I would appreciate any helpful insight on jig fishing- (beau-mac) colors and sizes to use, correct depths, water, etc.

I'm a drifter, have tried it a few times w/ sliding bobber and chartreuse beau-mac but I'm not 'converted' yet. My uncle is a realitive neophyte and wants to go this week. I figure a jig and bobber is a good way for him to start.

P/S - can they be tipped effectively w/ bait?

Thanks in advance.

I guess this would be a good place to find out the easiest way to get back to the board after making a post. I backed out on my browser and posted my question twice!

Everyone does it different, but I use a cork bobber with a glow stick as the stopper. I run my leader through the bobber then push the glow stick into the bobber as the stopper. Then I tie on a jig to the main line and fish. The bobber slides easily up or down the line by simply pulling the gs out and moving the bobber. This way will only be good when you are trying to present your jig less the 6' deep.
As for jigs nightmare is one of the go to colors for me. White or peach work as well. you can add shrimp oil or what ever you want.
hope this helps

I really like to use red and flesh patterns when Jig fishing. Seem to work well.

I wouldnt put any oil on it though because the oil will make the maribou all gummy and it wont look right underwater. Tip it with a small piece of shrimp or other bait if needed.

I've put in quite a few hours fishing jigs in the last 4-5 years. I would recommend looking at the thill style bobbers. I've fished every bobber known to man kind and have really enjoyed fishing with these the best. Floats well in fast water and doesn't provide much resistance to the fish on the take. I used them fixed for better sensitivity. I usually use anything from a nightmare jig to my favorite color pink. At times I'll use sand shrimp tail or just raw shrimp on the tip. Make sure your jig is running in a horizontal position and try to keep as much drag as possible off of the float. Thats where long rods come in handy. Good luck.

~steelymann~

Hoh#er ... just wait 'til your post goes through and then when it takes you to your post, I just click on the "Northwest Fishing Board" link up top

Hey y'all, pardon mah ignorance but what is a "nightmare jig". Tried the search function but didn't come up w/anything.

Thanx

Sincerely,
Roger

Yeah. what's a night mare jig. I make my own and would like some hints as well.

Nightmare.....Pearl white head, red chenille body and a black tail. The tail can be various materials. I prefer rabbit or yarn.

Make sure you make a sideways hookset & not a "12 o'clock".

Thills work great & set hook if you see the slightest downward movement.

Scent will gum up mariboo & not yarn. Make sure to wash it off with joy so as not to gum it up permanently when thru for the day.

15lb. powerpro of tuff line floats & works very well with bobber set up.

Some jigs come with elastic to hold your bait on.

Pinch the barb- better penetration & make sure its sharp.

Have fun!

Full Freezer

This is what we call "Nightmare" Jigs. I use both the round head and the bullet heads.
i hope this shows you what nightmare looks like



Cowlitzfisherman

cvowlitz, do you pour your own heads? or do you get them from hurley? and do you powder coat your heads and where would i find that color?

BERKLEY BOY75

Both Hurley and I fish together a lot!

Hurley was the one who taught me how to tie jigs. We are always experimenting on new jigs, colors, and bobbers

I use his jig molds all the time to pour my heads. I help him from time to time if he needs some jigs wrapped when he out of town. Or when he runs out of material, we share what materials I may have. You can get the powder paint down at Bob's in Longview. I used to use nothing but fingernail polish until I started using the powder paints. I still use a lot on nail polish to get the "right" colors. The powder paints can't come up with some of the colors that I can get from using the fingernail polish colors.

One thing that works great for me, is when I use the pearl white powder paint, I coat my final coat (head and wrap) with pearl white fingernail polish. That works great with other similar colored powder paints also. On the colors that I can't match with the powder paint, I use clear fingernail polish for the final head and wrap coat.

I hope that this will help you if you wrap your own jigs.

As far I am concern, you can't buy a better jig then hurley's jigs, or the price that he sells them for!


Cowlitzfisherman

Do the bullet heads help to keep the jig horizontal as they are shown in the picture?

Many times my jigs go vertical so the tip of the hook points straight up, which is not the preferred method.

Sometimes you just can't beat those bullet heads! They tend not to get stuck as much as the rounds heads do, but both work great if you know how to use them! I switch off from round heads to bullet heads all the time. Your knot will decide to some degree which way your jig will be floating (and I don't know if that really makes a big difference either). The picture is not the way that a jig really floats most of the time. According to all the so-called experts, they should actually be floating at 180 degrees from what the pictures shows (i.e. upside down). Like all experts already know, do whatever works and produces fish for you…that's what I do!

Good luck

Cowlitzfisherman

What's the "preferred knot fer tyin jigs to leader (to get them to ride correctly)?

Thanx

Sincerely,
Roger

RRR

This is my personal "preferred Knot"

There are very few that use this self developed knot. Both I and a friend of mine kind of think that we both developed it about 30 years ago! You won't see it anywhere that I know of…but you will see one that is very similar to it. I had a lot of fun over the years at the sport shows playing mind games with all the line reps with this knot. I have never seen a knot that tests out any stronger at the breaking scales!

It's a simple one to use (most of the time). I call it the "double improved clinch knot"! It is exactly what it is named. Just Double your line and make a complete "clinch not" (http://camalott.com/~striper/bait/knots/knots.html). The trick is not to cut your self sort on the small end of your knot and I always add a "little spit" to my knot so that it will not rub to hard when you pull it tight! The same knots works really well with all those new spider type of woven lines.

It is the "only knot" that I have used for tying my jigs and swivels for the past 30 years! It works great on monofilaments line up to 60 lb test.


Cowlitzfisherman

Thanx CFM. Lately I've been usin the Palomar knot for most things. It seems like whatever knot I use it doesn't cinch down tight enough to make the ride horizontal. I wet the line twice -- once before tyin the knot and once before tightenin it.

Take care and tight lines

Sincerely,
Roger

You are more than welcome!

Remember that water is NOT the same lubricant as "spit is". Use your mouths liquids to lubricate your line…water just won't do the job, or cut it!


Cowlitzfisherman

Oddly enough, I have fished w/several people that believe that spit works as a fish attractant.

I took the family clam diggin one morning and there musta been about two dozen or more people floggin the water in search of Dollys. I dug clams, messed around with the family fer quite some time, and did not see any fish hooked. Got my rod, walked down to the water, tied on a lure, of course I lubed up the line w/a copious amount of saliva. You guessed it! On my second or third cast, I caught a nice Dolly -- the only one caught that morn. Wonder if it was the spit?

Sincerely,
Roger