Making a More Compact Jig

[Micanopy]

These are definitely going to catch me some fish.

I was having issues with the previous bladed jig design as the jig’s attitude when swimming was not good. The nose was pointed in a steep decline with the tail being high. No minnow swims like that so I figured some and decided that it was the resistance of the blade pulling back hard. This aligned the hook eye to the blade with not many options to defeat that. Posted here and CJ1PRODUCTIONS suggested using my Bat Jig, as it has the hook eye coming away at 60 degrees. More to the front. I must say this did make for a better alignment. Thanks CG 1

However I am relatively certain that a far greater issue is the lack of mass in the jig head itself. A heavier jig head more more readily overcome the blades resistance at lower speeds. It might not matter as I do catch fish on the 1/16th with a blade. So the acute angle must not be that great a put off to them.

The plastic is a Slabonator Booty Thumper 2” what been cut down in size. More like a 1 1/2” now. This makes the overall profile more compact. More like a real minnow. Sometimes the smallest improvement can radically change the results and I can remain completely clueless as to why. Not so this time.

The top left is a 1/4 oz Bat Jig Head, and underneath of that is the 1/16th oz Bat Jig head. Same hook for each. #2 Do-It Whacky hook. Interesting hook in that it gave me fits in the #6 size. I was losing fish like crazy. The hook is very sharp and has a fish keeping angled tip. So far I lost one fish boat side using them.

I started trimming the length of the plastic bait because I have issues aligning the hook properly. My other rigged baits can appear to swim well next to the boat, but let out 15 feet of line and watch them go, and they spin. Even the smallest of errors inserting the hook produces bad performance once enough line has been spooled out. Trimming off a 1/2” or so is a 1/2” or so I no longer have to align perfectly. The hook is much easier to manage as it passes through the bait. I did one and looked and thought - Hmmmmmmm.

I watched this lure swim in the 1/4 oz version with no blade and it looked great. The heavy head kept it plowing straight ahead and the tail flopped wildly side to side. It swam just like a minnow would swim. Not sure what the 1/16th oz will look like with line played out, but probably will do just fine.

I fish the heavier jigs in close and on different days the fish want different things. Some days the short lines/heavy jigs are hot, and some days the long lines/light jigs are hot. I always seem to catch fish on each no matter which day, but a preference exists. Using the different weight sizes allows me to fish more rods in the boat, which I am at 10 now.

I really like Victory jig hooks and would like to use them, but need to search around some. I want a shortened shank, but a tip that stands tall and away from the bait. Nice big gap. I suspect my Free Style jig heads would work very well if I could find a hook that works.

I also need to order some wire for the bladed designs and new blades in sizes that match my jig’s weight.

I have read that we should down size our lure as the water temperatures drop. Not sure why that is other than maybe the fish prefer smaller fish to digest as their metabolism levels drop. I know some fish prefer smaller baitfish as they can stack a large amount of smalls inside their gut more efficiently than a few large ones. Weird, but they do not chew so they must accommodate whatever is going down.

Of course it could be also that at this time of year the smaller minnows are more prevalent. A mystery. Maybe it is just all wild hysteria due to mass hallucinations, but I have read those comments enough to think there is something to the idea.


I also found something in and amongst my vast collection of surf fishing junk. Plastic clevices. Yes these can be threaded onto the leader and will allow for an in-line spinner configuration. Being plastic they are not supposed to damage the line but I suspect they must do some damage. Anyways I want to at least try them. Regular jig with blade just in front. I will probably need to fashion a Figure 8 knot in the leader to prevent the blade from coming back and whacking into the jig and fouling. This would be for Bat Jigs as the 90 degree eyes probably will look odd.

[BobC]

Looks like they should work well.
Bob

[cgc1productions]

Hopefully the bladed bat jig will show improvement in reaching a more horizontal swimming presentation. I agree that they are definitely put fish in the boat! Good luck when you get to see how they perform.


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com

[DockShootinJack]

Good looking jigs

[skeetbum]

Good ideas and they should do fine. I’d put a bead between the levies and the knot. Small metal or big plastic but something should go there in my mind.

[Micanopy]

I trimmed some off the length of these plastic baits. I think the change in seasons is pushing me in this direction. The smaller jigs have been working better than my large ones lately.

[DockShootinJack]

Those should get it done

[SuperDave336]

I prefer the shorter more compact baits myself.

[Micanopy]

I had a chance to sneak out for a quick dip and launched well before Sun rise. It was purdy when it finally did rise.



I forgot to take pictures of the take but it was close to fifteen nice keepers. I tossed back way more fish than I normally do. The little guys seemed hungry.

The plastics that had been altered did very well for me. Obviously it is near impossible to know if they are a huge improvement or not, due to the fickle and completely unreasonable behavior of the fish. However they were swimming next to the boat in a wonderful fashion.

The Hot Rod in 2.5”, with that half inch cut away swam very sleekly and looked very much like a minnow. I have taken to testing lures by paying out more line than if just dipping next to boat and looking. I run them alongside the back of the boat, rod in the front and look see.

The Paddle Tails in 2.5” with a half inch cut off the front also behaved very well. The heads keep them pointed straight and that tails just waggles away like crazy. The hook escapes at the point where the tail meets the body and that seems to enhance the action. At least to my eyes it does.

I also fished the 3” Booty Thumpers cut down to fit the hook and their tails wobbled so hard the rod tip vibrated as if a crank bait were on. Kind of odd looking but swam great.

The Bat Jig under spins did OK but I feel as if the fish are avoiding the bladed jigs in favor of more sleek versions. I lack the experience to know, but there are seasonal adjustments and somehow this involves my jigs.

The new ten rod setup did OK as well with no tangles. However I did re-do some things later in the day when I got home. Moved the up front holders around a little. Now I have about five feet of separation in the lines and could run all long lines. I doubt that I would want to do that because my boat will alter course as soon as I step away from the TM. It would require a straight line course. With four of the rods fishing shorter lines I can adjust course as I see fit.

The large tailed Booty thumpers fished right beside the boat maybe a foot or two deep scored some fat devils for me. Not a bunch of fish but all were fine specimens. One very small fish took a swipe at the big bait, too. The smaller sizes fished further behind were more popular and that kind of makes sense.

So I conclude that I shall make these compact styled baits in the future as well. Liked the way they swim. Sorry I forgot the money shot.

[DockShootinJack]

Spectacular sunrise. Sounds like those more compact jigs did the trick