Jig and Shad Baits

[10,000 Casts]

I saw an in-fisherman and Doug Stange swears by rigging a large 6" plastic shad on a large grassmaster (or other weedless Jig). He rigs it sideways istead of the normal way. It looks extremely weedless and definitly worth a try. Plus it will only cost 3 or 4 bucks to rig one up. Have any of you guys used this method? What do you think? (I want to cast it).

Thanks

John

[Random guy]

I hook the salt shaker shads or shad type plastics similar to what I believe Bass guys call a "Carolina Rig"? The head or end of the bait pushed up tight to the jig and the point of the hook buried in the plastic to make it weedless. Another factor to hooking the shad style plastics sideways is you can control the rate of fall or glide that a jig will have from the body of the plastic creating resistance.

We now as musky anglers also have a large selection of weedless jigs made just for us such as the J-Mac jig, Jig A Beast,Lil Hustler,Cobra Jig and other such versions that come with weed guards and rubberized skirting wrapped around super tough hooks.

[cjac]

They are very versatile and can be very productive. Think of how many "bass guys" catch muskies on their jig/pig presentations and you'll see what I mean.

Thorne Bros is carrying a few more pre-rigged versions too, I picked up a couple of the Cobra Jig set ups, pretty nice. Little shorter trailer than the 6 inch Shakers.

Don't be afraid to work them in a straight retrieve sometimes too, the action itself and the flutter from the Shaker turned sideways is tempting. I get bit by pike when bringing the bass jig back in on a straight line after working the weed edge all the time......muskies will do the same.

One more plus......there are $4-$6 a piece, so if you're starting out it's a little easier on the wallet than $20+ a lure.

[Brett Erickson]

One problem with the shads (like the 6"Saltshaker) is getting a good hookset. These shads are big and take up a lot of the gap of the hook. If you are going to run shads on jigs, look for ones with big gapped hooks. ERC's Jig-A-Beast has a large Mustad Ultra-Point hook with a bigger gap. The new Stick-Um jig is the premier jig for the big plastics. You old farts might recognize it as the old Redfern jig. It has a 8/0 Owner Saltwater hook that easily accommodates these bulky baits.

As far as brush guards, cut them off! Muskies are not bass. They don't have the 'lips' like a bass does. The brush guard will cost you some fish when it comes to muskies.

When the hype on the 'big bass jig/plastic shad' first began, I tried it. That year I lost 6 fish on them. Since I have found better jigs (and modifying them) I only lost one.

Brett Erickson

www.thornebros.com