Getting them to commit. Plastics/Jigging Spoons

[Craigums]

Ok so you've located the fish. and you can jig them to your bait (via flasher) now do you hold it steady to tempt them, slowly raise, slowly jig while raising, let it fall?

How do YOU approach this situation, if you are using plastics or jigging spoons?

[ozzie]

If I am going for panfish I always raise make them follow then stop and if they still haven't committed then a slight jig to make a tail flicker and that will usaully seal the deal....and I do this with both the spoon or the plastics.

[Borch]

It reallt depends on the mood of the fish. If they are aggressive jigging it until they gulp it is usually the appoach. The slow or sometimes a fast lift will trigger bites. Othertimes after you jig them up holding the jig still, (it still moves some)until the crappies sucks it in will work.

Guess what I'm saying is what the flasher and work the fish. Let them tell you how they want it. Keep changing it up until you find what works.

Good Luck!

[irishwalleye]

Jigging spoon and berkley grubs is one of my go to baits. If there is nothing on the screen, or fish were there and then left, then I will start higher off the bottom and aggressively jig. Moving deeper in the water column until fish show up.

If they rush to the spoon (aggressive) then i will stop jigging and slowly raise the spoon like I am trying to get away. Works really well on sunnies and perch.

If they slowly move in, then I will switch between letting it sit as still as possible or I will act like I am shivering. Just getting the bait to move.

Lastly I will jig aggressively until they show up then put the rod down and wait. Have quite a bit of success this way.

[slipperybob]

I go through

steady and jiggle

jiggle and rise

jiggle and lower

hardjerk and fall

if all else fails, I just spell my name...

[Craig Plummer]

 Originally Posted By: slipperybob

if all else fails, I just spell my name...

It usually comes down to this for me too hah

[Deitz Dittrich]

I'm a lot like Borch.. .I usually keep the jig moving, never let it stop, however the movements are small... If I graph a few fish and they dont take the lure, I will then start to checnge up to pauses and such.

[Corey Bechtold]

Craig, Every plastic will act differently. Vertical or Horizontal jigs? What style of plastic do you have?

What I typically like doing is put the bait in the water and give it a few jigs to see exactly what it is doing before you lower it down to the fish.

Since I like horizontal baits best I like to give it a few slight pumps of the rod tip which will get them to slide forward. While I do this I usually raise it slowly as the fish approaches. When they are closing in on the bait I will throw a pause so they might think of it as an opportunity to eat before it decides to take off again.

When it comes to plastics the sky is the limit. Start playing!

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[Craig Plummer]

HEY LOOK WHO IT IS!

As far as plastics go I've been using nuggies and expirementing with power minnows! seems like sometimes I'll pull fish up from the bottom they rush the bait, stop at it and slowly decend.

Also as far as plastics go has anyone expiremented with "cubby's" through the ice? I think i'm going to give them a try next time out, I like them in the summer.

[Corey Bechtold]

I tried some of these on some Backwaters and they seemed to work fine. They have a nice profile and matched the minnows that were swimming around down there.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[Matt Johnson]

I like to play a game a of cat and mouse. If they are going to eat then they will. If I continue to work over a school of a fish for more than five minutes with an interested fish then I'll move on.

If a fish comes in fast but does take it, that fish is hungry in my opinion, you just have to find what they want. Usually I'll upsize in that situation.

If a fish comes in slow and holds for a while, that fish is also hungry, but wants something smaller usually. So I'll downsize.

If the fish refuse to move or come in and leave as fast as they arrived, then I usually move and find more aggressive fish...

[Rick]

The cubby is a nice open water plastic. The design slows the fall more than some and gives the tail end an enticing wiggle. There are other plastics out there with a similar design that will work as well.

My test for ice fishing plastics is when I first put them in the hole and hold it still, does it look lifelike and move like something a fish will normally eat. There are all kinds of locomotion underwater and your job with the plastic is to mimic any of those numerous motions that signal food to your target.

Also check out how it looks when raised at differant speeds and how it looks when dropped at differant speeds. Once you are satisfied with the plastics movement......

From this point the best way to think about it is like a cat and a furball on a string. Usually getting the attention of the cat is primary. Once you have their attention you might wiggle it a little in their face to make them pounce. If it's a lazy cat maybe getting it close and taking it away slowly with a slight shake gets them jumpy.

Basiclly if they're not on a feeding binge, which is most of the time, it's your job to figure out what will make them either reaction strike or get them curious enough to sample your plastic offering.

Don't be afraid to drop the bait below them and slowly rise.

[muc33]

What is your best suggestion to getting line induce spin out. Until I got introduced to this crazy panfish gig, I never paid much attention to it. But on a small panny pole, I am never letting much line out at all, but still get spin??????

[Deitz Dittrich]

Line spin is usually created by bait/plastics not hook properly. If when you jig your lure it spins, its going to twist your line... When you hook your bait/plastics on let it down the hole a ways and watch to see if your lure is spinning.. If it is, do your best to re-rig it so it will not.

[muc33]

I most always by habit tie a Trilene, when you grow up and live your whole life 20 some miles from the company headquarters, lets just say, learning the trilene knot was like learning to breath. Is there better presentations or knots for certain presentations, for example, I was fishing a small ratso on 2lb test. Is that knot too big or aggressive or tough for that type of presentation?

[Matt Johnson]

I would also pay attention to how/when your drag was used last. Hooking a pike that causes the drag to rip for a while can cause line twist.

Another good way to avoid line twist is to add a small barrel swivel about 18-inches up from your presentation.

One way to get rid of line twist is to run your line out on the ice (without a jig) about 40-50 feet or so and then slightly pinch the line and reel it back in. It should take out a good portion of the twist, if not all of it. You can also do this at home by starting upstairs and walking downstairs as you let the line out... then just add a little pressure and reel it up. Holding the line with a sock or wet papertowel works well when adding that pressure...

[palisade1kid]

There's been several great tips posted in this thread.

I'd add that I'll try to work that fish to the ceiling of it's lift.I'm hoping that I can get it to think it's meal is about to get away which may trigger the strike.

If a fish is lifting I'll never drop to it.I find since the fish wants to feed up it will freeze in it's tracks if I do.

I may have lifted too far,so if the fish stays in my sonar cone I'll push it back down slowley.

If it stays below my bait I'll try to relift it without raising so high on the next lift.

Sometimes while pushing it back down it'll hit the bait.

If it cover's and does not hit after say 4 seconds I'll give my rod a 1" uplift pop.

Sometimes a plain deadstick aproach will get them and sometimes after a minute in your face hold I'll lift which will trigger them.

Sometimes it will take some serious seperation to get that fish to rifle up.

[kingkobbla]

If I can't get them to bite sometimes I pound the ground then lift it up a little bit.

[Realtor Boy]

I was always told when I was a kid that the fish werent biting due to me not singing to them....lol ...boy what i fell for when I was ten yrs of age..

[Deitz Dittrich]

Real--- no serious!.. you have to do the "Here fishy fishy fishy" song!! And not only that, but you have to hold your lips just right!

[Craig Plummer]

I just do the "Any minute now.....Any minute now"

[TNFL]

"c'mon c'mon... take it TAKE IT"

[palisade1kid]

na na na na you can't catch me.....

[50inchpig]

Hi, I'm a diehard musky guy from Missouri and I just took up the ice fishing this winter, moreso in the last month. Still trying to figure out the time/place for the jigging spoons, but the tips here on the jigs, plastics, and inducing bites are great.

Finally caught my first keeper crappie last night (released with the rest of them) and feel like I've started to put the pieces together a little. For the first time got to watch them come in, lifted up, and they ate. Who wouldn't like that?

Girlfriend is a little miffed, she thought I'd be around a lot more once the ice came but now I'm fishing all the time again. Still trying to get her out on the ice, she doesn't believe me it good warm fun.