To Catch Fish? or To Catch Fishermen?

[Lotech Joe]

How much of a crappie jig do you think is added to catch fishermen rather than fish? I look at how well red and white tubes work, and wonder if it's all that important to paint the head of a jig or embellish it with eyes. I've seen where a plain lead head jig will actually put pounds of fish in your creel. On my all time best day fishing for crappies I was using a 1" red and white tube, attached to a plain lead head jig. I know that a fisherman's confidence has a lot to do with how well he does, and I wonder if the painted heads and eyes are at least in part there to boost his confidence. What do you think?

[G.Gordon]

Unpainted heads is all I learned to fish with. Now fishing Truman, I do notice a difference using Orange heads and most of the heads you see hanging from trees out there are orange as well.

[MEATGETTER]

at time's color does make a difference , it could be a certain color of a jig head or body either plastic or a hand tyed jig ,but when it's all said and done confidence still catches more fish !!!!!!!!!!!!

[wademaster]

i know alot of things are geared toward making the fisherman buy the product; but i seem to have better luck with the jigheads with eyes on them

[Locator79]

Color does make a difference given the mood of the fish, and the conditions. I use unpainted heads 100% of the time, no matter what style of fishing I'm doing, and do not feel in any way does it hinder my results. The hair or body of the jig are the colors that matter to me, and the fish I fill the freezer with. There are tons of baits out there to catch fisherman, and they probably catch fish too, but all you need is a box full of a couple different baits you have confidence in, and an assortment of colors, and your good to go. I have a box of hair jigs, and a box of about every color baby shad, and never wish I had another bait to go to.

[skeetbum]

Well said Locator. I pour jigheads, powder paint, and tie jigs of many different styles. Got one compartment in the boat full of stuff. I use it all the time, but not all of it all the time. Fish of all kinds are moody, somewhat like some of our spouses can be and you need lots of options to try and get to their good side. The majority of my jigheads are plain, and a few are painted one of the 15 colors I have. The only time I start getting away from my go to baits are when things get tough and I feel like playing the game, so I dig into my bag of tricks. Few of the painted heads I have sport eyes, and I can't really say that they make a giant difference. I believe the big factors are size of bait, color or contrast of colors offered, and (often overlooked) rate of fall. The color game can only be played when you have confidence in the colors you have produced with in the past. Not long ago I fished with one of my club brothers and he took me to school with a pink headed jig, and after examination I can safely say that it was the only difference. Do the detailed jigheads with all the trimmings catch more fishermen? Without a doubt. Do they catch any more fish? I would think that depends on the user. Folks expect a subtle change to make an obvious difference in a short period of time and they move on to something else, where they had been using their go to for hours. Kinda sounds like an apples and oranges comparison. Given the patience that was given the original it might have put a few more fish per hour in the live well, but by then we're headed home saying we've had enough for the day. My opinion is that patience,grasshopper, is the most important factor and the color of the jighead is mostly window dressing.

[Eager Beaver]

Does the color of the jig head make a difference- Absolutely!! I will explain my reasoning like this. Why do women change the color of their hair. Does it help to attract men? It gives them a different look and changes their apperance. Same with the jig head. It can add contrast or extend and make the jig look bigger than it is without adding more weight to the jig. This is why you have a triple colored jig body. It just adds different color to a jig which makes it more appealing to a Crappie. I use 4 different colored jig heads. Black, White, Red, and Chartruese, besides the plain unpainted lead head. Each has a place and time to use them. EB

[Mikie]

As you can see it is a personal thing with the paint and eyes I have caught fish with plain and painted. I now paint some jigs for fun. Check out check out the jig making forum on this site and also TackleMaking.com - The Tackle Making & Lure Making Encyclopedia Fishing lure making and design eye spots. Many thanks to the guys at Crappie.com for all the advise and great post on painting.

[NeonMoon]

Nothing to back this up, though I guess no one else can either. Until some sort of "controlled scientific" experiment is done, my feeling is, don't matter. A jig head is what, roughly 10% of the jig size? Can a fish determine where the head stops and the wrapping begins when all it sees is a meal? If say red is the color, would a plain head with a red wrapping just behind it be equal?

One could say they made 4 casts with a plain/unpainted head, retied a painted one with eyes or what-not, and caught a fish on its 1st cast, but who's to say the fish didn't just move-in, or that particular cast landed closer to the fish?

I use mostly unpainted (at least on those I tie), but until there's a committee appointed and funded with billions of tax dollars......I'm stickin' with don't matter Caught several yesterday on neon orange wrap and chartreuse body, plain head. Would catch have increased with a painted head?

[glasseyes]

I knw for example in low light conditions or on a cloudy day I have good luck with a black and chart. colored tube. So since I make my jigs I started painting the tube jig black and tying the chart. calf hair on and it works like a charm. It's not pretty but in cold water it sinks slower then the other and they gobble it up.