IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Jigging => Topic started by: icejunky on Jan 26, 2006, 04:22 PM
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Ok...All year long I have been hearing about how this wonderjigs slaughter the gills, I bought a wack and they look amazing..Only problem, cant catch a thing on them
Is there a certain technique any of you use to work these babies, Also do you tip them with anything?
I have all sizes and all the colours in the rainbow..no fish
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Never used the shrimpos but I've had pretty good luck with the ratsos...NOt great luck, but decent luck. Just like anything else, some days they like em other days they won't touch em....
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I have found that to use them effectively, I need to keep them constantly moving...I pump the rod just enough (1/2" at the rod tip) so that I can feel the weight of the jig on the upstroke. Even when a fish is right on it I keep pumping the jig...when the fish hit, all of the sudden you won't feel the weight of the jig on the upstroke and SET!!!
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They are basically a soft rat finkee with a tail. You can tip them with bait too, but mostly I fish them without bait.
Awesome soft plastics, especially Ratsos in glow colors. I prefer the smaller sizes. Rig them so the tail points down to the fish a little bit. You'll notice the tail doesn't come straight off the back of the plastic, but is kinda on one side of it. The side the tail is attached to goes down. I think this works better for 2 reasons, it's in the fishes face and also seems to get better action when jigged.
Also, if legal, rig two or three of them in tandem, about 8 to 10" apart.
Action works best but sometimes they'll hit dead a foot off the bottom too, just depends on the fish.
Another tip, add some anise or smelly jelly for finicky fish.
Are they awesome on every lake? Depends, some lakes they work all the time, others conditions dictate when they work best. Don't give up on them, if you carry more than a couple rods for jigging, rig one up with these and keep it handy. When the bite is hot, you don't have to mess with bait. I always have one rod rigged with a tandem of these jigs.
I've caught bluegills, pumpkinseed, redear, rock bass, crappie, yellow perch, white perch, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, brown trout, brook trout, northern pike, and even a channel cat on them.
Don't forget them for open water fishing for panfish under a float...crappie tear into them.
My favorite colors are glow blue and glow pink, but glow chartreuse works well too. It seems sometimes that the more torn up they get the better they work ??? Not sure why that is, LOL.
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I have found that to use them effectively, I need to keep them constantly moving...I pump the rod just enough (1/2" at the rod tip) so that I can feel the weight of the jig on the upstroke. Even when a fish is right on it I keep pumping the jig...when the fish hit, all of the sudden you won't feel the weight of the jig on the upstroke and SET!!!
HuH...HuH... You said pump the rod...... :o
I use the same technique, and it works very well.
I have upsized to these on purpose when fish seem to be finicky, and it has paid off with larger fish.
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Check your knots and how the jig moving the water. If it spins adjust it, also one spike on the hook works.
Like the red, white, pink and yellow flavors.
Not a hali but it will do!
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Shrimpos is all I've been usin this year tipped with a waxie. I make sure the tail is hangin like a J, and waxie is hangin perfectly straight on hook and covered. I dead stick, let it sink to the bottom, couple quick jigs up about 6" and stir up that bottom, then slowly lift her up & bam, the rest is history. Orange & green have been the ticket for perch & gills this year.
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I've caught rainbows, brookies, browns, perch, largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and pike on them. They are awesome ice fishing lures, possibly the best all around for finicky fish.
My secrets are to use light line, no more than 4 pound test fluoro or mono. To really work them well you still do need to tip them with bait. Use a very small piece of nightcrawler, a single waxworm, or better yet a maggot or two.
As for jigging them, you mostly twitch them with slow lifts and then let them sit for a long time.
For trout and larger crappies, use the #6. For perch and gills I use the number 10. That smaller one needs 2 pound line to work.
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as light line as you dare fish, and never stop moving the jig, if you're in clear water, and have fish up high, lean over the hole and watch them bite...keep trying till you find something that works....