To eye or not eye.......

Do you think jigs with eyes work beter than ones with no eyes.......I have seen days that trout wouldnt hit them unless they had eyes. Ive been wonder if anyone seen days like this with the crappie..

I have never fished for trout with flies or jigs. On panfish I have never noticed a real difference in performance. That being said I personally like the finished look eyes give to the jig. Now if someone could prove to me that putting eyes on the jig decreased their effectiveness I would then leave them off.

I agree, it's mostly looks for me. And it does make a pretty jig. But I'll fish with either...if you have the right presentation and right colors, they'll hit it...most of the time. :D

One of the eternal questions of jig making and fishing. easiest answer some like em, some don't think it matters. I have some with both so either way I'm covered LOL

Fatman

Don't know if it matters or not but minners have eyes and shad have eyes so my jigs have eyes.

For imitating patterns – absolutely and for stimulating patterns – can’t hurt.

ive also noticed alot of ppl dont color their jigheads and leave them silver. then some color them ive caught crappie both ways, just to try to see their preference. the major difference i have found though i was using a black marabou 1-1/2 marabou and switched to 1-1/2 black rubber tube jig aand they just stopped all together. has anybody done this before?

I found this site about a yr and i have been taking notes on other peoples presantation on their jigs and colors pertaining to their region. You would not believe the difference gap from region to region.

Some will swear the eyes makes a big difference some time, but I am not one that has seen a big difference my self. I did read a tip about that on flies where someone ask that question and found the answer interesting so I don't discount them at all. The answer that kind of pushed me to think better about eyes was this....how many bait fish have you seen without eyes?

Something to think about? If they were not such a pain in the rear as far as time used I would put them on all my jigs, but probably just so they look better.

Skip

skip i have never thought about that. that puts some thought into it........

most of the time i dont put eyes on my jigs due to i dont like to take the time to paint them....i use finger nail polish to put them on and the dry time takes to long...i really think they are more for the fishermen then the fish but i might be wrong

Here's something that I do to paint eyes, don't own a camera so will try to describe this as best as I can. Take two 1" by 2" boards 2 ft long, cut and place a thin piece of soft foam between the boards (1/8" thick will do). Then I drill three holes through the boards one on each end and one in the middle install 1/4" diameter bolts long enough to go through all the above plus 1/2" more with wing nuts. To use slide the jigs in under the foam along one board with the head exposed. I slide these in perpendicular to the to the boards and can crowd them up so use both sides, they will hangup very little. My boards will probably hold 50 to 75 jigs at a time depending on the size. Now I lay this on someting that will support it or place in a vise. Take your favorite nail, drill bit or whatever and paint all the jigs on one side, flip over and paint the other side let dry a few minutes remove and finish up however. After writing all this I may reconsider and go camera shopping!

I don't see where it matters much although I quit painting eyes on my jigs several years ago so maybe I'm missing out a lot of strikes???

As for the "baitfish have eyes" comments, I can't argue with that fact but please tell me how many baitfish you've seen that are pink or purple, or chart????

lol thats so true.ive always wondered what the fish was thinking when they see a lure with the heads colored

Well just my FWIW When I lived up north and tied walleye jigs I never painted heads let alone eyes. Now that I fish Crappies in the south I paint the heads and the eyes.

I think that what ever you can do to make the jigs more attractive to the fish is a good thing. Now if I was still up north knowing what I do now I would paint the heads and the eyes and have more success on walleyes than I use to.

Just MHO