Nice Redears

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

 Some of the small lakes in the STL area have decent populations of redear in them so did a little scouting Saturday. Spotted a few cruising but couldn't get them to bite but did find a few bass and bluegill that were more willing so had some fun catching those. Went out yesterday afternoon in the rain and had a great couple of hours fishing with a tiny jig less than an inch long. Bass, bluegill and redear were all over this little jig. A blast on ultralight tackle and 2lb test. Fish like this need to be released and they were.I hope others will release them as well. 

[timinmo]

Way to go Jim.  Beautiful  fish!!

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

Got after them again this afternoon with the little jigs and slammed them again. Mostly bass, some bluegill and over a dozen redear from 8-11 inches. Even had a big carp on that broke me off at the bank. Amazing how stupid these fish seem to be over these tiny jigs with a #12 hook. I lost some but these hooks hold the majority of the time. Interesting part was in one corner were several big goldfish, maybe koi that were rooting around along the bottom. Started casting behind them and started popping some nice redear. Think the Koi were stirring up some crayfish and other edibles and it seems the redear like to hang out with them. Another good day. I think spring is finally here.

[Johnsfolly]

Didn't see this until today. Great trips using the microjig. We showed the same thing but in different states that these little jigs just flat out catch a variety of species and decent sizes!

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

What happened to spring? Seems we jumped right into summer. This little lake had bass, crappie, redear and bluegill spawning at the same time. Only bedding fish now are bluegill. Quite a few of the bedding redear were caught and kept, evidence being their heads floating around the lake. Didn't like seeing that but more food now for the survivors to get bigger. Weeds like coontail are growing like crazy now so fish are going to be hard to catch now. 

[FishnDave]

Jim,

I love using microjigs...panfish, bass, carp, trout...all love them!  Surprising how many bass in the 20" range will hit these, especially late in the year...but any time really.

Did you tie up the microjig yourself?  Where did you find the jigheads...the hook looks nice and stout, and the shape of the head brings weight forward to help the jig ride horizontally in the water...and I really like those eyes on it!   You said #12 hook, I believe...how heavy are those?  I'd definitely like to get some.

[ZigJigman]

You can see some in www.zigjig.com

i make them in 1/64,  1/80 and 1/124 oz.

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

All of my jigs are tied and poured by me. I have about ten or so custom one of a kind jig molds that I designed and had made. Cost a small fortune but it's paid off over the years.

[FishnDave]

I've really liked the jigheads you made for me, Jim.  Last weekend I was using some store-bought heavy duty fly jigheads that I've also really liked...and  the lead fell off one head, and the hook broke on another.  I was shocked!  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the trees and brush I kept bouncing my fly off during backcasts.... 😄