I really dont use jig and bobber for summer runs but I am thinking of trying since I have had pretty good success with the winter runs. I have heard people say that you should use darker colors than what you use for the winters. If anybody could help me out and tell me some colors that work pretty good for these spooky summer runs.

When using a jig and float for summer runs, you need to adjust for water conditions, just like with winters. In low, clear flows thing 1/16 ounce jigs in pale colors such as light pink and white. In high flows, like we have around here right now, I would start with my favorite winter jig - cerise 1/8 ounce.
My next choice would be hot pinkor red.

Having said the above, I do know that black has been a go-to color for many summer run fly flickers. It should work well as a jig color too.

For lower, clear flows try white, black, or even crawfish colors. Pinks and light pinks also will work too. Go small..

Don't forget to put a little sand shrimp tail on the hook of that good old jig..... You'll be pleasantly surprised

I do ALOT of jig fishing and these are my absolute favorties.

GI Joes sells Osprey jigs.
Pink Head/purple body 1/8 oz

Silentapproach.com
ambush series: Pink head/pink body 1/8 oz


Summer or winter runs by far these will put them on your stringer.

rede and black
purple
brown
Are all good colors
SILENT APPROACH JIGS ALL THE WAY for me. Rodger even talked to me amd helped with all my questions. Shoot him an email and he will definatly help you out!
Kris

The two hottest colors for my summer run fishing have been black/cerise and pink/cerise rabbit fur or marabou jigs in 1/8 oz or 1/16 oz depending on flows. That being said ,the only fish I got on the opener took a green butt skunk pattern tied on a jighead

B Mac: Can you post a pic of the GBS Jig? I'm picturing a black size 1/16 or 1/8 head. That's a good option, use simple fly patterns tied on jig heads.

Fj if you want to see a gbs jig go to first cast jigs and look under the speacilty jigs.
Kris

My favorite color jig is whatever Dogfish gives me.

I've tried a few store-bought jigs, but only catch steel on the ones I bum off of Dogfish.

Color doesn't seem to matter, as long as they know I didn't buy it in a store.

Fishingjunky

Here is a picture of the Green-Butt Skunk pattern I tie. I'll use this jig for summers and also for winter steelhead in low, clear water. A few incidental Springers have taken this pattern too.




Mark

Fishjunkey15 here's the GBS pattern B-Mac was using to catch that fish he was talking about...



here's the version I've been tying up

Maybe color really isn't all that important? So far, there at least 11 different colors mentioned for summer steelies on this thread. I have kept a list from here and from different magazines and am up to 37 different colors/ patterns for steelhead that people swear by. Seems like the only constant is small jigs for clear water and either dark or pale color; larger and brighter jigs for water a little off color

TM: I agree with you 100%. I have definately seen times when color was important, but overall it's a matter of using a few you are confident in, that are an appropriate size and color for water conditions.

I have never been a fan of red, until last year on the Clackamas when they were showing a strong preferance for 1/8 ounce red jig. That said, a top rod will do better with an okay color than a poor rod will with the "right" color.

All the colors mentioned are the same for winter and summer
So it seams color doesn't matter much....
because its PRESENTATION
over profile and color...every time......Os
my.02

I fish with jigs quite a bit and have some pretty good success all year round. I'd say presentation matters more than color. I've had some 5 or 6 fish days from the bank of the same river and hooked half of my fish on light colors and half on dark colors. To me the key is to not let the fish see you if possible, use a low vis float, keep your jig 6-12 inches off the bottom, and you've got to be able to read water. A good jig to start with though is the nightmare pattern - white head, red body, black maribou tail. I've caught fish from the WA./Or. border to Forks on this pattern.

There are a lot of factors to consider when jig fishing such as water temperature, water clarity, amount of sunlight, time of day, etc... Saying that, I can't remember how many times I've spotted a steelhead resting in the riffles and got him to take a jig on the first cast. All this fish saw was a foreign object coming at him very quickly and decided to take it before it passed by. The fish took the jig not because of presentation but due to its’ color.

Countless other times I've spotted unmolested fish sitting in the middle of a drift and watched them cautiously approach the jig and take a nip at it simply out of curiosity. This happens all the time in slower water and the takes are typically very light. Presentaion had little to do with a take liike this since for the most part the jig is just hanging there.

Just this last week I spotted a lone fish fining in the middle of a shallow drift. I made three passes with my pink/white jig and the fish didn't even budge. I snipped off the pink/white jig and tied on a red jig. The very next cast I watched the jig all the way to the fish and when the jig was within a foot of passing by, the fish moved and took it. Again, it was the color of the jig that made the steelhead take a swipe at it since both jigs were presented exactly the same way.


Mark

Color?
Presentation?

Well which is it?

Or did we just want to promote our jig sites? :rolleyes:

Bottom line...the right colored jig presented correctly will get you into fish.

so I guess presentation is kinda important huh?
so basicly no matter what color you fish if you don't present it properly,I don't care if it's your first cast or 50th your just floggin the water!!!
sorry Rat no promotion on my part....Os