Vertical Jigging

[sticko]

I vertical jig most of the time. I have a 10 foot pole and will jig all depths down to ten feet i never jig down deeper than ten feet.

because if i hang up i can reel the tip of the pole down till it touches the jig head and just push the jig off the stump. if i were to jig deeper than my pole is long i could not retrieve the jig.

when i do fish deeper than 10 feet and hang up i have a one ounce sinker
rigged up with a snap on it that i clip on my line and let it slide down to the
hung jig then just jig this heavy sinker a couple times and it will knock the
hung jig loose.

i use 1/8 oz jig heads most of the time. but will go up 1/4 oz if the current
is to strong to hold the jig in the brush without hanging up. I want my jig to
be bumping the brush.

I bend my hooks out a little you will get better hook ups.

I like the bigger tubes made by creme that are tri color. they are laminated

1/2 the jig is one color the other side another color and tail another color
like black/white/chart.

i use a weedless hook most of the time a good one is the v-guard made

by baitmaker 2000. I think he goes by grousefly on here,

[crappiekeith]

Being from northern Mn. I ice fish a lot. Verticle jigging is the method for slab crappies. Working the entire water column with a Marcum flasher allows me to target fish as they show up on my screen.
Since the Marcum is a real time electronic sonar device I can see my small 64th to 100 th oz hair jig.
The method is simple....get T.H.E. Jig in front of the fish and then pull it away.
The idea is to trigger their strike sense. So I'll lift my offering to the ceiling.
The ceiling is the point that the fish will lift too ,but no higher.
By doing this I can force the fish to make a run at my bait.

My rod is typically 17" to 24" in a ul action, ul spinning reel with a spring mounted on the end.
The spring is a strike indicator.

We usually find crappies in 25-35 fow and in most caes they will be somewhat suspened.
I'll usally go after the fish on the top of the pack although dropping into the pack can result in a hit while T.H.E. Jig is on a slow fall.

I'll use a StrikeMaster Lazer to auger many holes along a break line or out over a deep basin.
My portable fish houe is an Otter Lodge.
As the fish move I'll move which we call running and gunning.
Here's what is looks like inside the shack.


When it's nice out we fish outside...anything over 30 degrees is nice out.

["G"]

I vertical jig most of the time. I have a 10 foot pole and will jig all depths down to ten feet i never jig down deeper than ten feet.

because if i hang up i can reel the tip of the pole down till it touches the jig head and just push the jig off the stump. if i were to jig deeper than my pole is long i could not retrieve the jig.

when i do fish deeper than 10 feet and hang up i have a one ounce sinker
rigged up with a snap on it that i clip on my line and let it slide down to the
hung jig then just jig this heavy sinker a couple times and it will knock the
hung jig loose.

i use 1/8 oz jig heads most of the time. but will go up 1/4 oz if the current
is to strong to hold the jig in the brush without hanging up. I want my jig to
be bumping the brush.

I bend my hooks out a little you will get better hook ups.

I like the bigger tubes made by creme that are tri color. they are laminated

1/2 the jig is one color the other side another color and tail another color
like black/white/chart.

i use a weedless hook most of the time a good one is the v-guard made

by baitmaker 2000. I think he goes by grousefly on here,

Great tip with the one ounce sinker and snap. I am going to rig one up and try that. Thanks.

[Ken Jones]

I fish for Salmon and Stealhead using a 1/8th oz. Jig. Some times the Stealhead or Salmon bends the hook. I never bend my hooks back into place I always replace them. It might work on crappie but it won't work on Salmon or Stealhead. So its a good idea to change hooks to whatever the fish you are fishing fore. I think a person who doesn't take the time to change there bent hook is lazy and don't want to take the time to change. Get in the habit of changing a bent hook, then when you go after something of size you will have the habit of getting rid of the bent hook. The Salmon pound range 25 plus. The Stealhead16lbs up to 25lbs.

[Mrs. Crappie Stalker]

I think a person who doesn't take the time to change there bent hook is lazy and don't want to take the time to change.

One man's "lazy" is this woman's "frugal" I've caught fish repeatedly on hooks I've bent back. We primarily fish stake beds, stumps, and lots of structure that we have dropped. If I changed the hook out every time it got bent from sticking in the wood, I'd spend more time tying on new jigs and less time fishing. Jigs aren't getting any cheaper and my quality time fishing is valuable, too.

[chaunc]

The worst thing you can do is bend a hook back into position. If you do it weekens the hook. Bad call. Always replace a bent hook.

Not sure what type hooks you use but i've always been able to catch MORE fish after i reshape my hook. I've caught big catfish that have mangled my hook but i bent it back into shape and kept catching fish with it. Maybe you need to do that for salmon and such but not for panfish. I even can reshape my microspoons when i bend the hook getting it loose from a snag.

[Bottombumper]

I usually use a Eagle Claw #2 snelled gold hook on my drop shot rig. I allways put bend back in hook if I hang up. Caught Crappie,Bass,Catfish,Striper on hooks that have been bent. I use jigs and minnows when I anchor down near structure holding fish. Once I determine the proper depth the Crappie are hitting, I try to maintain that depth. I then put my rod in rod holder and drop line down over side of boat and let it move toward the structure and when it stops on side of structure is when I get most of my strikes. Learn and visulize your structure and feel out wt. on bootom of drop shot how the structure is laying. I also change tactics if this fails. Just a couple of ways I fish structure. BB

[Cmj]

I love vertical jigging. Old telephones work real good for this. Drop leads straight down, give er a few cranks, and scoop up fish. Werks real gud wen da fishes hav da lokjaw

[Treeline]

I fish vertical 90% of the time.. In the winter months I fish from 25ft down..it is not uncommon for me to fish schools on the bottom in 40+ ft..I use a 1/16 oz jig head #4 sickle hook and 6 pound line..takes along time to get this jig to the bottom but once there it falls slow when popped of the bottom. The 1 thing i always do is a tip I saw from Kevin Rogers on the G3 sportsman and that is I put a #0 hammered willow leaf blade on my line before tying on the jig, when the jig is popped off the bottom and allowed to fall the blade flutters right on top the jig..they almost always hit on the fall so you have to be a line watcher. I love it..water in the 30s ..lake to myself and fish coming to the top. I too straighten and re bend my jigs all the time with no problems.

[snake River]

I use a 7 foot custom-built rod with 4 pound test I use a wide variety of plastic baits and jigs depending on what the fish are hitting on that day . we fish in anywhere from 7 foot of water to 35 feet of water most the time I like my temperature around 65° in the water. the main color that I use is chartreuse with the variety of gray also Brown's. if the fish are not hitting we try to present the plastic made for jig in different ways these you probably know crappie are very finicky on certain days sometimes they want a real slow moving bait sometimes no action at all will trigger them. and sometimes they want a little bit faster presentation 99% of the time it is presentation to the fish . so if you are finding fish on your fishfinder and they are not hitting most likely is the way that you're presenting to them. I found sometimes different sizes of jigs or plastic baits makes a big difference I have dropped down to 1/64oz. or 1/80oz. to get them to strike in have gone down in plastic baits to very small. please keep in mind that on hand-tied jigs it may be the material for the tail will trigger them what I'm trying to say is that may be a marabou or living rubber or hair will be different to them because of the action so if you are using hand-tied jigs carry a wide variety. I hope that this little bit of information will help you guys out I have over 55 years of experience and I've been tying hand-tied jigs for over 45 years and making plastic baits for the last six years.