Jig Patterns

[GG34 0]

Recently went crappie fishing with a buddy of mine. He was fishing with a spinning reel while I was throwing a 5wt. Long story short I wasn't getting anything and he was tearing it up with 1/24oz marabou jig. After getting frustrated I grabbed one of his jigs and tied it on. Caught a bunch of crappie, bass and a few strippers.

 

Has anyone else fished these type of jigs before? It was a bit of a chore to cast but doable. Any recommendations for tying some of these up? I bought some 1/24 oz jigs to tie but am maybe thinking I should go lighter? Maybe 1/32? Any advice would be appreciated.Thanks.

[RickZieger 0]

I tie several patterns on jig heads. Let your imagination go.

 

Rick

[GG34 0]

Any particular size?

[Rocco 0]

That size jig should not be any harder to cast than a weighted nymph.Just open up your casts with slower movements If you are also casting a bobber to suspend the nymph that gets ugly no matter what you do..

 

Crappie also love small white maribou streamers, buggers. or white, sparse, bucktails with a small spit shot at the nose. Fish just like jigs if you are retrieveing them instead of suspending them. .

 

Rocco

[GG34 0]

Thanks Rocco. Yep that's what I was doing. No bobbers just slow retrieve. They didn't seem to like any of the traditional flies you mentioned. I did try them.

[Poopdeck 0]

Been tying spin fishing jigs for years. marabou is good but I like rabbit zonkers way more. It pulses more when wet then marabou. Nothing beats hair in cold water and they are super simple and fast to tie. You really need nothing more then the jig and a few wraps of the zonker. There's really no good reason to get any more elaborate then that. I like them for cold water fishing not warm water simply because I lose to many and when the water is warm almost anything will work.

 

Let it sink to the bottom. If it makes it to the bottom let it sit there for a painfully long time. When you can't stand it no more pick it up and let it sink to the bottom again. "Custom" (that word always cracks me up when it comes to tying jigs) jig tyers charge 3 bucks a pop for hair jigs around my way and people buy them

[MckinneyLonghorn 0]

I've found the size 10 1/80 jig heads work real well for smaller bass and sunfish here in Texas. I have used up to the size 8 1/64 jigheads when I want a slightly larger hook, but the 1/80 is my bread and butter size. The usual pattern is basically a woolly bugger with no hackle; just a chenille body and marabou tail. Color doesn't seem to matter but I typically fish white, black and olive.

[WA5DX 0]

Hello GG34

 

I use Jig Hooks a lot and just posted over on the Tying Page about a Bead Head Wooly Bugger Fly on a Jig Hook. One tied on a size 6 jig hook weights .02 ounces ( I just weighted it on a digital scale ). I tie this fly pattern on size 1 down to a 10 and catch a lot Crappie here on Sam Rayburn Lake. Bye the way, I use a 4-wt fly rod on the size 6 and smaller flies.

 

Good luck and have a great day,

Thomas

[tjm 0]

Use standard cheapie marabou crappie jigs often in the river for bluegill, smallmouth and google eye..With a WF8F I use 1/16 oz as often as not and have used 1/8oz.

Simple Marabou tail and chenile body, bought for about the price of the hooks.

[GG34 0]

Great info. Thanks guys. I bought a bunch of small jigs. 1/64 and 1/32. Bought them a little smaller then the store bought jigs to make them easier to cast on a fly rod. I'll tie them up with a marabou tail and chenille body. May even try the bugger style.

[spider4 0]

For me I use a 1/80 oz jig on my 4 wt fly rod and have very good luck. You can put any pattern you like on that jig and catch fish. I like a marabou jig for a start then play from there with the jig.

[Flicted 0]

I use 1/64 jig heads and dress them with rabbit fur from Zonker strips. Rabbit fur gets really soft when wet so use about 1/2" of a strip for the tail and then take another 1/2" strip and use it for dubbing. Dub the body really full. Zonker strips come in several colors but chartreuse, natural, white, or black seem to be the best crappie colors. You could add a little flash if you want. I'd use the fine crystal flash. Also try an exaggerated red thread band behind the jig head (head of the fly) too.

 

Probably more productive at times is a peacock jig. Similar to above, make a tail out of 6-8 peacock sword fibers and wrap peacock herl for the body. You can reinforce with a fine copper or gold rib. Try these with the red thread band behind the jig head as well.

 

I like to use these with an ultra ultralight spinning rod/reel but you could use them on your 5wt if you go down to 1/80. You could also hang them under a clear fly bubble which I prefer instead of a bobber.

[stabgnid 0]

For Jig Patterns go to

https://www.crappie.com/crappie/jig-tying-lure-making-diy-forum/

 

Steve-Stabgnid