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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
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
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 :)
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
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
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?
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
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottV
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Skip
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
My start using the troll motor for this was about 1978. I found it by drifting in the wind and though I could do this with my TM and didn't matter what the wind was doing. Every time I had a guide trip my customers would say, I have never done this and I would say hold on as you are about to find a new jewel then. We slammed them big time back then for sure, but I fished a lot more since I was guiding.
Skip
Skip
ahh, you used to guide? in Texas? What was the service name? I have relatives all over Texas that would have most likely used you.
I think I'd move to Texas if my situation was right.
Adam
Back then guides were hot items and I fished out of Fin & Feather Marina & Resort for a while and then out of Carmichael's after that. Heck we had over 50 guides each day totally booked all spring 7 days a week at F & F. Around 1980 the laws on tax stuff changed and the oil companies couldn't write all that sort of thing off anymore so things really backed off and I left for Corpus.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micropterus salmoides
That is the 2 marina's I fished out of since this lake opened and mostly Fin & Feather which is still there, but different for sure.
Skip
This is what I use for Long Lining and Trolling. They tend to dig down a little and are easier to control the depth.
Attachment 45534
That's nice looking jigs. Never seen those heads before, what are the called. I can see where they would run deeper than a regular jig head. Thanks for posting the pic.:)
Lot of great info here from Skip. I am still mad at myself for selling my 17.5 Tracker when I moved south from Ohio. Retirement, fixed income, medical bills and recession have kicked my butt and I have not gotten another. Would be nice to live on the water. Just dreaming.........
Ifish,you use them heads for just about anything,don't you?lol.They are pretty sweet.Is that an old mold.I have'nt seen anything like it anywhere and I have looked,lol.
AZ & Stump,
Thanks for the props. AZ,that is a custom mold I came up with a few years ago.I use them a lot for different things. Caught a lot of fish on the Orange DuckHead!!
Some good info on trolling toward the end of this video. (1/32 oz = .97 grams and trolls 2-4 ft @ .7 mph) (1/24 oz = 1.28 grams and trolls 5-8 ft @ .7 mph) (1/16 oz = 1.94 grams and trolls 9-11 ft @ .7 mph) YouTube - crappie fishing making a 1/24 ounce jighead mold
hight prowler i forgot all about that video...hes right on with the speeds and depth ive heard other people say
Great info that I didnt have when I started longlining. Wished I did.:rolleyes: One thing I will tell ya though, you can run a 1/16th jig as shallow as two foot deep just by shortening your line way up out the back of the boat. You can also drag a 17' bottom with the same jig by getting it way out there and adding a small splitshot. I would recommend anyone wanting to get into longlining first off get a GPS to monitor speed, a remote controlled TM would be nice but not necessary, and get the boat set up with holders. Then get on the water where there are clean bottoms at different depths and learn for yourself where the jigs drag bottom with the boat at one speed (ex: .7 mph), jig weight, and amount of line off the reel. Once you drag then start experimenting one thing at a time...such as shortening the line and then later on moving up the speed. It wont take you that long before you'll have a pretty good feel for what depths youre pulling for a certain size jig by doing some fieldwork first. And, it will really help you out knowing youre keeping your jigs in the fishes face.;):)
One little other thing if you happen to pull a Roadrunner like I do and it's around Hydrilla like here then I sure would thinking about a willow leaf blade. I know it's a small blade even with the regular one, but Hydrilla can be very dense and if you fish it like I do then your gonna catch grass or you are not going to catch fish. The willow will just do better in grass and not hang as much grass which you want to hit it some, but you don't want it hanging on.
Just a thought.
Speed/depth of fish are both so important especially unlike bass crappie are not watching the bottom for food unless they are on it.
I have caught crappie in water as deep as a little over 20' on a 1/32 Oz. RR. It was the edge of a flat with lots of hydrilla and other kinds of grass and cat tails and such sticking up all over and dropped off very fast into a creek that got to 20' fast and then a little deeper farther over, but I was pulling in that 20' +- area and catching them.
Good luck,
Skip
Quote:
Originally Posted by STUMP HUNTER
Lots of good info if someone is wanting to learn how to longline. But are there any feed back on the question of what hand tied jig works best for you while longlining. Hair, feather or zonker.
Actually I like the 1/32 oz. Roadrunners best with a marabou tail, but I think that you can catch as many most days with a regular jig. Again it's your level of confidence in what you put out there and if you have confidence in what you have tied on you will leave it out there longer and be more attentive.Quote:
Originally Posted by STUMP HUNTER
I think rabbit will probably do about as well as marabou or even Hackle will do in this. It's like any other fishing guys, but with this you have to be pulling over fish and you have to have it running at a good depth for them to take it.
I think some soft plastics may be as good on some days and all you need is have a big supply of the tails you choose because you will tear, loose or what ever makes you have to put on another soft plastic. Trolling is one of the techniques that having a hand tied feather jig is best. You don't have to change anything if they are hitting it and you need good concentration as to your path and speed so forget all the things that draw your concentration away. I have never tried a hair jig doing this though, but at times I feel sure they will work even though you going to have a lot less action in the tail unless it's rabbit or Arctic Fox!
I have some new things that I plan on trying so will not talk about that yet as I don't know how it will come out.
I can say with complete confidence that I am telling it like it is, I when going to long line trolling will be tying on a 1/32 Oz Roadrunner or Pony Head with a marabou tail and that is a fact!
Skip
Thanks Skip. I like the Roadrunner's and will tie up a few with marabou to try this fall. Already tied some with zonker, deer body hair and hackle.
Ronnie, I have caught 'em on both hair and feather...but I think the feather worked better. And the hair bites came when it was run in tandem with a curly tail on the bottom of the rig. The feather bites were running solo. FWIW....