Product Review - Pj's Finesse Jigs

[Phil Lilley]

by Darin Schildknecht

Before working here at Lilleys’ Landing I had never fished a PJ’s jig, but that changed quickly. Phil invited me to fish with him one day after work, and, of course, I went! We ran up close to the dam and started fishing a white 1/8-ounce PJ’s jig. Once Phil showed me how to fish the jig, the bites were “on.” I’m not sure how many fish we caught but it was a lot! After that trip I was hooked on jig fishing. It is still one of my favorite ways to catch trout second to fly fishing, although I do fish the 1/125-ounce and the 1/50-ounce sizes on my fly rod.

PJ’s Finesse jigs not only catch trout but many other species of fish. During the flood of 2011 I caught white bass, smallmouth bass, crappie and trout all on PJ’s jigs along with some other people who were catching some walleyes with them. I have also used these jigs many times on Table Rock Lake for smallmouth and crappie with great success.

The unique thing about PJ's jigs is that the head is shaped with flat sides with one side slightly angled. This affects how the jig drops in the water. I believe that this erratic behavior triggers more fish strikes.

I recently asked Pam Hall, the owner of PJ’s Finesse Baits, to write a short bio of the company;

Pam Wrote:

“My husband and I have been fishing with marabou jigs for trout since 1978. We have caught rainbow trout up to 12 pounds and salmon up to 30 pounds on the jigs. We designed the molds and found the company that did the best job with the paint. People have told us that our paint job is very chip resistant. Our heads are bismuth metal, which is environmentally friendly. The tying collar gives the marabou more body, and great attention is paid to covering the hook and collar completely with marabou.”

I started tying jigs as a hobby in 1999. Then in 2005, I started trying to connect my business to a mission organization in Honduras. I trained several single moms in an impoverished village in the mountains of Honduras to tie jigs and they did that for several years. The ladies did a wonderful job and took great pride in their work. The last two years there was no one in the mission organization that could work with the ladies, and we have only had occasional production. I like the idea of using my business to help others. Currently I and a single mom in Fayetteville and another lady tie all the jigs and flies. My plans are to connect with another mission organization in 2014.

Thank you for your interest and Happy New Year,

Pam Hall”

Here at Lilleys we carry many of PJ’s jigs. We have sizes 1/125-ounce jigs to 1/8-ounce jigs in many different colors. We also carry just the jig heads if you would like to tie your own. The jigs are $1 a piece and the heads are $0.40 each or $3.50 for ten.

Videos of jig fishing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=614Ud-5-AUk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJOKqpWF_Qo

[Jason R.]

I used to go to church with the Halls- in fact her husband is a pastor at the church- they are great, Godly folks and their jigs are very fishy as well. They make bass sized jigs too.

[Ham]

They are very good jigs. I prefer the hooks in the Zig Jig, but I think I would do quite well with the PJ's jigs also.