Jigfishn10

I generally fish it like River Rat316 mentions, but if you're catching fish the other way, then keep going until the fish say change it up.

Well I got some dog walking practice in today...1 on a Spook Jr. Casted 3' off the bank and retrieved it paralell. That fish exploded on it with no hook up. Went back 2 more tiems, same thing. On the fourth cast to the same spot I was able to button up...LOL First topwater fish of the year...FELT GREAT! EDIT: Went back and got 3 more and a crappie...

Just came back from Lexington. I spent 2 hours there and saw 5 males guarding beds. Got 1 buck on a jig & grub and enticed one 3 times, but took my jig and moved it.. He was 8' in front of me. Three times I pitched to the bed and let it sit there. Twitched my rod so that the jig moved about an inch, after about 5 tritches he moved it off the bed, never really having a good grip on it to set the hook....LOL...I left him alone after that.

The lure I was having problems with was a 3" spit'n image. It's an older one when excalibur produced them back in the very early part off the 2000's. I had a lot of trouble walking that as mentioned above. I use a Medium Heavy Power - Medium Fast Action BC rod. I have 15lbs spooled up and in order to get longer casts I drop the lure about a foot or so below the rod tip. The softer tip allows the bait to whip out at the cast and provides a nice shock absorber during the strike. Because the bait is light any additional hardware on the line tie - split ring or snap - pulled the nose down just enough to make the bait harder to walk. So now I tie direct. I wouldn't say that this bait walks a lot faster, because JF is right, smaller baits do walk faster. It does have a tighter side to side action than longer dog walkers I've used. Good luck, I hope you find your mojo with the ones you're trying to fish with.

Good luck.

I actually had problems with a small dog walker. Same thing, you stopped cadence and it was hard to get going. I took off the split ring at the line tie attachment and it was like I rediscovered my dog walking abilities. Line is also a factor, thicker line line 15-17 lbs is ideal (for me anyway) for dog walking. 10 lbs test tends to sink too much for me and will make the bait sink like a seal. Maybe try the above and let us know how you make out. Hope this helps.

You got into making jigs as well, huh? What an addictive hobby that is...LOL I'm not sure what you have for jig heads, but do you have any brush guards you can drill out the jig head and glue in? I know GMAN was selling a bunch of them on the Fleamarket forum, if not you can purchase some at an online tackle making store. GMAN, cadman or a couple of other guys on here may have a better way.

Have you tried the usual tackle making suspects? Janns, Barlows, Luremaking.com?

That's awesome GMAN, I hope you're able to get some pics, I would love to see them. Good luck out there!

I love them on a jig, but I'll fish them t or c-rigged as well.

I started as a flyfisher for trout and there was nothing like a trout rising for a dry, but the season was too short here in MA at the waters I fished in. I started bass fishing with a Rebel Pop - R. All it took was one explosion by a bass and that was it, I'm all in...LOL

I'll go as far as sharpening jigs if that particular jig is producing for me. I don't like to get the jig gods mad at me.... Nothing wrong with sharpening hooks, seems to be a lost art, IMHO. Treble hooks, well that's a different story.

Cool Nashua, You want me to add your son as a sole participant? Give me a screen name for him and he can be a sole participant or you guys can be a team. Doesn't matter to me.

Thanks BusBassin. This is shaping up to quite a field of anglers. Can't wait to get started!

Figure out the pattern before you crank up the trolling motor. For example: You caught a couple fish near a stump on the shady side, hit every stump you can find and cast to the shady side.

I use a fine triangular file followed up with a honing stone. Hold the spinnerbait so the hook is facing toward you. Put the hook on it's side (parallel to the flat side of stone or file) ) so that the hook point rests flat against the file or stone. Lift up slightly and drag the hook point towards you and repeat 2 more times. Flip the bait over 180* and repeat by draging the point towards you three times. Turn the bait 90* so the hook is now perpendicular to the stone or file (lay hook point flat and then lift slightly) and drag towards you 3 times. Your sharpening three sides. If you do not feel that the hook is sharp enough, repeat and equal amount of tiems on each side to acheive desired sharpness. I hope I described that right.

That is pretty funny! I just got this e-mailed to me:

Lately it's been blades and grubs for me. Our waters are getting real close to topwater time.

Awesome, we have 13 anglers (NUTS) entered in. I have the list of all who responded on the very first post along with a count down of days until the start. We still got some time, so hopefully we can get a few more.

In addition to what has been posted, I like tubes as well.

I'm a firm believer that weed guards are an essential part of jig fishing in weeds. I like to trim them down or thin them out during early season bassin when the vegetation isn't as thick. From mid-saeason on I'll leave them alone. If I'm fishing brush and timber, I'll use an arky type jig which has a hook that is bent at 60* for the line tie. I like jigs for weeds that have a 30* bend in the hook and a more bullet shape to the head.

Very nice inded A-Jay. I'm with you on the jig never making it down to the bottom, there is not a better jig bite IMHO. Congrats on your day.

Anyone else wanna join in?

I've rebuilt a few rods and Aplster is correct in saying that you can damage the rod blank if you're not careful. I would not be discouraged though, because you sound like you want to learn this. I would suggest using a rod you don't use or care for anymore and experiment/practice on removing and installing guides on it, then try splitting the grip on it. If you don't have a rod that you can do that to, then you can pick one up for around $10 at Wally World and use that as the ginnea pig. Just a thought.

A Flyers fan graciously accepts defeat and wishes you luck. A Habs fan is 1 series removed and still needs one of these: