you'll know to keep the jig in the one thousand 8 to one thousand eleven range for maximum chances of bites.

For jig casting purposes, I really believe anything heavier then 1/16th oz is too heavy for those kinds of depths, especially in a slightly less aggresive phase of fishing like we are dealing with currently.

good luck

[traveler]

A couple of things; you're in borderline too shallow of water for jigs, problem is you need to cast and 16th and smaller jigs don't throw well. Try a casting bubble (bobber) and set a small jig a few feet under. A slow pause and retrieve will give you a fair jgging motion with this setup, we do this for crappies in the spring. Another idea would be to go to a floating jighead in the shallows, allowing you to use a slightly heavier slip sinker to allow casting. This doesn't work well in snaggy areas, but is good in the spring when the best jigging technique is often hardly jigging at all, more like a drag and pause. Best advice for jigging is to mix up the retrieve until you find what the fish will respond to.

[Norco]

Great, thanks for the advice guys I'll go out and try those tecniques next time I go out!!

[Bruce Mosher]

Norco, If you're going to try a bobber I'd suggest the Wave Buster Bobber (it has a 1/8oz. weight iside of it for further casts and is totally adjustable) and for a Slip Sinker the Foam Walker works the best with more options and features! Rick sells these on this site. Scenic tackle makes good jigs and in the weeds I'd use the Northland weed weasel or Lindy's veggie jig. Good Luck, Bruce Mosher

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Bruce Mosher,www.icebusterbobbers.com

[musky hunter]

In shallow water, I'd uses 1/8 ounce jigs on a windy day and 1/16 ounce jigs on a calm day. Hook the minnow through the mouth, out behind the gill plate, and then back through the mid body. Thi brings the mouth of the minnow right up to the base of the jig. The minnow is much less likly to be bitten off by a fish if you do this. Use 6 lb. test line max! Look for wind blown points and current breaks (yes, even in lakes the wind will cause currents). Slowly "swim" the minnow just off the bottom, adding a little action to make it rise and fall. Rip jigging will work with more aggressive fish as the water warm up, but until then I'd stick with a slow presentation. Don't spend any more than 10-15 minutes on a barren spot and, most importantly, carry a hook hone and keep the hook point "finger nail stikken' sharp!" The hook set should be a short, quick set at the first tap. No need to pull a lower jaw off a walleye. In order to deteck subtle hits, always have the line running over you're index finger so a soft hit that telegraphs up the line only can be detected.

[musky hunter]

I forgot to mention, jigs can indeed be trolled or cast and worked while trolling. Again, a little rod action to make the bait more lively will help. If there is a real good walleye chop and line control becomes difficult, go to a heavier jig. While "guiding" a friend who couldn't catch a walleye to save his life but everything else caught fish, I finally gave him a 1/2 ounce jig just so he could get it to the bottom while trolling. It worked, aggessive walleyes will eat just about anything.

[Norco]

Great Advice!! But one question, when you use your finger on the line to feel for a strike how to you know what is a rock or sticks and what is a light biting walleye?? I have had times where a walleye bite feels just like a jig head bouncing over a rock or what I thought was a bite but it was a rock??

[Hemlock]

Norco,

Time will make you become a better fisherman/jigger and you will be able to differentiate between fish and bottom. I'm not afraid to admit that I've set the hook on bottom before, but I believe that I am better than I was.

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Hemlock
"Throw'm back"

[united jigsticker]

When in doubt, set the hook.

Once, when I was in doubt, I set the hook and snagged the bottom...I thought it was a piece of brush or something. Anyways, I pulled on the line to snap it off when it started to give so I figured I would pull the brush up.

20 minutes later I netted the brush, only it was a 31" Walleye, lip hooked perfectly, and is now on the sheetrock in the living room mounted on a piece of driftwood.

[This message has been edited by united jigsticker (edited 05-18-2003).]

[Guest]

Getting a feel for bottom takes time, and setting the hook on 'weeds' can get some suprises. I've also seen shallow water, heavy jigs worked fast do well. Mix it up until the fish tell you what they want.
gte

[Guest]

i use 1/4 ounze jigs in shallow water...cast them all the way up to shore...retrieve slow and boom....2 of us caught 24......18 inch walleyes in 2 days.....it works!!!!.....i don't bother down sizing....too hard to cast.....all i have in my box are 1/4 ounze jigs....

[jwilli7122]

It all depends on what type of water you're fishing. a heavy jig will work just fine if you can hop on the bottom without snagging. But where there's weeds, sharp rocks and other snaggy stuff, it's easier to work a little bit off the bottom.