Eagle Claw Stick Guards

[CrappiePappy]

Thanks. I like that Y-guard. Looks pretty stout and effective.

It has been for me. Prior to finding some locally, I was in the camp of "weedless jigs = missed fish" and was not a fan of the fiber brush style from way back. When I did find the Y-guard jigheads and started using them, I was surprised at their effectiveness. That led to me also giving the fiber brush style a reasonable chance to prove themselves. And they have ... but, I still prefer using the Y-guard style, as I was successfully using them for many years before joining this site and getting Grousefly to replicate them for me. (as well as customizing them with different colors of guard & larger hooks than the originals)

[Hanr3]

I too am not a fan of the fiber brush style weedless jigs. They seemed too stiff for me, or rather too stiff to set-the-hook in crappie. My solutions was to use light wire hooks and mono line strong enough to straighten out the hook. I have found anything like those locally.

[CrappiePappy]

I too am not a fan of the fiber brush style weedless jigs. They seemed too stiff for me, or rather too stiff to set-the-hook in crappie. My solutions was to use light wire hooks and mono line strong enough to straighten out the hook. I have found anything like those locally.

The fiber brush style weedguard & the plastic Y-guard are fairly equal in stiffness ... but, neither one is too stiff to stop the hook from penetrating a fish's mouth. Just ask the nearly 3lb Crappie I'm holding in my avatar picture ... caught with a 1/16oz fiber brush guard style weedless jig & 4lb test mono, using a 5' UL rod.

Here's another pic, and if you look closely you can see the fiber brush guard sticking out just above the fish's upper lip (against the black background of my jacket - in either pic).



And another pic from a different angle :



The pics are a bit old (2007) so I was probably using one of Grousefly's 1/16oz weedless jigs with a #4 bronze Aberdeen hook (which is what I started with). I only changed hook size when I started using plastic baits longer/bigger than the 1.5" long Panfish Assassin.

[Hanr3]

Nice catch!

We don't have 3lb Crappie in my neck of the woods. Wishing we did.

[CrappiePappy]

Nice catch!

We don't have 3lb Crappie in my neck of the woods. Wishing we did.

Just so you know ... that Crappie (pictured) was caught in E Tenn. My "local" lakes may have fish of that size, but I've just not come across many of them in my 50+ years of pursuing them in those waters.