Do you fish Eakins and other finesse jigs differently from other jig styles? Recently, I've read that Eakins jigs were intended to be slowly crawled like a crawfish, rather than hopped like other styles of jigs.

Thanks

Leon

I fish mine similiarly to a standard sized jig just a little slower.  I don't really finesse mine as much as most.  I just use the smaller profile as the "finesse" part of the presentation.  If the bite is way off then I will slow down and drag it more than hop it but most of my bites are on the fall as it is.  

If I am fishing structure then I tend to drag the jig instead of hop it but that is just because I am trying to get the jig to "transmit" what the bottom composition is.

Fish them any possible way you can think of - - they'll work.  Eakins-style jigs (I pour my own) are about the only jig I even throw anymore.  They're extremely versatile.  

I fish all my jigs the same way. I do vary presentations and jig style upon conditions not jig. Example football in rocks, pointed head in weeds, ETC.

If I had the same condition and 4 different style jigs.  They all would be fished the same way.

Thanks for the great info.  Leon

I don't crawl or drag my jigs unless I'm looking for something or bumping the jig into something. If you are just dragging a jig around with no cover you are not fishing it imo...

But I will pitch finesse jigs around docks and light cover and just either...

A) Just let the jig drop and go for reaction hits

Fish it like a shakey head. Where I will just let the jig fall, sit for a second or two, then shake it along the bottom for a foot or two.

Thanks Tin

I prefer a eakins simply because of the small profile. However, if paired with a bigger trailer, its one of the slowest sink rates you can get out of a jig IMO.I just picked up a few jigs from ALL TERRAIN TACKLE, I like the way there made but the Eakins is by far my favorite.

  My favorite jig. Match it with the biggest craw trailer you can find and drop it in a brush pile under a boat dock on Lake of the Ozarks and hold on.

One Dicks had them on clearance.  Yesterday I "cleared" them out.  I haven't been able to find them anywhere else.  I'm looking forward to trying them.  I now have so many (at a fair price) that I won't be hesitant to throw them in nasty places.

Eakins PB&J is my favorite jig. This time of year, I fish it slow. Aggressive fish want it hopped and will hammer it on the way down. However, in colder water, I have found that a slower crawl is more productive. The fish will pick it up off the bottom when it is still.

Winter and early spring are great time to use these. It's also a time a throw a lot of jerkbaits. You can tell what the fish wanton a jig by gauging how they react to a jerkbait. If they want a slower less erratic jerk like a pointer, then fish the jig slow and on the bottom. If they want a slash style jerk like an X Rap, then fish the jig faster by hopping it or swimming it.

If I'm fishing it on the bottom, I like a smaller chunk trailer. The fish aren't as aggressive and will be more likely to pick up a finesse bait. If I'm hopping it, I want a big chunk to make it fall slower and have a larger profile. One thing is for sure, the trailer is every bit as important as the jig in my experience.

Hope this helps.

EDITED to add a story

Two years ago I was fishing this same jig, covering a lot of water and hopping it along the bottom. I had not gotten the slighest hit. All of the sudden I hear a pretty loud F Bomb from my partner in the back of the boat. He had managed to stick a rat l trap in his calf. I dropped my rod and went over to help him. It wasn't too bad and i got the hook out with out having to cut the barb. Anyway, it took about a minute or two. I quickly realiuzed i had not reeled in my line and it was probably wrapped around a tree. I went over and started reeling it in quickly when i realized it was hauling A@$ sideways. So I reeled in the slack and set the hook. About 3 minutes later i pulled in a beautiful 6.5 pounder. From that moment on, we fished it slow and on the bottom. We ended up having a nice day with 5 fish over 4 pounds and a bunch under.

That jig was sitting on the bottom for several minutes without being moved and that big girl just slurped it right up.

Thanks, and great story