Printable View
I'm sure this has been discussed before. We typically ALWAYS pull jigs tipped with minnows. Seems our catch rates are a lot higher than without. That being said... we catch a lot of hybrids and largemouths too. Take the minnows off, we catch almost ZERO hybrids or largemouths but seems we catch fewer crappie too...
We've taken minnows off half our jigs before and seems like we always catch fish on the poles with minnows. I'd like to hear your thoughts :cheers2
When long lining never use a minnow it takes away from the tail action. Use baits like AWDs, Southern Pro Hot Grubs or Tripple Tips. I do sometimes tip jigs when pushing or spider rigging. Though, I mostly use feather tail baits then. Most baits need a speed of at least .6 MPH to have action. This creates vibration which brings in aggressive feeding fish. A minnow will hinder tail action and not get as many reaction bites. If you have a pool or clear water look at your bait action different ways. I like to go to spring areas to see how my baits react at different speeds. I just drop them by the boat on short lines where I can still see them or cast in my parents pool. Some baits just are not suited for longline trolling.
Interesting. We use Southern Pro Hot Grubs almost exclusively. We hook the minnows through the eyeballs and it seems we still get plenty of tail action, usually trolling around .8
Last weekend we went out and took no minnows because the week before we caught some good crappie tipping but caught more bass and hybrids than anything. We didn't catch the quality crappie we caught the week before tipping but we caught no bass or hybrids.