New Jigs For Upper Meramec

[mic]

I'm going to leave the fly rod at home and hit the Red Ribbon section of the Upper Meramec with my spin rod. I'm wanted to try a couple of jigs for smallies while I'm there. I made these up today. I also add some foam to a water proof box from Walmart. Nice setup, keeps everything in place. Wish me luck.

[Mitch f]

Good Luck, I'm going to the springs tomorrow (Sunday) for a picnic with my family and might bring my rod, maybe I'll see you there.

[mic]

Well,

Here are my lesson's learned. Feel free to add to the education.

1. If I'm not in a canoe, don't cast seven and eight dollar lures. Stick with homemade jigs.

2.. Caught nothing but smallmouth today around twelve. I suck at smallmouth, so there must be some good fishing on the upper Mac.

3. Caught most of them in three or four feet of water, but mostly behind trees.

4. Need to change from ultralight to medium light. I need more backbone.

5. I caught my biggest smallmouth on the white jig, but had to give it up because the peacock wore out. Need to tweak the reciepe.

6. Lost the fish of the year on the green crawdad jig... could have been a big smallmouth, but I think it was a brown trout.

7. Need to find and tie more jig recipes. Got any or favorite colors????

8. The rabbit strips weren't as active in the water as I expected.

Until next time.

[Mitch f]

Well,

Here are my lesson's learned. Feel free to add to the education.

1. If I'm not in a canoe, don't cast seven and eight dollar lures. Stick with homemade jigs.

2.. Caught nothing but smallmouth today around twelve. I suck at smallmouth, so there must be some good fishing on the upper Mac.

3. Caught most of them in three or four feet of water, but mostly behind trees.

4. Need to change from ultralight to medium light. I need more backbone.

5. I caught my biggest smallmouth on the white jig, but had to give it up because the peacock wore out. Need to tweak the reciepe.

6. Lost the fish of the year on the green crawdad jig... could have been a big smallmouth, but I think it was a brown trout.

7. Need to find and tie more jig recipes. Got any or favorite colors????

8. The rabbit strips weren't as active in the water as I expected.

Until next time.

All rabbit strips are not created equal, sometimes the processing makes the hide stiff, sometimes they are just bad quality hides. Get good quality hides from a place like Harline dubbin. Also, the thickness of the hide might hinder the action. You can carefully trim the thickness with good quality small tying scissors. One of the good things about strips is you can add a drop or two of scent on the hide side and it wont matt down the hair.

Forgot to say that a strip needs get good and soaked before the action is at its best. Make a couple of casts first then slap the jig in the water a couple of times to get it ready for prime time.

[mic]

Thanks Mitch. Got any good suggestions for replacing the peacock herl?

[Mitch f]

I hardly ever use peacock herl, so I can't comment. Seems like the kiss formula always works best on jigs for me.... Keep it simple

[Gavin]

Sounds like you had a good time. Might try some of the synthetic hair & flash materials to replace the peacock herl. Angel Hair, Puglisi Fibers, etc...most likely a mix of both. Medium Light is a good choice for jerkbaits, but I like medium better for jigs.

[mic]

I'll have to check out Angel Hair. I saw it on another forum as a substituent.

[713lefty]

I've used small hairjigs, I believe Buds hair jigs from bullseye tackle in O'Fallon Mo. About 1/8oz. I added a felt trailer about 1.5" long. I hunted through a pile of scrap felt and found some crawdad pieces in brown/black. A few years back I caught some rainbows, a brown and a few smallies from the same deep hole. I need to get back there again. Somewhere above suicide.

[Mitch f]

I've used small hairjigs, I believe Buds hair jigs from bullseye tackle in O'Fallon Mo. About 1/8oz. I added a felt trailer about 1.5" long. I hunted through a pile of scrap felt and found some crawdad pieces in brown/black. A few years back I caught some rainbows, a brown and a few smallies from the same deep hole. I need to get back there again. Somewhere above suicide.

Lefty- I loved Bud's arctic fox hair jigs! but unfortunately they are out of business. Still have a few. I use arctic fox when making my hair jigs and pour my own head. I bought twenty or so from John at bullseye when they went out of business. Arctic fox is great but doesnt last too long.