Best technique for using a swedish pimple type jig?

[midwesthunter]

I have never really used a swedish pimple type jig until I started fishing Mille Lacs this year. What have you found to be the best way to use these jigs. I have been jigging them pretty constantly and let them rest every now and then. I have been tipping them with a crappie minnow or fathead head. Do you usually have a bobber on the line to keep it off the bottom when you arent jigging?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Jim Hudson]

Midwest

The simple method to using a jigging spoon is to flutter it to the bottom first.. Most people just drop the spoon like a rocket, but in reality, I think at times this spooks a lot of fish right in the area. So instead, gradually lower the spoon down near bottom...

After reaching the depth you will be fishing.. Let the lure sit for a few seconds.. One, this will allow the line to untwist.. Two, it will allow to see if there is any fish there right away.. A lot of times, where you are right on a good spot, the fish will be there and the simple method of just letting the spoon and minnow and or minnow head/tail will allow them to gobble it up..

If nothing shows on your electronics after your initial pause, give three to five good snaps of your rod tip, letting the spoon flutter a foot or two each time. What your doing here is calling in the fish.. And with very aggressive fish they will rush in and hammer the bait as you are jigging... But, for the most part, in the winter.. especially with walleyes we are talking about neutral to off fish... So calling them in as described is good.. but after your initial jigs of the spoon, let it come to rest for 30 or seconds.. Seeing if a fish makes a move in on the bait... If so, simply just lifting the bait away from the fish can make it commit.. This works a lot of the times... If the simple pull away doesnt seem to work, but the fish is still sniffing, you may have to shake the treble/minnow a bit while pulling away... Just use a slight jigging motion, and I mean slight... and the treble with your offering will swing and tempt the fish... Or you may have to hold the bait motionless for sometime before the fish takes it... Your electronics will show the moodiness of the fish and just adapt to what you see... Over time with the use of electronics you will see how easy it will be to judge this stuff.. A reason why electronics are so beneficial in icing fish...

But say you have jigged the three or five times.. let it sit for a brief time... and still no fish has come in... Then just repeat the process and go from there until a fish moves in.. Then work it from there...

In my mind, a lot of times, people jig way to much... And I feel this scares fish more then what people actually think.. On those hot bites anything will work and the constant jig will as well.. But during those tougher times, experiment with what you do with that lure.. Slow down... jig less.. deadstick more... and you will be suprised with your results..

Hope this helps a bit and I am sure others will add more as well...

Good luck with those pimples.. Excellent lure..

[james_walleye]

I ran across some walleyes a couple weeks ago where I did very well with spoons. It was a different bite though. I was sweeping that spoon a good 2 feet up and letting it freefall. When the fish showed up on the vexilar i did the all the subtle stuff. I didnt work. The only way i could get a fish too hit that spoon was after about 5-10 seconds with the fish sitting there, once i again i would rip it up 2 feet very aggressively. Every fish hit it on the first or second rip. They hit it when i let it freefall back too them.

[Meat-Run]

Midwesthunter,

here is my .02. I have several regular swedish pimples but the one I go to the most is the Vigla pimple. What it has differently and most fisherman don't realize is that the wings on it make it flutter out further when lifted up and lowered down. What technique I do is lift it up 2-5 feet when fish are in the area BTW and let it drop down but not that it will touch bottom. What happens next is that it swim-likes back to its most vertical position. I hope this makes sence. The lure tipped with a minnow head looks like it is swimming or trying to escape and you feel the bite instently.

[BobT]

Sounds like good advice, Jim. Here's how my dad taught me to jig. Ever play with a kitten using a ball or other object on a string? As you twitch the string and tease the cat into pouncing, use similar tactics with your jigging. After all, you are doing a similar thing trying to tease a fish into pouncing. The difference is that you can visually see the cat's reaction and adjust your tactics some accordingly. You can use sonar to effectively do the same thing. It does take practice.

Bob

[Dances with Walleye]

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I have never really used a swedish pimple type jig until I started fishing Mille Lacs this year. What have you found to be the best way to use these jigs. I have been jigging them pretty constantly and let them rest every now and then. I have been tipping them with a crappie minnow or fathead head. Do you usually have a bobber on the line to keep it off the bottom when you arent jigging?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

---

Now I'm one of those wierdo's who keeps a journal in order to reflect on and learn from.

Here's my highest percentage tactic..

Keep in mind that I use a Vex 90% of the time, and work in concert.

I strongly reccomend using 6 pound Vanish... Because well.. Why bring a knife to a gun fight? Also note, when you spool the vanish Spool it on straight, with the old someone running a pencil through the spool, directly in line with your top eye... As this will reduce line twist in the end. (More on this later.)

Take a moment to tie a slip bobber stop some 15-20 feet up the end of the line. (More on this later.)

When it comes to day bite walleye, (Especially on Mille Lacs) it usually ends up that you're fishing perch on the day bite. SP works great for them as well. (In fact the only thing that I don't jig a pimple for is Sunnies!)

Now I set up my rig, by tieing and in-line small bearing swivel about 12-18 inches up the line. NOTE you want it to be at a length, where as you're reeling up a big fish, and you get him to the hole you ABSOLUTELY DO NOT WANT the bearing swivel to hit your top eye.

Assuming your knots are good, the only time you're going to face a breakoff from compromise line is going to be if you hit that top eye with the swivel.

What the swivel, and properly spooled line does...

Jigging causes line torsion, which causes line twisting... When your line twists, and you bring the lure at Pause, your Pimple or jig simple sits there spinning the tosion out... It spins clockwise for 10 seconds... Then counter clockwise for 8 seconds... Then clockwise of 6 second... Then CCW for 4 seconds... Then CW for 2, and FINALLY after 30 seconds, it's resting still.

Well from what I've observed on a camera, along with my buddies, and some articles I've read, is that fish in a Neutral to negative feeding mode tend to nose up to and then ignore a spinning presentation, as it's unnatural. (But more on this yet to come.)

So you get yourself rigged up with a medium-small dorsal hooked fat-head minnor on your favorite silver and red with red trebble pimple... You drop it down on the vex until just before bottom. (Try to avoid actually hitting bottom and stirring up sediment, as for fish it's the equivalent of standing in car exhaust... Now when's the last time you wanted to eat a cookie standing in a cloud of car exhaust?)

Once you've found your lowest position some say... 8-12 inches off bottom... Adust your bobber stop to the applicable depth and clip on an adjusted Yellow foam bobber... Cut appropriately.

What this does is keep you from over jigging too deep... Or say you have to take a leak... Grab a rattle reel, or whatever reason you want to put your rod down for, it keeps you from digging into bottom, and stirring up that bottom cloud.

Now lets take a moment here to discuss grip...

A lot of people use the same grip on a jiggle stick as they do on their summer trolling rod... I prefer the pistol grip... It allows me a different level of finesse as my hands are more involved in jigging, than my wrists and forearm... Though hook setting does take some time to get used to, so I reccomend doing some pan fishing (Or in this case downsizing for small perch) so that you can get the hang of the new mechanics... Once you get used to pistol grip (Which takes 15-20 hook sets) you'll start falling in love with it. (More to come.)

****

Now lets talk jigging strategy...

So you've got yourself set up so that your lowest point of rest is just off of bottom. And you've got your insurance bobber... You're marking some perch on the vex and you're ready to get going.

Posture is important here... Your elbow needs to rest on something... Knee... Table... Arm of the chair whatever... Your elbow is rested, your elbow is bent to so that your forearm is around say 75-80 degrees. With your wrist cocked as if you were going to shoot someone in the thigh.

Forever and always your rod tip must be pointed level to the sheet of ice or lower.

Now you've got this school of perch lighting up your vex... You'll know it's perch on the fall, because perch and crappies will come up to see what's coming down... A Neutral to Negative Walleye will not.

You get down to it, and the pattern is:

Lift-Fall...

Upon reaching your down position, you give an aggressive jig for 5-8 seconds, by pulsing the muscles in your forearm... Sort of jiggling the angle of your forearm 5 degrees each way... Your wrist will bounce, and this will translate to the motion of the pimple. (Also wakes up a slowed down minnow.)

You hit your agressive stage...

Then Dead stop for a 10 Mississippi count...

Then you do what's called "Nodding." It's a subtle motion in which you flex your thumb and the carpal hand pad of the index finger. (Where the index finger meets the palm... give it say 10 gentle squeezes... Then a 30 second pause.

then you "Tap" Which is simply a matter or Tapping your index finger, with the same amount of force you would use while typing... Give it say 10-15 taps...

30 second pause... If nothing... It's time for another lift fall, where you keep the rod tip in the same verticle column over the hole, but extend your elbow straight, and then return to the starting position.

***

That's the basic technique which has yielded the highest hook up percentage.

****

Now for a couple of little notes...

-Remember when I talked about the value of the swivel and proper reel loading...

Now imagine that you've got yourself a bunch of line torsion built up for whatever reason... With the swivel in place, the line torsion plays out it's spin in the swivel, allowing your Pimple to sit as close to dead ready as possible...

Otherwise it takes some odd 30 seconds (Depending on depth and degree of torsion) for that line to play out it's spin... .If you're only pausing for 30 seconds, before going to some form of active jigging and it take the line 28 seconds for the line torsion to play itself out, that means you've only been offering an effective presentation for 2 friggin' seconds...

That's roughly 4 seconds a minute that you're running at your highest percentage chance for hook ups... Not to mention what possible effect that spinning bait has when it comes to spooking touchy fish like the walleye/perch family.

***

Now if you don't have a vex... Then yes it's okay to hit bottom to find it... Just use the bobber stop as your fail safe from then on... The bottom (depending on it's make up) will settle back to normal in a minute or two.

[fisherking01]

Don't hit the bottom???? That's a proven technique in anyones walleye game. Baitfish do hide on the bottom, and perch (a common baitfish) fan the bottom in search of food, this is quite often the dinner bell for hunting walleyes. I've caught a lot of walleyes bouncing the pimple or go devil on the bottom, even laying it on the bottom. there are so many ways to present a lure, there is no magic movement for all fish. You need to vary your presentations according to how the fish are reacting. My opinion of course. Brent

[Team Otter]

'Dances' and Jim have it more than covered. The only thing I would add is don't over-complicate this type of lure/presentation. This is a very simple lure and it should be fished that way. Tweaking here and there can be done on the water when the fish have a chance to tell you what they want.

[Dances with Walleye]

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Don't hit the bottom???? That's a proven technique in anyones walleye game. Baitfish do hide on the bottom, and perch (a common baitfish) fan the bottom in search of food, this is quite often the dinner bell for hunting walleyes. I've caught a lot of walleyes bouncing the pimple or go devil on the bottom, even laying it on the bottom. there are so many ways to present a lure, there is no magic movement for all fish. You need to vary your presentations according to how the fish are reacting. My opinion of course. Brent

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Well as I stated above... It's the highest percentage I've found in my records, not "The only possible way a Sweedish pimple can be jigged."

However it's also worth noting that in my records, that the more "Into the bottom" I've worked, the lower my hook up percentage has been.

But still not impossible.

I've found that the best way to get a Walleye Day bite to come into my area is to get the perch to hang out under me instead of moving on (Which is their general pattern.)

The Walleye are looking for the perch. With close attention to the Vex I can sometimes feel when an eye is coming in... As I'll have the attention of the perch, working them over and sorting... All kinds of blips and stripes on the vex... Then suddenly nothing...

Then bottom looks like it comes up 6 inches, and BOOM, there is Mr. Walleye on my line. He's swimming on the periphery, picks up the sensation of many perch being active... Goes aggressive, and moves in... They scatter... And what's this... A wounded Minnow?

Keeping the attention of a school of perch goes a heck of a lot further, and makes a heck of a lot louder dinner bell for attracting a walleye, than a single minnow attempting to give the impression that it's a perch feeding on Mayfly larvae.

****

And of course bottom content means a lot... A gravel bottom doesn't kick up that cloud like a muck bottom... But Mayfly larvae aren't found with much frequency in gravel bottom, areas.

[hanson]

Lots of good info here! Lots!

I would like to add to the bottom pounding technique! Do it! Don't be afraid of hitting the bottom with your spoon or resting your spoon on the bottom for awhile. Fish will pick it up right off the bottom.

Perch in the winter are notorious for feeding on the bottom, especially over soft bottom areas like the mudflats and mudhumps on Mille Lacs. They are looking for food and that food is right in the mud.

Winnibigoshish is another lake that comes to mind where the perch dive bomb the bottom looking for food. They root around in the mud with their mouths looking for little critters.

Dropping your spoon into the mud and putting it right in front of the perch's noses is a very effective technique.

[zachp]

The other day i caught a 25" and a 21" walleye by letting a angel eye jr. drift off to the side of the hole and hit bottom, then slowly walking it back by bouncing it off bottom until it got back under the hole. Neither fish showed up on the marcum because the jig was probably 10 to 15 feet off to the side, both fish hit very hard.

[mille lacs muskie bum]

What is your favorite spoon color for eyes? Mine is a silver pimple with green reflector tape.

[fiskyknut]

You betcha Zack, that's a great way to fish those AE's.

[Team Otter]

I'm partial to gold with white polka dots.

[Blake]

I agree Hanson.....My buddy used to ALWAYS rig up his perch poles for 12 inches off the bottom...Until I consistently outfished him with my whip pole, no bobber.....I'd tell him to get rid of his bobber and he would catch em....he's stubborn(like me ), so it took a few years....he's a better fisherman than I, but we can all learn something from our buddies! When they are aggressive, I'd use a bigger sinker as it would get to the bottom quicker....I'd leave it for 10-15 seconds and often they'd have it as I make my first jig...Gosh, I need to get out soon!!!

[V-12 Merlin]

Wow, great information, thanks everyone!

But... being Minnesota, why doesn't anyone sell Norwegian Pimples????? Maybe tipped with Lutefisk????

[Blake]

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Wow, great information, thanks everyone!

But... being Minnesota, why doesn't anyone sell Norwegian Pimples????? Maybe tipped with Lutefisk????

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They do v-12.....try dat charlie johnsons der in dulute!

[Team Otter]

You might have something there.