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Thread: Swimming a jig with a soft plastic minnow

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    Default Swimming a jig with a soft plastic minnow


    Any tips or techniques for swimming a soft plastic minnow on like a 1/16 oz jig head? Colors to use and movements would be a great help as well.


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    To start with, just cast it out and let it hit the bottom. Make note of the count down before it hits bottom. Use any count down method you want, as long as it's consistent with each cast.

    Then start a slow retrieve back. No movements. Straight & steady. After using this technique in a fan casting fashion, shorten the count down by a couple of notches and repeat. Shallow up your depth, as you continue with the fan casting approach to the area.

    Rarely do I impart any action to a jig & plastic combo when casting. You can also speed up your retrieve a bit, but be consistent in covering an area. Fishing is a process of elimination and recall. Fishing the water column from top to bottom and fan casting the area before you leave a spot. You just never know what's going to "turn the key" on them at any given time.

    This approach works well for me.
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    Very helpful. Thanks a lot for the input


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    Good info, thanks

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    I kinda do the same thing, but in reverse. I cast out and start retrieving, then on following casts allow the jig to go deeper (using the countdown method Crestliner mentioned).

    Occasionally I will "pop" the rod tip slightly, but usually only after my partner has done so & caught a fish. It has worked, on occasion, but a slow & constant retrieve works more often.

    NOTE: I was told by a friend that fishes with the Livescope, that he's seen fish scatter away from a jig that is "jiggled" on its way towards or near a school of fish. He's also seen fish move around to the other side of a tree/brushpile when one is caught and dragged away from the cover. He's also seen, and so have I while fishing with him, fish come up to the jig and follow it a ways, then turn and go back to the cover without touching the jig ... sometimes doing the same thing on repeated casts.

    As to "colors" ... I usually use a two color plastic with heavily contrasting colors (dark color/light color) with the lighter color usually being chartreuse.
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    Use a real slow retrieve, when you think you are going slow, slow down some more. Most use a too fast of a retrieve and their bait rises as they reel it in. It's really important to maintain depth control of your bait once you have found the correct depth of the fish. Diffrent jig heads and diffrent jig body types each have their own speed of retrieve needed to maitain correct depth.
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    I let the jig hit bottom then holding the rod to the side with the rod tip close to the water slowly pull the jig with the rod. At the end of the pull let the jig fall, catch up your slack with the reel and pull again. At the start of the 2nd pull watch for the rod tip to load up. Most of the hits come after the 1st pull as the jig is falling. You have to watch the rod tip for the bite, you won't feel anything.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oregon slabman View Post
    I let the jig hit bottom then holding the rod to the side with the rod tip close to the water slowly pull the jig with the rod. At the end of the pull let the jig fall, catch up your slack with the reel and pull again. At the start of the 2nd pull watch for the rod tip to load up. Most of the hits come after the 1st pull as the jig is falling. You have to watch the rod tip for the bite, you won't feel anything.
    Kinda like working a Carolina rig?


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    Quote Originally Posted by ChrisTownsend View Post
    Kinda like working a Carolina rig?


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    I think he's talking about something like that, but not actually dragging the jig along the bottom (like a Carolina Rig), but just off the bottom.

    If I did that I'd lose a jig about every other cast where I fish (and I use weedless jigheads).
    I hold my rod up at a 45deg angle, reeling slow enough that I'm constantly keeping a slight bow in the line. I watch that line and set the hook whenever I see it move/jump and I know I didn't cause it to do that. I'll also set the hook when the line suddenly goes slack and I know the jig cannot be on the bottom. My hooksets are not so much "hard" as they are "fast".

    I've pretty much dialed in that my 40ft cast & slow retrieve will result in the jig reaching about 8ft deep at its lowest point in the retrieve. If I want it to go deeper I can slow the retrieve, pause the retrieve, or if in deep water I can count down a few seconds after the jig hits the water ... assuming that each second will allow the jig to drop about 1ft (more or less).
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    Quote Originally Posted by CrappiePappy View Post
    I think he's talking about something like that, but not actually dragging the jig along the bottom (like a Carolina Rig), but just off the bottom.

    If I did that I'd lose a jig about every other cast where I fish (and I use weedless jigheads).
    I hold my rod up at a 45deg angle, reeling slow enough that I'm constantly keeping a slight bow in the line. I watch that line and set the hook whenever I see it move/jump and I know I didn't cause it to do that. I'll also set the hook when the line suddenly goes slack and I know the jig cannot be on the bottom. My hooksets are not so much "hard" as they are "fast".

    I've pretty much dialed in that my 40ft cast & slow retrieve will result in the jig reaching about 8ft deep at its lowest point in the retrieve. If I want it to go deeper I can slow the retrieve, pause the retrieve, or if in deep water I can count down a few seconds after the jig hits the water ... assuming that each second will allow the jig to drop about 1ft (more or less).
    Good stuff. Thank you. I would lose a crowd of jig heads too lol


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