MAKING THE SWITCH

[Nutbush]

This has been a hard transition year for me: I have been learning how to catch fish with jigs instead of minners. Thanks to a dear friend and mentor, I have caught more crappie this year with jigs than I ever have. It has been hard!! I'm one of those who thinks that you have to have a minner in the boat at all times. That is just how I was raised I guess. My dad and granddad always used minners and never really used jigs. About the only jig I can remember my grandad using was a yellow marabou jig, any other time it was the old minner bucket. I guess we tend to stick with what we are use to and sometimes not step out of our comfort zone. I went fishing yesterday, and yes I had a few minners withe me from the day before. I would catch a few with the minners, and then I ran out,,,,most of them had died in the bucket!!! So, I opened up my jig box and tried to remember what my buddy had taught me. Tied on a blue/white tube jig, added the nibble, and set off to see what I could catch. I would say that my catch ratio of jig/minner was far beyond what I had expected. If I didn't catch one on every cast it was every other cast. Now it was a farm pond, but I have to say that I have been fishing bigger water this year and have caught more crappie this year than ever just using jigs. Wish I had taken pics of them yesterday, but it had gotten dark by the time I got home. Not sure that I will ever go totally minnerless, but fishing with jigs can be awfully rewarding!!

[Bricks]

Good for you building confidence is 90% I have not used live bait for better then 25 years for any thing I fish for from Walleyes to Creek Chubs. Only two species are Catfish and Carp that I use live bait for aka Creek Chubs and Crawlers. I guess I have to throw Sturgeon in there on the live bait side.

[skeetbum]

I have made a change myself recently. I have fished with 4lb for many years and recently bought a new UL and spooled it with 2lb Nanlfil and took one of my other light rods and spooled it with Stren Crappie 2lb mono. Absolutely effortless to cast and a big adjustment, even for me. When you want to add another aspect to the jig thing, try going to a 4lb rig and 1/32 jigs. Great fun. Glad you're having a good time with it.

[try'n hard]

I am the same. I like having both but when they are biting I love feeling that thump on a cast jig. I switch back and forth but usually do the jigs

[Spaceman]

Awesome report. Thanks for sharing about stretching beyond your comfort zone. You might be a 100% jig fisherman before you know it. Your catch was an excellent confidence builder. Great job!

[keeferfish]

Minnow? Who makes those?

[Crestliner08]

Excellent report! These days the colors and types of jigs available for us to use is enormous. They represent every spectrum of natural and unnatural bait species. I haven't use bait in many, many years now and catch just as many as I ever did. Good call and Good Luck!

[ichabod]

i'm a jig guy but sometimes the minnow guy in back of boat will put a whipping on me.but a jig guy in back of boat never catches more.

[shipahoy41]

I also am a 98% jig fisherman. The other 2% is only when I am fishing Red Wigglers for Bluegill. I switched to jigs about eight years ago when I started to tie my own jigs and then later learned how to make my own soft plastic bait. I owe the limited knowledge I have to all the people here on Crappie.com who share their ideas and techniques freely. I have yet to find a dead jig in my minnow bucket. In fact I have turned my minnow bucket into a bank fishing Red Wiggler container where the worms live and reproduce freely. I DO NOT buy any bait now. I raise or make my own which just adds to the fun of catching them.