Question

[STUMP HUNTER]

What is the best hand tied jig to use while trolling or longlining. Is it a hair, feather, zonker or does it matter. I know Skip pulls a RoadRunner as he has talked about them before. Does the tail need to be short or long and how much action does it need.

Myself and a few others want to get some jigs tied up for the coming fall to longline and any help would be great. Thanks

[skiptomylu]

I use other things than Roadrunners too. For example if they are in a little deeper water in around the spring and the wind is up some I will convert over to a 1/8 oz. and pull it right next to my boat in say 12' of water or so.

I like a longer tail than most and I tie mine different and both differences are for action in my mind. I don't like using 2 feather tips because it has 2 stems so less action and I like mine longer, again because it has more action and freedom to move.

This fall for you depending on the water depth I would use a 1/32 OZ to a 1/16 Oz and fish both in water as deep as 15' because the fish are usually not on the bottom then and will be high enough to come up and get a 1/32 OZ.

I first started trolling before 1980 and don't know of anyone else that was doing that then. I stumbled into doing that and it payed off big time. All of that first year starting out was the fall of the year. I was fishing water depth 14'-15' for the most part and was pulling a 1/32 Roadrunner even then and killed them. Deep water was really close by too in one case and in the other it was a deep bank in the back of a forked creek where there was a lay down from the bank out to maybe 12' deep.

So don't be scared of trolling in water 15' with a light jig as they will come up and get it. If you use a jig that travels below them you will not catch any.

Skip

[STUMP HUNTER]

Thanks for the info Skip. I tend to like a longer tail also. I have good catches longlining plastic jigs and want to try some of my tied jigs to. I will post the jigs that work the best this fall. Thanks

[crappie josh]

skip when u troll/longline do u use your big motor or ur trolling motor? and how fast do push or pull and will those little 1/32 oz baits and will they get down that far and do u have to let a lot of line out to get them down that far. sorry about all the ?s

[skiptomylu]

Josh I use my TM and it needs to be a variable speed for me because the 5 speed seems to either be too slow or too fast, LOL!

I start of setting my TM on 3 and that will give you something around 1 MPH and you want usually 0.8-1.2 and deeper like fall probably closer to the under 1. You do need to adjust each time you change direction depending on the wind and fish. I usually find a spot that I can go over and over back and forth and it will usually be from 30 yards long to maybe 100 yards long and I try my best to hold the contour where I get bit. This may require a bit of zig zags, but if I have that issue I will trow out a buoy at each spot I need to turn to stay on path.

It's the easiest way to catch crappie and sometimes the best way IMHO. Anyone can catch a crappie like this if they pull it over them. Take a kid out and tell him to hold a pole and jerk if he gets a hit and it's on!

Skip

[ScottV]

When trolling or longlining with jigs do y'all ever use a sinker 18 inches or so up the line to keep your jigs down?

[skiptomylu]

Scott that would fall under more pushing or spider rigging than long line trolling.

I never use any added weight when long line trolling.

Skip

[ScottV]

I heard a lot of folks talking about longlining, but I've never tried it. I'm gonna learn more about it and do some of it this fall.

[skiptomylu]

I heard a lot of folks talking about longlining, but I've never tried it. I'm gonna learn more about it and do some of it this fall.

Spring and Fall are the time to do it. I don't know your water, but send me a PM and tell me your water and if you have hydrilla or not and such. I will spell it out for you. Oh and I may be prejudiced a bit, but I think in the Spring for sure and maybe the fall you can catch more and bigger fish long line trolling than any other way. My opinion that is.

[email protected]

Skip

[Micropterus salmoides]

You can troll any time of year with any species related bait...if you put your lure @ the right depth. I don't do it other than when I'm saltwater fishing with others, but you always read about it like it's a new phenomenon... My brother in law's father, recently deceased, used to sit for hours explaining how they would troll with beetlespins and even crickets! in bar pits and channels for sacalait, when people were hiding from the heat or cold. He was nearly 70 and said he did it as a kid for many many years, so you do the math. Technology hit and old stories are forgotten or lost.

Adam