DitchPanda

Says me. In the original post I stated for bluegill in particular. If all I wanted was a plain old large jig with an oversized hook I'd stick to crappy wal mart marabou.

While those do look like fine jigs I believe they are more geared for bass. 1\16oz and size 2 hook is much too large. I'm thinking more like 1\64oz or less and size 10-12 hook.

I was assistant store manager of the grocery store here in town and I ran the meat department as well. Family owned store and I was very close with the owner...his son is one of my best friends. Great people to work for and I loved the customers...plus there is something therapeutic about cutting meat to me. The sad truth is I couldn't really make ends meet and I just wanted some financial flexibility instead of just scraping by or worse.

So I obviously know that marabou jigs have been around forever but was wondering about nicer, more refined jigs. Anybody tie there own jigs for bluegills in particular? Any good sites to buy nice bluegill hair jigs?

Well I had a pretty secure gig going 10 years ago...money wasn't great but it was getting better and I loved the job and people I worked for. One day I decided I couldn't live how I wanted on that salary so I gave it up and went into the biofuels industry. At the bottom rung of the ladder is where I started and in 9 years I went from 40k a year as an operator 1 to tech 3\water chemistry specialist and just under 6 figures. May not seem like much to some of you guys but considering the median income around here is 45-55k I feel very pleased with it.

I'd say without a doubt a smaller fights much harder than a largemouth lb for lb. That said I'd say a bluegill for the size is tougher than both of them. In my lifetime I've caught lots of river smallies in the 12oz to 1lb range and thousands of dink largies that size...all the bluegills I've caught that size would put both of those fish to shame. The bluegill may not be flashy and jump but the low end torque of a 1lb gill on appropriate tackle is something to behold.

Where I live they rust completely out before 250k unless your religious about washing them constantly or your driving for a living

Not sure what the requirements are for "old" but my current ride is an 05 Silverado Z71 with 150k on it.

I feel like the line question of 20lb vs 10lb can be answered with a real world circumstance. I've thrown plenty of shallow crankbaits on "too heavy" of line to make them run even shallower and found great success with that. I also read somewhere that Bill Lewis designed his trap to be straight retrieved but I've always found more success yo yo ing any lipless.

I was taught cursive in school but like the others mentioned above I almost never use it.

Just when I think you and I are much alike and aligned in our beliefs you go and turn my world upside down.

What website? Meteorologistsunited.com?

Its not the best beer by any means but its cheap. I hardly think its undrinkable. But then again everybody's tastes are different. My girlfriend got into white claw a few summers ago...I think they are disgusting and wouldn't force one on my enemies as torture because its to cruel.

So you like hamms? Did you ask him the appropriate question?

Well I haven't been drinking much as of late, but I'm on vacation with no set plans and my old lady is ticking me off so I think I'm gonna start working on a 6er.

Our forecast is rain\freezing rain with temps right around or below freezing for the next 2 days with wind gusts up to 40mph-Transitioning to snow Wednesday Thursday . Totals for snow for us look only like 2-3 inches but icy roads and high winds blowing the snow will make for some fun driving conditions.

Because of the winky face I can't tell if this is sarcasm

PBR is not very popular around here. My cheap beer consumption now days is pretty much Hamms.

Oh god why

Holy crap...3 crappie threads in one day for me...what can I say its winter. For those of you in the North country where do you look for crappie right at ice out? Favorite baits? Don't worry I plan to ice fish soon...to stop the hemmorage!

I was just messing with ya. I see this continued supply chain issue in alot of things. Big problem at the start was getting the necessary supplies to make the products..now it seems to be more of a manpower issue as tons of businesses are very understaffed. I ordered a chemical pump at work several months ago...the one that was on back order took 9 or 10 weeks to get. Pretty stupid.

Wow a conspiracy theory about baits? I didn't know Alex Jones was a bass fisherman from Ohio.

5000? Holy sh$% dude...I can't even count that high. I've switched all my bass and walleye spinning rods over to braid...maybe ill switch my crappie rods over to.

So I've always used 4-6lb trilene XL or xt depending on what I'm presented with for cover. That said I'm always open to be recommendations. What is your preferred string for papermouths?

Thank you for all the suggestions... I will definitely be adding some of these for spring.