4 replies to this topic

[fowlskies]

Looking into tying some of my own jigs.  I just purchased some tanned rabbit fur scraps off ebay to start.  Just waiting for them to come in the mail.  I would like to tie them like the ones in this video.  Love the action that they produce.



Does anyone have any tips on how to tie jigs like these for a beginer?

[smalljaw67]

They do have a lot of action but you don't want that much movement in cold water. I don't use the rabbit fur but I use Zonker strips, what I do is tie a normal hair jig using bucktail , I leave the back of the jig a little light with hair and insead tie on 1 or 2 zonker strips, these work well as trailers. For a warm water hair jig I will use 2 zonker strips because as I lift and drop the jig I want a lot of action and those strip moving will attract the fish and then when it is stopped, they slowly begin to fall and you'll find that you get a lot of bites a few seconds after the jig has hit the bottom. For cold water I will use only a single zonker strip but not on all my jigs, I only will tie one on when it it is going to be used in a lake, and the single zonker will still provide that movement but with a smaller profile that is sometimes needed in colder water. In rivers were there is current the zonker strips in my opinion create too much movement, you want the fish to think they are going to get an easy meal, not something super lively they may have to chase, and so far it seems to work as I have tried jigs with and without the strips and without have out produced the other by a wide margin. To tie them simply tie them like you would bucktail but you need to cinch down pretty good, I also tend to use a few extra wraps of thread when I use the rabbit zonkers but nothing special.

[fowlskies]

smalljaw thanks. I don't do too much winter fishing.  It's more to add to my regular fishing from early spring to late summer.  But maybe I'll tie ones with less action so depending on the bite I'll have options.

So, you just tie at the top of the jig?  I thought you might have to tie down the hook more so it didn't float up off the hook.

[Jigfishn10]

I actually had lot of luck with zonker strips on a jig and a spinnerbait using silicone skirts. The jig was a real productive early season jig for me last year and the spinnerbait caught my PB a week and a half after ice out: You never know unless you try.

[smalljaw67]

fowlskies, on February 07 2012 - 09:40 PM, said:

smalljaw thanks. I don't do too much winter fishing.  It's more to add to my regular fishing from early spring to late summer.  But maybe I'll tie ones with less action so depending on the bite I'll have options.

So, you just tie at the top of the jig?  I thought you might have to tie down the hook more so it didn't float up off the hook.

All you need to do is tie a normal collar, the zonker isn't going to float off the hook, in fact they don't float, what you see in the video is a jig hitting the bottom and the zonker is straight up and down but it is only that way for a very short time, once in hits bottom it starts to slowly sink. If you tied it half way down the hook shank you wouldn't get much movement out of it.