Jig Man

Naptha is my preference for bearings when I can find it. Otherwise I use acetone.

Midwest covers a large area with diverse bodies of water. It would help to know where you are located. I fish 4 different highland reservoirs in the Midwest in the winter and no 2 of them are the same.

My Lowrance units killed my cranker graveyard dead in a year. When I changed to Humminbirds they did the same thing even with the X2 1150 cca agm so I installed a house battery (100 amp hr) lithium with a stand alone Minn Kota 10 mph charger.

I usually get about 4 years out of a set of trolling motor batteries and the same with the cranker. If it took more than a few hours to charge my cranking battery it would get replaced.

Back at you. I’m watching the turkey in the smoker.

If you hold the jig eye with needle nosed pliers or forceps no paint gets into the hook eye.

If you have a heat gun and powder paint you can do it. It won’t be bulletproof but better than nothing. I do it with Ned heads that have a molded in weedguard.

Yes you can. That was a common problem with the Evinrude and Johnson motors several years ago. Guys just disconnected it, mixed their own and went on. I had a couple of them. Just be sure you are doing the right mixture.

Swim baits, shaky head and 3/16 oz jigs

No I don’t. I keep my rod tip high and watch the line.

For me it is a 7’ mf spinning rod with 15# braid and a 12# fluorocarbon leader tied with the fg knot.

White slider grubs work well as do Arigs with swim baits or flukes on them. Small bucktail jigs have produced a lot for me when I used to target them.

I wouldn’t give it a second thought. Just go fishing.

You’ll never know unless you try it. You might try some colored blades instead of the usual silver.

I use 7’ mlf and mf St. Croix Premier for Ned. The ml is for weights under 1/8 oz and the m is for 1/8 and heavier. They are used with 2500 and 3000 Shimano Stradics containing 15# braid and fluorocarbon leaders.

I had it front and back for several years. In the front it wasn’t very useful. When I traded boats I didn’t get a unit with it and don’t miss it.

I fish it a lot. Right now smallmouth are from 2-6’ deep where I fish so I am rigging light (1/16 and 3/32). I carry 1/16, 3/32, 1/8, 5/32, 3/16, and 1/4. Slight changes can really make a difference if you are attuned. Wind can really affect what I use.

In my boat I have around 20 with multiple rods for each application. When I am a guest I have to limit to 6; top water, C rig, 2 jig, shaky and swim bait/Ned rig.

I use willow leaf blades instead of dummy baits, more flash.

I’ve tried about every color and combination you could think of, even making the bottom wire longer. I’ve seen no difference. I now only use white baits which I make, flukes and paddle tail swim baits.

I believe that you are overthinking this one. I make my own and have used hooks from 1/0 to 4/0 depending the target species. Where I fish I have to keep the bait in the upper part of the water column because of all the hang ups. In order to do this I like 1/16 oz heads on 90° hooks. I use the heaviest of my rods with 50# braid.

Ebay has used ones all the yime.

I do a lot of shaky fishing. I tried several of my rods of various manufacturers and wasn’t really satisfied. I was dow at Ark Rods spring sale and picked up a rod to try. It turned out to be better than the ones I was using. I had a local rod builder repair a rod and talked to him about this. He had me bring the rod to his shop along with the reel that I used. He gave it a thorough look and said he could make me a better one. He did. It is extremely sensitive. I liked it so well that I had another one made with the same components. Maybe it is sensitivity or confidence. I don’t know but I am not going to change.

You might look at Dirty Jigs guppy head. I’ve used them some.

You seemed to be referencing hooks so I only mentioned them. I can put any weight that I want from 1/16 to 1/2 depending on which mold cavity I use.