Most favorite jigs for panfish

[Thearcher1340]

   Hey guys newbie here just getting back into Ice fishing, got out late last year and I'm hooked all over again.  Been about 25 years or so I guess.  God used to b on the ice 5-7 days a week with my buddy.  Anyway been looking at some jigs from the sponsors, just wondering what the favorites are?  And any opinions on the soft plastics we just used to use waxes.

[tracksnorth]

I had luck with the red maki plastics last year with crappie

[bart]

Hali Sukkula in perch glow and the Custom Jigs & Spins Diamond jig in red glow, both tipped with a few maggots.

[Thearcher1340]

We had a favorite jig we used looked like a banana jig, this jig was the go to jig when nothing was biting laid horizontal in the water.  I was looking on custom jigs the closest I saw to it was the mini mert, going to give it a try with some waxes.

[ifish4fishwithteeth]

I like Custom Jigs and Spins
Gill Pill and Demons

[matzilla]

Crappies - any horizontal tungsten when they're skiddish - if the bite is on then I always use a northland forage minnow jig. I even use some old school 1/64oz ball jigs

gills - tungsten, gill pills, diamond jigs, banana jigs, gill getters from northand, HWI mantis jigs and heavy metal pro series jigs from sportsmens direct are excellent, skandi and Sitka tungsten jigs from stopper,

Sportsmen's direct has some really nice plastics, as does CJS, Trigger X. gulp minnows, 1" leeches and fish fry work well.

[slipperybob]

I'm still traditional typical ball jigs is my favorite.  Next up is mimmic minnow jigs.

[bigstorm]

I use a lot Customer Jigs & Spins Ratsos or Shrimpos. Last year I started using the VMC pug bug with the trigger X tails too

[LoneWolf]

I'd have to go with the Marmish Larva and Maggot jigs.

[DR.SPECKLER]

my box is full of 3mm wolfram fiskas and custom jig and spins gill pills.

[Thearcher1340]

  Hey guys thanks for the input at least this gives me a starting point on what to look at, really appreciated.
Thank you all

[mr.clean]

 I also like Custom Jigs&Spins various jigs. Also have had productive days using the smallest size Rapala jigging rap . Thearcher1340 in time you will probably end up like most of us and have multiple boxes of jigs. Welcome to Ice Shanty enjoy the website.
Steve

[masoneddie]

Last season the Lindy Frostee in pink glow tipped with waxies or spikes worked very well on crappies for me.
Swedish pimples, small jigging Raps, and Hali's worked well on perch tipped with spikes.
Bluegills fell for lots of jigs like many have mentioned....welcome to the addiction!   

[SLAYERFISH]

My goto is the small jiggin raps.

[Thearcher1340]

  Again thanks guys really a big help, lol  mr. Clean u r so right will definitely end up with a tackle box full.  Just got back into fishing this year, my little guy is really hooked on it.  And in today's world u have to keep me busy, he's a great kid and on the right track. So we been fishing every chance we get down the river " Susquehanna ". In fact I just busted my St. Croix Sunday morning.  I figure it was a musky, hit like a freight train went on a good run and heard a pop and everything went slack and my rod tip about 15 inches down from tip broke.  Could really feel the strength in the fish.  But anyway trying to get geared up early for the upcoming season, want to be prepared when the hard water hits. Need the jigs, new poles and reels couple more tip ups and a new striker hard water suit, which I keep hinting about for birthday/Xmas present lol.

[SLAYERFISH]

This is why reels have drags-

[Swift]

my box is full of 3mm wolfram fiskas and custom jig and spins gill pills.

About all you need. Toss in some http://www.kjbplastics.com/joomla/ for whatever your're trying to imitate and you'll be fine

[Thearcher1340]

Slayerfish had to laugh, that was first thing my buddy said. The fish was peeling drag and the rod just popped, like a clean brake, not even splintered. I figured just got a bad blank.

[mr.clean]

Thearcher1340 I see you are located in northeast PA. It maybe worth your time to make a trip to Cabelas store in Hamburg some time this fall. I'm sure your little guy will like the store. It is one of Cabelas largest with an aquarium and restaurant..
Steve

[SLAYERFISH]

Slayerfish had to laugh, that was first thing my buddy said. The fish was peeling drag and the rod just popped, like a clean brake, not even splintered. I figured just got a bad blank.

Heck yeah poop happens all the time!

[Thearcher1340]

Oh Mr. Clean the car knows the way all by itself been there many many times, and he loves the place.  I had to laugh because I call him my little guy but he's 6'2"" and 235 at 15 years old.  He's been busy because of football season coming up, and the coaches in the high school couldn't wait to get there hands on him.  He does this cross fit training and at 14 he dead lifted 400 pounds, just did a back squat at football of 365.

[Thearcher1340]

Well just received my custom jig and spin catalog, I know what I be doing tonight.  Lol my wife just saw the book gave me the you got to be kidding look , got the good ole shake of the head like a small mouth trying to spit the hook out, and walked away. Lol ;

[Spider1]

Archer, you know there are a bunch of great fishin areas up here in NE PA. Maybe we can meet up on the ice sometime somewhere. Up at the 'pack, Whiteoaks, Prompton, Promisedland... wherever.

About jigs and such, you're gonna need a bunch of different types for each lake or species. Spoons and flashy stuff for crappie,  and small horizontals for gills and perch but I had a lot of good luck with teardrops last year. Bass will hit anything when they feel like it. Get a few different colors of each too. I was fishin at Whiteoaks last year with some buddies and I was working a slow bite. About 25ft away a buddy was having a slightly better time but his fishin partner that was workin a hole just 4ft away from him was slammin gills and crappies one after another. He had a teardrop with a blue sparkle to it. We all looked in our boxes for blue sparkle and couldn't find anything to match. he had a nice bucket full when he left

Hope to see ya on the ice this season.

[jwetovick]

Well just received my custom jig and spin catalog, I know what I be doing tonight.  Lol my wife just saw the book gave me the you got to be kidding look , got the good ole shake of the head like a small mouth trying to spit the hook out, and walked away. Lol ;

hmmm....sounds a bit familiar.

[mr.clean]

Enjoy the Custom Jigs&Spins catalog try not to go to crazy with purchases. I can see why the football coaches are interested in your son. Given his deadlift weight he must have good leg and lower back-core strength. The Cabelas store in Hamburg,PA. is impressive I have friends in the Reading/Shillington ,PA. area so stop in at the store when visiting with them. Custom Jigs&Spins does sell a couple different jig kits which will save you some money over buying the jigs separately.
Steve

[Thearcher1340]

Spider sounds good to me, archery season goes well, I be making up some good deer jerky.  Mr clean just poking at the jigs right now, trying to decide on which to buy. How u guys feeling on the glow jigs, seems to me awful lot to choose from?  Really liking the wolfram jigs too.  Not to sure on the plastics though, always tipped the jigs with waxies, how u guys tipping the jigs with? 

[Thearcher1340]

Hey how's your opinion on the inline reels?  Bought an eagle claw one last year for me and the wife, sent mine back big disapointment for me but the wife's was really nice worked well.

[mr.clean]

I have not experimented with glow jigs enough to have a solid opinion on them think like anything else there will be times when they are the ticket and other times it will not matter. Just a word of caution on Wolfram/Tungsten jigs many have thin-fine wire hooks that bend or break easily also paint on jig is subject to chipping if removed with standard pliers or forceps. There are forceps with plastic dip coating available for use with tungsten jigs. Go to the Jigs community/board and look for threads  on Bratner or Branter jigs (not sure of spelling) from pictures posted in one thread you will see these jigs have some serious glow when charged.
When it comes to in-line reels I've only used ones with a 1 to1 retrieve  not the multiplier reels. I have two combos a Frabill 27 inch quick tip rod that came with a 101 reel and a No.8 Fishing Code Blue ultralight 24 inch rod with No.8 Code Blue reel . I never  got into fly fishing so found it had to get comfortable with the Frabill 101 reel as it sits close to the reel similar to a fly rod-reel setup . On the Code Blue the reel attaches to rod similar to a spinning outfit setup with which I'm more comfortable also found it easier to grasp reel knob with gloves on hands . Many companies now sell reels with interchangeable reel seats . Frabill now includes two different seat with most of their in-line reels.(For example there is model 101A which comes with a fly rod and spinning type seats. Again I would suggest looking through the Equipment community/Board for threads. You can try either of the search feature here on Ice Shanty. (upper left corner of page ,under sponsor's hyperlinks center of page.  Hopefully the search feature works for you many members have had problems with it in the past two months.
Steve

[Spider1]

If it don't glow, it don't go, lol! Glow is great, like Mr.Clean said, sometimes it's just the ticket and sometimes it doesn't matter. The thing is if it doesn't matter then no big deal but if it does matter, it's good to have. Not all my jigs glow but when there's a lot of snow on the ice and it's real dark under the ice or when I'm fishing at night, I want that little extra glow.

 Plastics are great, they can give your jig more action that can make finicky fish bite. Even when I use platics on my jig I will usually tip with a spike or grub. But that's just me, I like meat

 Tungsten jigs are great, very heavy for their size. Doesn't really mean much if you fish mostly shallow lakes. A lot of the lakes I fish are 10ft or less, I don't need too much speed to get the jig back down. But when I fish the 'pack, or Francis Walter it's nice to be able to get the jig back down fast.

 Inlines are great. I hate it when my line coils all the way down to the jig cuz you can't tell when you get a light hit and the jig isn't moving right and will often spin none-stop. If I'm fishing shallow, I can straighten my line by hand but the line won't twist coming off an inline reel.  But I've read good and bad reports about most of the reels out there, even the more expensive ones. Regular fly reels are ok for shallow water but they usually have a 1:1 retrieve and wouldn't be so hot in deep water and they don't have a free spool. You need to pull and drop.  The eagle claw got some really good reviews but the drag isn't that hot. From what I've heard (no, I don't have one) they are great for panfish because the drag really doesn't matter as much.

[Big Red Shack]

My favorite jigs for panfish are 2.5mm, 3mm, and 4mm tungsten jigs. Wolfrath is nice, but I also have some Skandia and CJ&S. I use 5mm or even 6.5mm sometimes but I find that smaller presentations generally get me more fish. I only use tungsten, unless I am fishing teardrops and those I make myself with blades and solder. This past season I found that jigs with blue and black were the hot ticket, with glow and green being a close second. I fish these 99% of the time with plastics, I love the challenge. My favorite plastics are whip-style baits and also Little Atom Micro Nuggies. My best colors are clear glow, red, black, and purple. I fish inline reels on QuickTip rods like the ones from Frabill and work them with a small, fast, jigging motion with brief pauses every now and then when my wrist is tired. In my opinion size and shape of the jig and plastic is more important than the color, but don't be afraid to experiment if the bite seems to be slowing. I like to have 5 or 6 rods rigged up so I can keep dropping down different combinations to coax reluctant fish into biting.

Tight Lines!