Finally broke the jig cherry

I finally did It today, what a christmas presant thanks for all the tips guys Drift.

Way to go Drift, now you know what "bobber down!" really means, quite a treat huh? Guess you'll be doin' the jig thing for awhile now, best wishes. I just got my first on the flyrod Monday, your right good Christmas present, for sure!.

Tight lines always,

LB

Way to go Drift! Jig fishing is a ball. We had some tremendous fishing on the peninsula last saturday on jigs. Good Fishing!

I have been rigging a float rod, and i just picked up some 35lb tuf line. I have heard this stuff is great with mucilin. How does the 35 sound?

will only be using it for floats on steelys

Ya it was great guys, wasn't really expecting much and didn't get it until I put on a small peice { about an inch and a half} of pink worm right on the jig. I hit the first fish about 5 minutes later and then hit two more fish soon after that so it was a great day. I really can't believe it, I have been trying this jig stuff for about a year and a half and it finally paid of big on christmas day. I really don't think that I'll forget this christmas for a long time to come, And like I said guys thanks for all the tips. Drift

Good going DRIFT! More fun coming your way now.

Steel'addict, 20 lb. to 35 lb. superbraid type lines are good for bobber fishing because they float already without Mucilin. It's mono line that can use it. Both ways you have better mending control and ability to keep most of your line off the water. ... Geez, you don't use that strong of line in the Koot' do ya?

RT

RT
Na, That's for fish'n back in WA. I get lucky and get to come back in Jan for work. There is absolutely no-one fishing the Koot! I guess I need to get out there and catch that next record rainbow.

Steelheadaddict

I have been reading a lot of positive publicity about jig fishing for steelhead. I messed around some with them last year when there were definitely fish in the area, and did not get any takedowns (although I could hook fish with hardware, small nightcrawlers, or a yarn fly).

What type of water have people had the most success while using them? Slack, slow current, faster current, seam edges?

I have fished them as close to the bottom as possible. Should I try a bit higher in the water column?

I have tried black jigs and pink jigs. Does anyone have a preferred color for clear water in the winter?

I have tipped the jig with a mini-worm or a piece of cocktail shrimp with no luck. I will try the pink worm to see if that helps.

Any other ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

Steelhed -
Jig fishing is like any other method - you have to fish it with confidence and consistency. Next time out, leave your other hardware, and force yourself to use jigs all day. If you catch fish - you'll love jigs - if you don't catch fish - well that's fishing, and you should still give them a chance...

There are a lot of threads on this forum talking about favorite colors. Pink and white is very popular. I've had luck with small (1/16 or so)pink and small black jigs in clear water.

As for what water to look for - I'll try anything once - as long as I think it holds fish. Seams are very good targets as are slower deeper pools. But any water that holds fish can be fished with jigs, you just have to work on presentation. I don't like to use jigs in water less than 3ft or more than 10 - I'll change tactics a little in those conditions (but I know others that will do it). Fast choppy water can be good too. The chop gives the jigs great movement (especially if tipped with a pink worm).

As for depth, generally you want to be hitting the fish in the face or just above it. Since they tend to hold on the bottom, well, that's where you want to be. But I know alot of guys that are successful that fish 3 to 5 feet fixed below the bobber - no matter how fast or deep - and do really well.

Anyway, the best way is to just experiment. Try different types of water, different colors, depths, and different types of jigs and you'll find something that they like and that you'll like...

Good luck!
-Chad

Chad,

Thanks for the tips with jigs. I've got a wide variety of colors and
sizes. I think I will concentrate on the smaller sizes until the water
gains some color.

I generally only fish water that is in the 3' to 10' range (like you),
but we have some larger pools with very little flow in low water
conditions that are in the 10 to 20 foot range. The fish tend to mill
about in these areas. Do you think they are worth a try in this type of
water? I tried a couple of hours last year, but they only seem to react
to spoons when they are milling about.

Anyway, once again thanks for the tips. I will browse through some of
the other threads to see what else I can gleeen....

Steelhed, Hey I seen your post and thought that I would share my experince with you a little more. I've had a hard time with jigs but I really believe that I have it down now. The last 3 days have been good for me and I believe that the pink worm has helped me out alot. First the hole that I have been fishing is about 3' to 8' deep and moves pretty slow. I thought my only choice here is to fish jig and bobber. I started with that and nothing, and then I tried a little piece of pink worm on the hook( about 1.5 to 2 inches) and that brought on the bite for me. I remember thinking to myself in the past that ah their isn't any fish here but boy was I wrong. So know I have alot of confidence to fish them when I didn't before. It feels great to have another weapon in my vest now . So the last three days I have caught 8 fish and lost 2 not bad for always thinking that their was nothing there. I hope that I have helped you out in the jig department, and good luck in your future tavels drift

Steelhed -
In those deep pools that don't have too many snags on the bottom, I like to take off the float completely and cast and retreive the jig like I was bass fishing (kind of slowly bouncing it along the bottom back to me).

While i've yet to score on a steelie this way (yet!!), I've had great success with salmon - especially when tipped with a little prawn meat. Just don't do this if the fish are REALLy stacked up, because you may snag them.

Another thing to try is using a slip bobber. (let me know if you need info on how to rig it)
This will allow you to fish your jig 10, 20, 30, or whatever depth you want (and still cast with no problems). If you can see those fish milling about, try to adjust your bobber so that it is about 6 inches above their faces. If the water is really clear, use very small jigs in black or maybe more natural colors. There is an orange/brown pattern (crawfish) that should work well.

Way to go Drift! I started fishing this way about 5 years ago, with instant success. I then started tying my own jigs, and then eventually moved on to a modified version of a jig. I now use this method almost exclusively when fishing from the bank. In this modified version, I tie up a larger hook 1 or 1/0 with an egg loop to a 3 ft. or so leader, and slide on a sliding sinker (egg or other) that drops down to the eye of the hook. I then rig the rest of the terminal gear the same as I would using floats/jigs. You can put eggs or shrimp on, and fish away. I have alway been confident fishing bait, so this is the best of both worlds. And it produces excellent results!