best way to use a jig under a cork

[TAZ]

I fish hair jigs I make under a bobber all the time. Rarely do I ever use a minnow, If I am around lilly pads or tree tops I will use a weed less tube jig. Most of the time I use a small plastic bobber and if the wind gets up I will use a bigger one. My opinion is that crappie will hit that hair jig just as fast as a minnow . Most of my fishing is usually over stake beds.

[Fish on Line]

We have lots of Cypress trees here in Sportsmans Paradise .. so fishing very shallow water my choice is the Porcupine Quill with a tiny float of about 3/8 inch to 1/2 inch in size .. this looks like the Cypress ball with a stick attached .. Fish see these all the time. any wave action jiggles the bait and is castable to about 30 Feet -- The Quill makes the take that might not be seen obvious stand out when it tips down without any resistance for the fish to feel

[Catfish Tony]

Around here in our reservoirs, a bobber is only useful during the spawn. I just caught a crappie that was 55ft deep on top of trees on a very light bite, wouldn't have budged a bobber. I've tried the slip bobber but have never been real successful deeper than about 20ft, something between not detecting the bite and swinging too late. Jigs over minnows in reservoirs and minnows over jigs in really stained water, especially shallower waters around here. My bobber season is late April, May, and June.

[wolfhnd]

Around here in our reservoirs, a bobber is only useful during the spawn. I just caught a crappie that was 55ft deep on top of trees on a very light bite, wouldn't have budged a bobber. I've tried the slip bobber but have never been real successful deeper than about 20ft, something between not detecting the bite and swinging too late. Jigs over minnows in reservoirs and minnows over jigs in really stained water, especially shallower waters around here. My bobber season is late April, May, and June.

That sounds right to me. I have only caught Crappie on jigs under bobbers when I was moving the bobber. If I was going to use slip bobbers I would probably go minnows unless the fish are pretty shallow like 6 ft.

Never caught a Crappie in 55 ft of water. In the summer the lakes I fish have a thermocline of around 12 ft and deep water is apparently pretty dead. Can you expand on your experience a bit?

[Catfish Tony]

Our reservoirs are deep and clear. 30ft trees in 80ft of water. Crappie are just coming out of wherever they go for winter and the first place they show up are on top of trees in the creek channels. Those trees 3 weeks ago were barely touching water are now 80 ft. What I do is use my ff to find trees, then drop jig with split shot "18" above till I feel the snag. Pull jig approx 1-2ft from snag and deadstick jig above treetop.

[wolfhnd]

Our reservoirs are deep and clear. 30ft trees in 80ft of water. Crappie are just coming out of wherever they go for winter and the first place they show up are on top of trees in the creek channels. Those trees 3 weeks ago were barely touching water are now 80 ft. What I do is use my ff to find trees, then drop jig with split shot "18" above till I feel the snag. Pull jig approx 1-2ft from snag and deadstick jig above treetop.

When do the lakes turn over?

[Catfish Tony]

In about 3 weeks the water will go from clear to 6ft visibility. That's when crappie move to 18ft and shallower.

[matt1991]

so fishing jigs from a bank do you think its best to use a slip cork around 2 t 3 feet and just slowly retrieve the jig with slight jerks? guys use jigs differently in boats i realize just wondering what the bets method for me with jigs on bank will be if i end up liking it ill stop having to buy minnows which will save me lots of time

[Catfish Tony]

Cigar balsa on a slow retrieve with a curly tail is my go to when banking it.

[CrappiePappy]

so fishing jigs from a bank do you think its best to use a slip cork around 2 t 3 feet and just slowly retrieve the jig with slight jerks? guys use jigs differently in boats i realize just wondering what the bets method for me with jigs on bank will be if i end up liking it ill stop having to buy minnows which will save me lots of time

A slip float will cast more easily and possibly farther, since the weight of the jig/float is more or less at the end of the line. A fixed float with the same depth setting will "tumble" or "spin" when being cast, and the jig could possibly hang into the main line before splashdown, for that very reason.

Most use slip floats because they're easier to cast with, and especially with shorter rods. The problem with shorter rods & a jig/float rigging is the shorter rod can't always take up all the slack between the rod tip and float when a bite is perceived, which can result in a less than adequate hookset. The greater the distance between rod & float, the more problematic it is.

But, to answer your question ... yes. Cast out and retrieve in one of several ways : slow/steady/pause - slow/light jerk/pause - slow/constant light jerk - etc. Just remember that any retrieve speed is going to pull the jig higher in the water column, and a pause is necessary to allow the jig's weight to pull the line thru the float until the bobber stop reaches it. Using a jig with sufficient weight to pull the line thru the float & pull the float upright & a float with a line tube that allows the line to easily run thru it will work in your favor when using slip float/jig rigs. Also remember to try and keep the main line, between the rod & float, as straight as possible ... so that your slack line is as short as possible. And start reeling before you jerk the rod upwards (once you see the float go down), as this will also shorten the slack line distance ... putting more power/speed into your hookset.