Micro Jigs

I was tying a few silicone legged jigs this morning.
I dug out some lead heads and tied a couple for comparison.

From top to bottom.
1/64 size 8 Original Sickle hook
1/32 size 8 Eagle Claw Lil Nasty
.5g 4mm Tungsten size 10 EC Lil Nasty
.5g 4mm Tungsten size 14 Mustad Ultrapoint streamer hook with micro barb
A 1/64oz jig is around .45g , a 1/32 , around .88g

The bottom two are what I call micro jigs .
The bottom one , but with a rabbit fur tail , is my number one favorite.

It was interesting to blow up the picture and check out the differences in the points and barbs of the hooks . I see why the size 10 lil nasty seems sharper than the size 8 . And why the original Sickles were so popular.
And the point on the Mustad Ultrapoint , awesome :)

Just thought I’d share

They catch everything, every size . When I go fishing, I want to catch “something” doesn’t matter what size .

That’s a nice reference. Thanks for sharing this.

Those are winners, nice jigs.

You can't go wrong with those rubber legs. Nice to have options that you have confidence in.

Very nice of you to share your favorite homemade micro jigs that really works as you have proven through all of your posts and pictures ... thanks for sharing

Quote:

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They catch everything, every size . When I go fishing, I want to catch “something” doesn’t matter what size .

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For sure!
As many of you that have read my posts have noticed, it's not the numbers of fish or large size that is important to me, but what I use to catch fish and the presentation associated with that lure, is the challenge and a continuing mystery as well as a welcome surprise in a world where little surprises me at my age.
Case in point:
8 yrs. ago I started making hybrid lures by taking the parts of soft plastics and fusing them with a candle flame or modifying lures to better provoke strikes. Various shape, size and action combinations proved very rewarding.

As many of you know, fish may react to many lures on one day and far fewer the next. A few days ago I caught 42 fish of different species (yp, wp, crappie, bass and sunfish) on 2.5" soft plastics and 1/16 oz. jigs in 4'-5'. The next day the bite in that area dropped and I was lucky to catch 21 fish.
But yesterday I decided to try something not so new but definitely different as far as lure size and jig weight. I've caught hundreds of fish on min-stick soft plastic lures at least 3" long.
When fish turn off, the only way I know to catch them is to go smaller & slower. How small and how slow you might ask. Enter the micro finesse lure.
What is needed?:
a light action rod,
thin diameter line (10# test braid whether spinning or spincast);
1/32 oz jig with #8 hook;
1-1 1/4" grub bodies minus any action tail

With braid, I can cast those tidbit lures a mile and still feel the slightest strike as well as let the fish - no matter its size - hook itself. No horsing fish in with that small hook! The key is super slow with lure action provided by a combination of small turns of the reel handle and slight motions of the rod tip. The pill-like lure darts slightly and glides just long enough to get fish p.o.'d enough to hit the lure several times sometimes - even at the boat! Now, I'm not saying a small curl tail wouldn't have worked, but it didn't that day.
The pearl colored one I hand poured (shown below) did almost as well as the grub body above it, but the grub body helped me catch over 30 fish on shallow flats.
The 1 3/4 lb. bass (shown). a 28" pickerel and a few 13" crappie confirmed my choice was right along with all the other fish ranging in size from 5" - 8".
Attachment 504154Attachment 504155 Attachment 504156
The day alternated constantly between semi calm and windy under a partly cloudy sky.

Small grub body + light jighead + slow retrieve saved the day! Lures are my fish-finders and seeing as how all the fish were caught in shallow water (most likely pre-spawn), sonar was useless. Now I can fish shallow and deeper water with confidence knowing I have two ways to find and catch fish:
smaller & slower or larger & a bit faster.

Something to consider.

theysaid, I wouldn’t have noticed the difference in a tackle box.