Under the Ice with Custom Jigs and Spins!!!

[Matt Johnson]

Panfish, perch, walleye, bass, pike, trout… Custom Jigs and Spins presents tackle options for both finessing and aggressively targeting fish of all species. Whether you’re looking to work over a timid pod of bluegills or chase walleye across the expansive flats of Mille Lacs Lake, Custom Jigs and Spins offers up something for you…

Beginning with panfish (mainly because I feel that’s Custom Jigs and Spins forte… and because I’m a panfish geek ), we have to make mention of the ever-popular Demon…

Now available in glow colors, the Demon has been a panfish magnet for years and years. I prefer to tip the larger sizes with a lively minnow and the smaller sizes I’ll pack with maggots or a waxworm.

Another hard-bodied jig that I’ve found to be very effective on the sunfish and crappies is the Two Spot.

The Two Spot is a teardrop style jig that provides both flash and flutter. It’s a great jig for both shallow and deep water situations, with varying sizes. I’ve been an avid user of the Glow Brite Two Spot.

Other options for hard-bodied jigs from Custom Jigs and Spins consist of…

Rocker

Striper Special

Willow Spoon

Candy Stripe

Slim Jig

Toadie… a great horizontal style jig

Poppee

All of the hard-bodied jigs are excellent choices for panfish, perch and other gamefish. I’ll often time find myself using a larger size Demon, Slim Jig, or Striper Special for walleye as well.

Changing gears slightly and moving on to the soft-bodied jigs from Custom Jigs and Spins, we’ll find ourselves amongst some of the best finesse jigs available to ice anglers today. Those would come in the form of the Shrimpo, Ratso, and Nuclear Powered Ant…

The Shrimpo is a vertical jig with a finesse plastic tail that’s designed for triggering panfish of all shapes and sizes.

The Shrimpo comes standard with a finesse plastic tail that work wonders on negative panfish. Not to mention an excellent substitute for live-bait. The subtle quivers of the finesse plastic will coax any wary bluegill or crappie into biting.

The Shrimpo’s partner in crime comes in the form of a horizontal jig called the Ratso.

The Ratso is another finesse option that caters to those anglers looking to trigger both negative and aggressive fish into biting. It incorporates the same finesse plastic tails as the Shrimpo, and the tantalizing action it gives off can really sweet-talk bull gills and slab crappies into falling victim into taking that extra little taste.

The beauty about using the Shrimpo or Ratso is that the finesse tails can replace live-bait and save the angler hassle and frustration. Often times I find myself leaving the live-bait at home while I just grab a few extra finesse plastic tails in various different colors instead. Not only do they last much longer than live-bait, but the action they give off is almost impossible to mimic. Something that has proven it’s worth below the ice on fish of all species.

Other than the infamous Shrimpo and Ratso, Custom Jigs and Spins offers a few other choices for soft-bodied jigs as well…

Nuclear Ant… vertical jig with finesse tentacles

Purest

And of course, the Rat Finkee

The options for finesse plastics from Custom Jigs and Spins come in a few different models as well…

Standard Finesse Plastic

Micro Noodel

Wedgee

Noodel

Nuclear Ant Legs

All of the finesse plastics come in several different colors (including numerous glow options). You can mix and match colors to match any desired condition.

Custom Jigs and Spins even offer a couple options for jigging spoons…

One of my personal favorites is their Slender Spoon…

An outstanding spoon for all gamefish in my opinion. It’s a bent spoon designed to give off a lot of action and flash. It provides some weight for when you need to get down quick or when fishing deeper water. However, you can still incorporate finesse techniques when working the spoon. They come in a few different sizes and weights, as well as a whole multitude of colors to choose from. They proved their weight in gold for me last winter on LOW walleye and sauger, not to mention smallies out on Lake Superior.

Another jigging spoon option is the Stinger…

Just one more option for targeting fish of all species.

Custom Jigs and Spins has also come out with a Precious Metal Series line of tackle. These jigs offer up jighead choices in both gold and nickel for the Ratso, Shrimpo, Rat Finkee, and Nuclear Ant. Something that will sometimes go unnoticed by ice anglers, but having that added appeal (either through gold or nickel) can really up your odds some days out on the ice. Some days all it takes is the switch to a gold jig and the next thing you know you turned a cold day on the ice into a hot one.

As you can see there are a lot of options from Custom Jigs and Spins for the ice angler. Whether it’s a Ratso for bluegills, a Demon for crappies, or a Slender Spoon for walleye, Custom Jigs and Spins has worked hard at providing a product that caters to whatever ice fishing adventure you choose to go on.

Check out everything Custom Jigs and Spins has to offer at www.CustomJigsandSpins.com

Bring on the ice!!

[delmuts]

hey matt! thanks for posting this. i couldn't find where i could order my wedgees' and shrimpo bodies. got that done.

[Dan Thiem]

Nice job Matt!

[CrappieJohn]

Matt....This is a good post in that the products are all shown, including that replacement plastic. As you know, these are some of the many "little" toys I play with when we see the usual bite during open water fall apart.

The finesse plastic in the larger sizes are always in the box with the other plastics I carry and have saved the day many times over when the need to down size the tail end of a plastic becomes an issue. Its ironic that these work so well in the warmer months, but we need to stop and consider that fish are alot like people and go thru mood swings too that affect their feeding patterns.

All of these baits have a place in the open water tackle box. I have a superb assortment that accompanies me whether it is to open water or thru the ice. And I have about twenty cards of the plastic replacements in two sizes and various colors.

Again Matt, great post.

[hanson]

I love Custom Jigs & Spins products! Of course my favorites are the Demon, Ratfinkee, and Ratso. They are just deadly on panfish.

I did happen to stumble across a new product that Custom Jigs & Spins has put on the market this year and that is the Demon Jigging Spoon. It is essentially the Demon jig molded into a jigging spoon. I absolutely LOVE jigging spoons and usually have one tied onto one of my rods. No doubt there are a good variety of spoons already on the market such as Scenic Tackle's Angel Eye Jr's & Go-Devils as well as Swedish Pimples, Buckshot Spoons, etc. But this variety allows us to fish different shape, weight, and colored spoons finding just the "right" one the fish want.

I can't wait to give them a shot this winter.

[Northlander]

Now if they make that in Glow it will get a lot of use by me on LOW and Red this year. Hanson did ya see any of these in a Red or Blue Glow?

[hanson]

Northlander-

That's what I was looking for once I found them and only found a Glow White. I'm willing to bet they are working on them. The Mega Glow Demon is an unreal lure!! If they put that paint on a Demon Jigging Spoon, lookout man!

If they don't, I have my Scenic Tackle Go-Devil in Glow Red that is absolutely phenomenal on those URL slabs.

But who can argue with a little variety!

[Fishbiz]

Northlander and all

Just wanted to drop in and let you know that all of the New Demon Jigging Spoons (Except the ones Gold Plated) Glow on both sides of the lures. We made a mistake and the first batch of product went out with out the Glow Brite sticker on them. We have since corrected that and in fact are changing the package to reflect that without a sticker needed.

The come in Mega Glow Blue, Mega Glow Red, and 8 other Hot new colors.

We also added some new glow colors to our popular Demon series this year, A Glow Purple, Glow Chartreuse, and 2 other combos.

We haven't updated our HSOforum as of yet, but hopefully it will be done by Thanksgiving time, so look for that so you can get all of our new products,as well as some new lines we are introducing on the HSOforum ,BEFORE they will be in stores.

Sorry don't mean to make this sound like a sales pitch, but I don't get much time,especially this time of year to cruise the boards, but wanted to let you all know all the Demon Jigging Spoons Glow.I hope to contribute more as the season goes on and to let you all know we welcome and value your thoughts, comments, etc on our products or maybe even some improvements you guys might think of.

Tight Lines,

Bob Gillispie

President

Custom Jigs & Spins Inc

[CNY Tim]

I'll say Bob.. Where da heck you been? I know I know, busy making more great products that catch fish. Well now that you stopped in I want to tell you that your small finesse plastic black is my favorite finicky bluegill lure oh and chartreuse glow ain't bad either and dont be afraid to T-Bone these baits either

[Ray Esboldt]

I like the looks of that jigging spoon. I like it a lot.

Over the years, I have bought a lot of different kinds of ice flys. The one that I know I have bought at least one of every year is a Demon. Crappies love them, perch love them, sunfish can get into them; but most of all pike seek them out. That point almost guarantees I need to buy more each year. They definitely are a bait you can never have enough of, and one of my favorites of all time.

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[Note from admin: The Custom Jigs & Spins Kits can be found by CLICKING HERE.]

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[CrappieJohn]

Bob ...Chris....what's the approximate weight of these little gems? I got my hands on a few quite similar to these last season in glow red and had very good luck with them. The ones I was able to find were about a hair short of 1/16 ounce.

[Note from admin: The Custom Jigs & Spins Kits can be found by CLICKING HERE.

[jig n' jerk]

Once again a very detailed and informative post from Matt Johnson. I and probably many others really appreciate(sp?) the wonderfull posts and information that you are willing to share. Thanks Matt!!

[hanson]

Tom-

The ones I picked up are a Size 2, I would estimate they are nearing the 1/8oz mark. There was another smaller size available as well, but I went for the bigguns!

[CrappieJohn]

Chris....Can you drop me an e-mail? Couple questions for you.

[delmuts]

i just wanted to say i got my order of your great plastics today! now i don't have to worry about running out! thanks

[Northlander]

Thats awesome news. Have to get a dozen of those babies for this winter for sure! That gold one will be the shiznit on LOW and the Glow Red or Blue will be hot on Red Lake. Hanson when we going to get together and test them out on some Red Lake Slabs?

[Matt Johnson]

Up-sizing to the size 6 Ratso gave me the upperhand today on the crappies. It not only allowed me to more effectively target fish in deeper water, but not having to always re-bait saved me time and frustration when hole hopping for these roaming pods of fish. The action the Ratso gives off is also outstanding for triggering finicky panfish. The Ratso is a great altnerative to live-bait and the size 6 is crucial for up-sizing when the time calls for it...

Plastics through the ice definitely have their place and time, and over the years they have earned a spot in my tackle arsenal!

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[Note from admin: The Custom Jigs & Spins Kits can be found by CLICKING HERE.]

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[Borch]

Matt,

The #6 Ratso is my go to lure for crappies. It's pretty rare that it's not effective for them through the ice(or open water for that matter).

[metrojoe]

Nice slabs Matt. I've been doing all right with the ratso myself. I may have to try the bigger size. I think I have 8's and 10's.

[metrojoe]

I placed an order last week. I'm hoping their in the mail today.

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[Note from admin: The Custom Jigs & Spins Kits can be found by CLICKING HERE.]

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[Rick]

If you ordered from us at Outdoor Pro Store they are already sent. All three kits are popular items.

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[Note from admin: The Custom Jigs & Spins Kits can be found by CLICKING HERE.]

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[Matt Johnson]

The Ratso strikes again!

I spent the last couple days chasing crappies, and the Ratso proved its weight in gold on those cruising fish!

I started off with a size 6 Pink/glow Ratso (no bait) and hole hopped over a shallow flat. The crappies were more than eager to intercept the jig, and the best part was that I could just drop back down and catch another one without putting on another maggot or fiddling with a minnow. This allowed me to catch more fish out of the school before it moved on.

After the feeding flurry began to wind down, I downsized to a size 8 pink/white Ratso (shown above) and that seemed to do the trick throughout the day. It allowed me to work a more finesse approach towards targeting those crappies, yet it still gave me the desired profile I wanted to keep those fish interested, and aggressive.

A great day on the ice!

[Rainydaze]

Nice Fish buddy! I love those pink and white Ratso combinations too!